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Brand personality: Brand-Personality Monitor ®
In a market in which scores of brands vie for the attention of the client or consumer, it is difficult for a brand to choose a position that stands out. This is especially difficult in markets in which product features and quality no longer differ greatly. Positioning based on personality features may be the perfect solution. A brand that is able to create stopping power, based on one or several personality features, develops a stronger relationship with its buyers. It also makes it more difficult for competitors to copy the product. Brand personality is one of the concepts in brand policy which have been the focus of attention in the past years. After Jennifer Aaker introduced her brand personality model for the American market in 1997 various other models were developed. The Brand-Personality Monitor was developed by the VBMC/ Vlerick Brand Management Centre and is particularly suitable for the European market.
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Brand-Personality Monitor: conceptual model
The Brand Personality Monitor distinguishes the following five dimensions, based on 48 personality features: (1) liveliness; (2) fixed/ established value; (3) daring/ cheeky; (4) simplicity and (5) emotional. The results may be applied in a range of ways. They show, for instance, how the buyers perceive the brand. This information is very useful when dis¬cussing the deviation between the ‘ist’ (actual situation) and ‘soll’ (target situation) identities of a brand and for making well-founded decisions on segmentation, positioning and repositioning. Comparison with the personality profiles of other brands (benchmarking) yields valuable information on the relative position of a brand. The Brand-Personality Monitor provides an understanding of the personality profile of a brand compared with competitive brands, icon brands from other categories and media brands. Using the results of this monitor, the ‘brand fit’ with other brands can be determined; this is an invaluable source of information when deciding on co-branding. This monitor also measures the personality profiles of media brands, enabling you to decide on the most suitable media for your brand.
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Applications
The results of a Brand Personality Monitor can be used for various purposes. Below we elaborate on some of these: positioning, segmentation, benchmarking, brand fit and media.
Brand identity is the basis for the positioning of a brand. Naming and describing the brand personality is one of the appropriate ways in which to make the identity of a brand explicit. Positioning is all about choosing the aspects of the brand personality that should be highlighted. Discovering, naming and propagating a brand personality usually creates more sympathy for the brand. This makes clients or consumers consider buying it more readily.
For segmentation purposes, every brand manager tries to name a certain target audience for his/her brand, and to fit in with the environment of that target audience. The Brand-Personality Monitor incorporates a large number of background features which allow for market segmentation. Not only can be distinguished by demographics, such as age and gender, but also by education, family composition, family income, awareness with and use of the brand. With the Brand Personality Monitor, both the own brand and the various competing brands can be analysed by personality features (benchmarking). In addition, the monitor not only measures the performance of the brand, but also its impact on the brand added value. The report, in diagrams, gives a clear insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the own brand and those of the competitors.
The Brand-Personality Monitor not only measures the brand personality of competitors, but also of a number of brands from other product categories. Brand managers can indicate other brands of which they wish to have the personality measured. The objective of this is to assess the brand fit between the own and other brands. This information is very useful when screening brands which are considered for co-branding. Moreover, this allows you to establish the ‘brand personality’ of celebrities, enabling you to make well-founded decisions for possible ‘celebrity endorsement’. In order to determine the most suitable media, the Brand-Personality Monitor measures the brand personality of some sixty important TV, radio and print media. Participating parties may request to have specific media added. Comparison of the brand personality profile of a medium with the profile of your own brand reveals the similarities and differences (gaps). Gaps can have a negative or positive value. A negative value means that the brand personality of a medium does not add any value, or may even damage your own brand.
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Deliverables
When you decide to take part in the Brand-Personality Monitor, you will get: (1) awareness of the brand personality of your own brand, plus the brand personality of four competitors of your choice; (2) a report on ten other brands of your choice in two different categories; (3) personality profiles of sixty media; (4) an interactive software application which enables you to make a range of breakdowns (e.g. which aspects of your own brand’s personality are different for different groups of users?); (5) an implementation workshop on which a concise management report will be written.
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Cooperation partner
The Brand-Personality Monitor has been developed by VBMC/ Vlerick Brand Management Centre, a research centre of Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.
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