Brand equityis aphraseused in themarketingindustry which describes the value of having a well-knownbrand name, based on the idea that the owner of a well-known brand name can generate more money from products with that brand name than from products with a less well known name, as consumers believe that a product with a well-known name is better than products with less well known names.[1][2][3][4]Some marketing researchers have concluded that brands are one of the most valuable assets a company has,[5]as brand equity is one of the factors which can increase the financial value of a brand to the brand owner, although not the only one.[6]Elements that can be included in the valuation of brand equity include (but not limited to): changing market share, profit margins, consumer recognition of logos and othervisual elements,brand languageassociations made by consumers, consumers' perceptions of quality and other relevant brand values.Consumers' knowledge about a brand also governs how manufacturers and advertisers market the brand.[7][8]Brand equity is created throughstrategicinvestmentsincommunication channelsandmarketeducationand appreciates througheconomic growthinprofit margins,market share,prestigevalue, and criticalassociations. Generally, thesestrategicinvestmentsappreciate over time to deliver areturn on investment. This is directly related tomarketing ROI. Brand equity can also appreciate withoutstrategicdirection. AStockholm Universitystudy in 2011 documents the case ofJerusalem'scitybrand.[9]The cityorganicallydeveloped abrand, which experienced tremendous brand equityappreciationover the course of centuries through non-strategic activities. A boomingtourism industryin Jerusalem has been the mostevidentindicatorof a strongROI.Brand equity is strategically crucial, but famously difficult to quantify. Many experts have developed tools to analyze this asset, but there is no universally accepted way to measure it. As one of the serial challenges that marketing professionals and academics find with the concept of brand equity, the disconnect betweenquantitativeandqualitativeequityvalues is difficult to reconcile. Quantitative brand equity includes numerical values such asprofit marginsandmarket share, but fails to capture qualitative elements such as prestige and associations of interest. Overall, most marketing practitioners take a more qualitative approach to brand equity because of this challenge. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, only 26 percent responded that they found the "brand equity" metric very useful.[10

There are many ways to measure a brand. Some measurements approaches are at the firm level, some at the product level, and still others are at the consumer level.Firm Level: Firm level approaches measure the brand as a financial asset. In short, a calculation is made regarding how much the brand is worth as anintangible asset. For example, if you were to take the value of the firm, as derived by its market capitalizationand then subtract tangible assets and "measurable" intangible assetsthe residual would be the brand equity.[5]One high-profile firm level approach is by the consulting firm Interbrand. To do its calculation, Interbrand estimates brand value on the basis of projected profits discounted to a present value. The discount rate is a subjective rate determined by Interbrand and Wall Street equity specialists and reflects the risk profile, market leadership, stability and global reach of the brand.[11]Brand valuationmodeling is closely related to brand equity, and a number of models and approaches have been developed by different consultancies. Brand valuation models typically combine a brand equity measure (e.g.: the proportion of sales contributed by "brand") with commercial metrics such as margin or economic profit.Product Level: The classic product level brand measurement example is to compare the price of a no-name or private label product to an "equivalent" branded product. The difference in price, assuming all things equal, is due to the brand.[12]More recently a revenue premium approach has been advocated.[4]Marketing mix modelingcan isolate "base" and "incremental" sales, and it is sometimes argued that base sales approximate to a measure of brand equity. More sophisticated marketing mix models have a floating base that can capture changes in underlying brand equity for a product over time.Consumer Level: This approach seeks to map the mind of the consumer to find out what associations with the brand the consumer has. This approach seeks to measure the awareness (recall and recognition) and brand image (the overall associations that the brand has). Free association tests and projective techniques are commonly used to uncover the tangible and intangible attributes, attitudes, and intentions about a brand.[7]Brands with high levels of awareness and strong, favorable and unique associations are high equity brands.[7]All of these calculations are, at best, approximations. A more complete understanding of the brand can occur if multiple measures are used.Positive brand equity vs. negative brand equityBrand equity is the positive effect of the brand on the difference between the prices that the consumer accepts to pay when the brand known compared to the value of the benefit received.There are two schools of thought regarding the existence of negative brand equity. One perspective states brand equity cannot be negative, hypothesizing only positive brand equity is created by marketing activities such as advertising, PR, and promotion. A second perspective is that negative equity can exist, due to catastrophic events to the brand, such as a wide product recall or continued negative press attention (BlackwaterorHalliburton, for example).Colloquially, the term "negative brand equity" may be used to describe a product or service where a brand has a negligible effect on a product level when compared to a no-name or private label product.Family branding vs. individual branding strategiesThe greater a company's brand equity, the greater the probability that the company will use afamily brandingstrategy rather than anindividual brandingstrategy. This is because family branding allows them to leverage the equity accumulated in the core brand. Aspects of brand equity include: brand loyalty, awareness, association[13]and perception of quality.

The internal audience: a cursory look at internal audience of the brand in terms of attitude, approach to issues, culture can speak volume with regards to whether an external person will have confidence in the brand or not. So creating right environment, training, staff attitude is important as they are ambassadors or representative of the brand within the communities. Internal brands enthusiasm and the way they talk about the brand they represent will go a long way in entrenching brand confidence in the minds of its target.Voice of the customer: The voice of the customers or those who consume the brand offerings can also strengthen brand trust. According to a recent survey social media lets users build relationships of trust over time through viral videos, blogs and social networks (communities of common interests). The study also shows social media grows virally because people share their passions. So what the customers share or communicate can either build trust or damage the brand equity. Today, brands must work hard in building beneficial relationship with its customers so they can be a great tool in building its equity and trust.I also want to agree with another opinion which states the key element of social media is that, unlike conventional media, such novel technologies permit users to participate and gain value from each other. Instead of a message broadcast from a centralized organization or corporate entity, social media offer a more organic process of communication.Brand leadership integrity and expertise: one other tool that can also strengthen brand equity is the level of expertise and integrity of the brand leadership. Top management of any brand can destroy brand equity if not properly managed. Is there anything i am missing, please use the comment section

Aaker brand equity modelAccording to Aaker brand equity model, we are able to associate the concept for building brand equity with the below five following points;Brand LoyaltyTo establish the brand loyalty, the marketer has to create the unforgettable experience that offers distinct services and privileges to retain their guests.As a rapidly growing organization, Raffles Hotel has recognised that in order to maintain a competitive edge in the industry it belongs to. To be a market-driven organization, they have to implement the core competencies excelling with three distinctive capabilities; marketing-sensing, customers linking and channel bonding. So marketer has formulated the following strategy to achieve their goals for customer brand loyalty;The marketers have offers the best hotel rate to accommodate their customer needs, and had tailored a few attractive promotional packages for their customers to promote their packages by introducing summer rate, weekend rate with complimentary free breakfast and even encouraging them to make advance booking reservation to receive the discount up to 30 percent.Different types of hotel suites are distinctively designed to allow their customers to enjoy an unforgettable and captivating experiences stay at the hotel. The hotel suites are segregated into five unique categories e.g.; Personality, Courtyard, Palm Court, Grand Hotel and Presidential.Creating a strong, tight connection ties with customers is the dream of Raffles Hotel marketers and often the key of the long-term success.Brand AwarenessBuilding a powerful brand that defines a compelling purpose; a big idea stands out from the crowd, and to reflect the customers, build an image and reputation in the mind of the customer that has personal relevance.In order to retain the best profitable customers, building their loyalty, introducing new services and encourage advocacy. By engaging continuous promotions and offers, attracts their target customers, building preference, driving purchase behaviour and sustaining a price premium with the following event activities;In the recent event, Singapore GP has partnered twenty nine hotels to offer a greater degree of assurance through a Best Rate Guarantee system for visitors who are booking hotel rooms during the 2009 Formula One (F1) Singapore Grand Prix, and Raffles Hotel is one of the partnered hotel that has promoted the attractive 'Early-Bird' hotel rate to attract the guest for advance booking at the hotel to have the best view for the race in action performing at the Marina Bay street circuit.For the upcoming event, to promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) awareness, in the objective of raising funds for charity through a dinner and auction of extraordinary Christmas Trees. Therefore, every year Raffles Hotel has organized the Raffles' Annual Gala Christmas Tree Auction, and a total of over three million dollars has been raised from the past 16 years, spreading much festive cheer to numerous charities.Raffles Hotel has developed their mission statements to share with their hotel managers, employees and guests: "Arrive as Residents, Leave as Friends, Return as Family". It is simple and clear to share a sense of purpose with their guests to make them feel as a home.Also, logo of the Raffles Hotel Architectural is one of trademark that is well-known renowned brand identity that is identifiable by people.By having a strong brand is to ensure that customers have the right type of experiences with services and their marketing programs to create the desired brand knowledge structure for the brand, as well to create a higher brand exposure to attract more new and existing customers.Perceived QualityTo engage a higher service quality, customer satisfaction, and company profitability are intimated connected. Higher levels of quality result in higher levels of customer satisfaction which support higher prices and (often) lower prices. (Kotler, Philip 2009, pg 140)All employees have to undergo service training and career development to deliver an excellent and quality service to every of their guests. Marketers have to deliver the brand promises to the employees and marketing partners to appreciate and understand basic branding notions. Internationalizing the branding activities and processes helps to inform and inspire employees with a sense of purpose and clear direction. They even hired the top-notch award-winning chefs to serve their guests with fine cuisine.In order to well-attend to their customer's wellness and entertainment needs, Raffles Hotel has built numerous facilities to allow their guests to rejuvenate and enjoy the relaxing experiences like restaurants, chilling bars, Amrita Spa, outdoor swimming pool, gym, garden touring, theatre playhouse, museums shops and arcade.It is also intimately associated with the customer loyalty and retention to satisfy customer perceived value benefitted from the Hotel's quality services. Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of services that bears the ability to satisfy stated and implied needs.Brand AssociationsA successful brand is the most valuable resource a company has, and a form of "statement of value" for their services to be intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable to reflect as the value of their brands. Brands are used as external cues to taste, design, qualify, prestige, value and so on. In other words, consumers associate their perceived values with the brand. Specifically, brand association is anything that is linked in memory. The association reflect the fact that services are to reflect social positions and their professional roles.In order to engage in their customer minds, Raffles Hotel has taken a step of making diversification of the expansion of the gourmet varieties in transacting impeccable different theme concept to cater for their customer's food preference and experience from Chinese to Western fine cuisine with recognisable top-notch chefs. For example, some of the internationally acclaimed award-winning theme restaurant 'Doc Cheng's' a blend mix for Asian and Western cuisine; 'Ah Teng's Bakery' is a Chinese heritage pastry cafe for 'Early-Birds' to enjoy a morning cup of tea, delicious pastries and steaming hot dim sums; an aura of timeless elegance sets the tone with French windows in contemporary classic look which has beautifully restored its former glory which are beautifully restored, 'Raffles Grill' for French Cuisine has captures the true essence of fine dining.Being intuitive to understand what customers wanted to be treated each time being served is important to engage customers like never before to retain their loyalty level.Channel RelationshipsWith increased competition and rising costs, Raffles Hotel needs to heighten the depth of brand exposure. To be a more holistic company, Raffles Hotel are taking a value network view of their hotel business, they have distributed different marketing channels and have closely tied up with numerous business partners for airlines and credit cards vendors by having cross promotional offers to reach their target market such as; Singapore, American, Delta Airlines, Silk Air, Emirates, Nippon, Jet Airways, American Express, Citibank, Visa and UOB. In the advancement of internet system, customers can conveniently gain access through online for booking and card payment for these reservations according to their own preferences of the preferred service brand.

Keller's Brand Equity Model is also known as the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Model. Kevin Lane Keller, a marketing professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, developed the model and published it in his widely used textbook, "Strategic Brand Management."The concept behind the Brand Equity Model is simple: in order to build a strong brand, you must shape how customers think and feel about your product. You have to build the right type of experiences around your brand, so that customers have specific, positive thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, and perceptions about it.When you have strong brand equity, your customers will buy more from you, they'll recommend you to other people, they're more loyal, and you're less likely to lose them to competitors.The model, seen in Figure 1, illustrates the four steps that you need to follow to build strong brand equity.Figure 1 Keller's Brand Equity Model

The four steps of the pyramid represent four fundamental questions that your customers will ask often subconsciously about your brand.The four steps contain six building blocks that must be in place for you to reach the top of the pyramid, and to develop a successful brand.Applying the ModelLet's look at each step and building block in detail, and discuss how you can apply the framework and strengthen your brand.Step 1: Brand Identity Who Are You?In this first step, your goal is to create "brand salience," or awareness in other words, you need to make sure that your brand stands out, and that customers recognize it and are aware of it.You're not just creating brand identity and awareness here; you're also trying to ensure that brand perceptions are "correct" at key stages of the buying process.ApplicationTo begin, you first need to know who your customers are. Research your market to gain a thorough understanding of how your customers see your brand, and explore whether there aredifferent market segmentswith different needs and different relationships with your brand.Next, identify how your customers narrow down their choices and decide between your brand and your competitors' brands. What decision-making processes do your customers go through when they choose your product? How are they classifying your product or brand? And, when you follow their decision making process, how well does your brand stand out at key stages of this process?You are able to sell your product because it satisfies a particular set of your customers' needs; this is yourunique selling proposition, or USP. You should already be familiar with these needs, but it's important to communicate to your customers how your brand fulfills these. Do your clients understand these USPs when they're making their buying decisions?By the end of this step, you should understand whether your clients perceive your brand as you want them to, or whether there are specific perceptual problems that you need to address either by adjusting your product or service, or by adjusting the way that you communicate your message. Identify the actions that you need to take as a result.Step 2: Brand Meaning What Are You?Your goal in step two is to identify and communicate what your brand means, and what it stands for. The two building blocks in this step are: "performance" and "imagery.""Performance" defines how well your product meets your customers' needs. According to the model, performance consists of five categories: primary characteristics and features; product reliability, durability, and serviceability; service effectiveness, efficiency, and empathy; style and design; and price."Imagery" refers to how well your brand meets your customers' needs on a social and psychological level. Your brand can meet these needs directly, from a customer's own experiences with a product; or indirectly, with targeted marketing, or with word of mouth.A good example of brand meaning is Patagonia. Patagonia makes high quality outdoor clothing and equipment, much of which is made from recycled materials.Patagonias brand performance demonstrates its reliability and durability; people know that their products are well designed and stylish, and that they won't let them down. Patagonias brand imagery is enhanced by its commitment to several environmental programs and social causes; and its strong reduce, reuse, recycle values make customers feel good about purchasing products from an organization with an environmental conscience.ApplicationThe experiences that your customers have with your brand come as a direct result of your product's performance. Your product must meet, and, ideally, exceed their expectations if you want to build loyalty. Use theCritical to Quality TreeandKano Model Analysismodels to identify your customers' needs, and then explore how you can translate these needs into a high quality product.Next, think carefully about the type of experience that you want your customers to have with your product. Take both performance and imagery into account, and create a "brand personality." Again, identify anygapsbetween where you are now and where you want to be, and look at how you can bridge these.Step 3: Brand Response What Do I Think, or Feel, About You?Your customers' responses to your brand fall into two categories: "judgments" and "feelings." These are the two building blocks in this step.Your customers constantly make judgments about your brand and these fall into four key categories: Quality: Customers judge a product or brand based on its actual and perceived quality. Credibility: Customers judge credibility using three dimensions expertise (which includes innovation), trustworthiness, and likability. Consideration: Customers judge how relevant your product is to their unique needs. Superiority: Customers assess how superior your brand is, compared with your competitors' brands.Customers also respond to your brand according to how it makes them feel. Your brand can evoke feelings directly, but they also respond emotionally to how a brand makes them feel about themselves. According to the model, there are six positive brand feelings: warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval, and self-respect.ApplicationFirst, examine the four categories of judgments listed above. Consider the following questions carefully in relation to these: What can you do to improve the actual and perceived quality of your product or brand? How can you enhance your brand's credibility? How well does your marketing strategy communicate your brand's relevancy to people's needs? How does your product or brand compare with those of your competitors?Next, think carefully about the six brand feelings listed above. Which, if any, of these feelings does your current marketing strategy focus on? What can you do to enhance these feelings for your customers?Identify actions that you need to take as a result of asking these questions.Step 4: Brand Resonance How Much of a Connection Would I Like to Have With You?Brand "resonance" sits at the top of the brand equity pyramid because it's the most difficult and the most desirable level to reach. You have achieved brand resonance when your customers feel a deep, psychological bond with your brand.Keller breaks resonance down into four categories: Behavioral loyalty: This includes regular, repeat purchases. Attitudinal attachment: Your customers love your brand or your product, and they see it as a special purchase. Sense of community: Your customers feel a sense of community with people associated with the brand, including other consumers and company representatives. Active engagement: This is the strongest example of brand loyalty. Customers are actively engaged with your brand, even when they are not purchasing it or consuming it. This could include joining a club related to the brand; participating in online chats, marketing rallies, or events; following your brand on social media; or taking part in other, outside activities.ApplicationYour goal in the last stage of the pyramid is to strengthen each resonance category.For example, what can you do to encourage behavioral loyalty? Consider gifts with purchase, or customer loyalty programs.Ask yourself what you can do to reward customers who are champions of your brand. What events could you plan and host to increase customer involvement with your brand or product? List the actions that you could take.Brand Equity can be determined by measuring:Returns to the Share-Holders.

Evaluating the Brand Image for various parameters that are considered significant.

Evaluating the Brands earning potential in long run.

By evaluating the increased volume of sales created by the brand compared to other brands in the same class.

The price premium charged by the brand over non-branded products.

From the prices of the shares that an organization commands in the market (specifically if the brand name is identical to the corporate name or the consumers can easily co-relate the performance of all the individual brands of the organization with the organizational financial performance.

OR, An amalgamation of all the above methods.

Factors contributing to Brand Equity1. Brand Awareness2. Brand Associations3. Brand Loyalty4. Perceived Quality:refers to the customers perception about the total quality of the brand. While evaluating quality the customer takes into account the brands performance on factors that are significant to him and makes a relative analysis about the brands quality by evaluating the competitors brands also. Thus quality is a perceptual factor and the consumer analysis about quality varies. Higher perceived quality might be used forbrand positioning. Perceived quality affect the pricing decisions of the organizations. Superior quality products can be charged a price premium. Perceived quality gives the customers a reason to buy the product. It also captures the channel members interest. For instance - American Express.5. Other Proprietary Brand Assets:Patents, Trademarks and Channel Inter-relations are proprietary assets. These assets prevent competitors attack on the organization. They also help in maintaining customer loyalty as well as organizations competitive advantage.

1. Clarify your positionThe first step to building brand equity is to define your positioning: the single thing your company stands for to your customers. Single is the operative word here. Good positioning forces hard choices.To define your brand position, get the key leaders in your company together. Decide what makes you different and better than your competition. This might sound blindingly obvious, but most small businesses are too busy responding to customers or making payroll to do a lot of introspection.You don't need an agency or consultant to get started. There are a couple of good exercises out there that you can do on your own. A simple one that I like is thePositioning XYZs:"We are the only X that solves Y problem in Z unique way."Where... X is the category of the company, product, or service or other offering you've chosen to own. Y is the unmet need of your target audience. Z is the differentiation, advantage, or key positive distinction you have over your competition.2. Tell your storyClear positioning is critical, but positioning statements are internal touchstones, not external expressions. Your next job is to make it interesting, to imbue the rational positioning with emotion.All brands are stories, and a good way to get started is to document and share your best corporate stories: the founding insight of the company, the times you went to extraordinary lengths to take care of a customer, or the background behind the big product breakthrough.The good news is that with ubiquitous broadband access and Web-based applications, it is within every company's grasp to share these stories more broadly through rich-media video and audio.B.Good (www.bgood.com), a small restaurant chain in Boston, has done this well. It's a burger joint that promises "real food," positioning itself against the typical fast-food burger and experience. The real food story begins with the stories of the "real people," the founders whose corporate values are based on their experiences growing up at their uncle's restaurant. You're reminded of these stories when you're in the restaurant or checking store hours online.3. Bring it to lifeOnce you have the story, you need to bring it to life. Make sure that the way your company looks and feels to the outside world matches that truth. This leads to questions about your corporate identity: Do the basics (starting with your name and logo) make the impression you want? And your broader system for communicating to the market: Web site, brochures, your retail environment.A client of mine talked about his Web site as a "corporate veil" that obscured what made the company special. Does your corporate identity reveal the best truth about your business, or does it hide it?4. Start building brand before they buyThink beyond the transaction. Brands begin at the transaction level, but the brand experience goes much deeper. The opportunity to create a brand impression starts long before the buying decision. The principle is a simple one: Give away an artifact of your brand for free. In the professional services world, this means a taste of your service or your intellectual property. Here are two creative examples:Igor (www.igorinternational.com) is a naming consultancy based in San Francisco. It has built a methodologyand a client list that rivals those of much-larger branding agencies. That methodology is laid bare in a 100-page guide to naming that it gives awaywithout any registration requirementson its Web site.This move is both generous, in the spirit of Web content "wanting to be free," and also incredibly shrewd. The naming guide is rich, detailed, and outlines a very clear process for naming. Igor understands that giving away IP (intellectual property) doesn't cost it businessbut it is its lead business generator.It doesn't have to be just IP. Peet's (www.peets.com), the coffee retailer, allows customers to send their friends an "eCup," an email redeemable for a free cup of coffee. This is an ingenious way to enable the fiercely loyal customers of Peet's to promote the brand themselves.5. Measure your effortsHere are a few direct ways to measure the progress of your brand: Ask your customers.Survey a subset of customers, prospective customers, and (ideally) people who chose a competitor over you. You'll be surprised at how candid people will be about your strengthsand your weaknesses. Make sure you ask the most important question in any customer research: Would you recommend us to a friend or colleague? Research (check out www.netpromoter.com) has shown that the willingness to recommend is the most important indicator of brand health. This research can be done quite cheaply online, using free or near-free tools like KeySurvey (www.keysurvey.com) or SurveyMonkey (www.surveymonkey.com). Check your search rankings.I don't know all of what Igor measures, but I do know it fares very well in what is perhaps the most important measure of them all: organic search results. Type "product naming" on Google, and chances are you'll see Igor come up in the top three listings (the earned ones in the middle, not the paid ones on the top or side). Monitor the social media conversation.In most categories, consumers are holding a very active and candid conversation about the brands they love and hate. Check out what they're saying about you in blogs, bulletin boards, and vendor-rating Web sites

1. Target your audience.The surest road to product failure is to try to be all things to all people. Decide who are the most likely users of your product and develop marketing materials that speak exclusively to that group.2. 2Get the consumers attention.Heres where a soundadvertising strategycomes into play. Your goal is to createpublic awarenessand then build on that brand. You do this by getting consumers to notice that your product stands out from the rest.

Design an advertisement in the form of a mailer or an e-mailer. Alternatively, send out samples of a new product to a target group. Whichever form you choose, make sure youre making a great first impression.3. 3Make the public remember your brand.Your objective is to make consumers feel an emotional attachment to thebrand.

Plan your marketing campaign around the most distinctive feature of your product, such as its authenticity, high cost or reliability. Design marketing materials that help consumers link to the brand by making them perceive special benefits in your product that they cannot find in others. For example, advertisements for costly designer handbags create the impression that consumers who purchase them will look like Hollywood socialites. Consumers who view these advertisements accept that the distinctive feature of the handbags-high cost-creates added value that boosts the image of anyone who buys them.4. 4Build a solid brand image.Once again, consider your products special feature. Add to that the character of your company. Combine these two factors to reinforce an image of the product that reflects favorably on its manufacturer or provider.

Pick one or two characteristics of your company and emphasize those in every advertisement. Distinctive characteristics include excellentcustomer service, company executives who are renowned experts in a field or a commitment to social responsibility.5. 5Reinforce the brand image within the company.Make sure employees at every level of your organization work and behave in a way that reinforces your brand image.

Design orientation programs that introduce new hires to your companys brand image. Emphasize your brand image in all employee communications, such as brochures, employee manuals, a company intranet and corporate newsletters. Create incentives for employees at all levels who successfully communicate your brand image to the public. For example, write an article in the company newsletter that showcases an employee who went beyond his stated job duties toassist a customerwith an urgent request.

1. Clarify Brand Equity PerspectiveBrand equity can be viewed from several different perspectives. The hard-line perspective is that offinancial outcomeswhich examineprice premium. That is, how much more will a consumer pay for a product or service that isbrandedover a product or service that isgeneric? A softer perspective is that ofbrand extensionwhere consideration is given to the value that a brand lends to the introduction of other products, or considers the reverse dynamic of the impact of a new product or service on the existing brand. This following steps address a third perspective -customer-based.2. Determine Brand Equity Research GoalsBrand equity market research falls into one of three camps: Tracking, exploring change, and/or extending brand power. Market research that focuses ontrackingmakescomparison among competitive brandsor products against a benchmark. Whenexploring changeis the research goal, customer brand attitude is tapped regarding branding decisions that might result in repositioning or renaming products or services. A deeper examination ofextending brand poweris carried out when substantive additions to a brand are considered. Each of these research goals requires a different tact.3. Understand Customer Brand AttitudeA customer-based perspective in the measurement of brand equity focuses on the experiences that consumers have with a brand. The stronger the brand, the stronger the customer's attitude toward the products or services associated with the brand. When customersexperiencea product or service, they gauge overall brand quality and tend to infer certain brand attributes. If theseexperience measuresare positive and endure over time, brand loyalty typically results. Today, customers can -- and do -- easilycommunicate the strength of their brand attitude to others.4. Identify Brand Equity Components to MeasureBrand awareness, brand reach, and brand image association are aspects of brand equity that may not be closely associated with consumer experience. These measures of brand equity may reflect the impact of traditional advertising campaigns, and the influence of social or interactive media.Brand awarenessis an indicator of how branding efforts spotlight a product or service.Brand reachindicates how far and wide that spotlight shines. Andbrand image associationreveals what the brand promises and what it stands for in the eyes of consumers.5. Measure Perceived Brand DifferentiationProductdifferentiationis a lynchpin forbrand loyalty,confidence in a brand, and the potential forbrand switching. Customer perceptions about brand differentiation tend to be strongest when actual product or service experience has occurred, but certainly brand differentiation is not immune to the influence of advertising. Differentiation mayfloaton product or brand recommendations in social media rather than any personal experiences with a brand. Because differentiation is so susceptible to social influence, it lends itself to measurement across multiple media channels.6. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Brand Equity DataIdeally, brand equity measurement will include both qualitative and quantitative approaches.Focus groupscan provide a good forum for exploring customer perceptions and motivation.Conjoint analysiscan reveal key consumer decision-making processes. Effective measurement of brand equity is critical to the development of brand strategy and ultimately supports return-on-investment analysis. Which brings us full circle, back to the financial outcomes perspective on brand equity.