Important Brand Associations Brad VanAuken, President of BrandForward, Inc. vanauken@brandforward.com

Most brands will want to be associated with the following by their target customers. We recommend that every brand tests how it stacks up against its competitors regarding each of these associations:

• Trustworthy
• Authentic
• Relevant
• Unique
• Stands for something important to me
• Feels “just right” to me
• Popular
• Appealing
• Likeable
• Admirable
• High quality
• Innovative
• Service oriented

Customer Research — Projective Research Techniques

When conducting qualitative customer research, projective techniques overcome some of the limitations of direct questioning:

• people are not always conscious of their underlying motivations,
• people tell you what they think you want to hear,
• people are sometimes embarrassed to admit their real motivations, thinking that divulging them would reflect negatively on them,
• most people think of themselves as being completely rational in their decision making, so they discount or dismiss non-rational reasons for their behaviors, and
• some people fear how marketers might use the information “if they were to learn the truth about me” so they withhold that information to avoid being manipulated.

Projective techniques can help you better understand brand personality. For instance, “if the brand was an animal/car/person/sports team/occupation, what animal/car/person/sports team/occupation would it be and why?”

Other projective research techniques that help you get below the surface include:

• sentence completion
• brand sorting (on a wide variety of dimensions)
• word association
• collages
• brand obituary/epitaph
• brand press release/headline
• consumer letters
• brand time capsule
• stereotypes
• thought balloons
• psychodrawing/modeling
• role-playing and reenactment

I also have used the technique of providing participants with numerous pictures of a wide variety of people in a wide variety of settings. I then ask which of those people would buy, receive as a gift, and use the brand, and which wouldn’t. I then ask them to explain their answers.

The Quick Brand Health Assessment (Or, you know your brand is winning in the marketplace when...)

• The brand is mentioned to customers and potential customers, and they brim with enthusiasm in their response.
• Your brand’s external messages “ring true” with all employees.
• Employees are enthusiastic and consistent in recounting what makes their brand special.
• The brand’s market share is increasing.
• Competitors always mention your brand as a point of reference.
• The press can’t seem to write enough about your brand.
• Your CEO has a strong vision for the organization and its brand. He or she talks more about the vision than financial targets.
• Your organization’s leaders always seem to “talk the brand” and “walk the brand talk.”

Brad VanAuken is president and founder of BrandForward, Inc., a full-service brand management consultancy with clients throughout the world. Previously, Brad was the vice president of marketing for Element K, a leading e-learning company and director of brand management and marketing for Hallmark Cards, Inc. During his tenure as Hallmark’s chief brand advocate, Hallmark received the Brand Management of the Year award. Recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on brand management and marketing, Brad is a much sought after speaker and writer. He wrote the books The Brand Management Checklist and Brand Aid. His free online brand management and marketing newsletter is read by thousands of marketers throughout the world. Brad has a BS degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Email: vanauken@brandforward.com
Company Profile: BrandForward, Inc.
Company URL: http://www.brandforward.com

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