Branding: Taking ActionEstablishing a Brand Identity10/4/2018

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Interactive Discussion

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▪ Enter the session ID 591173 , then put in a name and email

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Your brand speaks for you and drives value

4Source: Aaker, 2000, 2013

Brand Loyalty

▪ Reduced marketing costs

▪ Competitive threat buffer

▪ Recurring business/leverage

Brand Awareness

▪ Visibility drives consideration

▪ Familiarity drives liking

▪ Enables additional activities

Brand Associations

▪ Enables communication

▪ Differentiation/Positioning

▪ Drives purchase

Perceived Quality

▪ Pricing enablement

▪ Reason to buy/Leadership role

Brand Equity

What comes to mind when you see this brand logo?

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Rank Responses

1 MLB

2 SUMMER

3 AMERICA

4 AMERICAN

5 SUMMERTIME

6 Other

Branding example

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Cooperatives/Agriculture/Feed

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8Source: Interbrand 2018

Your Brand: Combining short term actions for long term value

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Branding

The process of creating and

managing the associations

that generate images and

feelings about a brand

Brand

The set of associations that

identify a product, service

or company linked to a

name, mark or symbol

Desired Outcome: tangible action plan around your brand

How can we take action and apply this to coops and ag?

10Source: Aaker, Keller

Method

1. Conduct Brand Audit

2. Establish Brand Identity

3. Reaffirm Brand Image

4. Grow Business

5. Repeat

Goal1. Differentiation

2. Consistency

3. Relevancy

4. Development/Adaptation

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Brand Audit

Why do I need to audit my brand?

▪ Purpose:

▪ To assess the health of the brand

▪ Uncover a brand’s sources of brand equity

▪ Suggest ways to improve and leverage its equity

▪ Elements:

▪ Brand Definition

▪ Brand Inventory

▪ Brand Recommendations

▪ There’s 3 versions of your brand right now:

▪ How others view you (Brand Image)

▪ How you view yourself (Brand Identity)

▪ How you really are

12Source: Aaker 2000, Keller 2000

Brand Definition: Understanding how your brand is perceived

▪ Approach can range in cost and time depending on what is needed

13Source: Aaker 2000, Keller 2000

Qualitative

▪ Focus Groups

▪ In depth Interviews

▪ Collages/Brand Concept Maps

Quantitative

▪ Surveys (n>30)

1. Describe your product and why customers choose it

▪ Differentiation vs competitors, product portfolio

2. Things that trigger the identity

▪ Unaided and aided awareness

3. Personal associations/memories

4. Feelings and emotions

▪ Consistent themes with customers’ connection to brand

5. Core Values

▪ Employee alignment, consistency, boundaries

6. Occasions

▪ Ideal and inappropriate product usage

7. Personality

▪ Brand human characteristics and behavior

8. Support

▪ Facts or symbols that enable trust or are unique

Brand Definition in practice: Brand Image

14Source: Purina internal documents

Brand as

Symbol(Imagery/Heritage)

Brand as

Person(Personality)

Brand as

Product(Scope, Features,

Attributes,

Quality)

Brand as

Product(Product Uses)

How Brand

Makes Me

Look

How Brand

Makes Me Feel

Functional

Benefits

Emotional

Benefits

Pride

Smart

Part of the

legacy

Ready

when

you

are

Responsive

Farm/Ag

Easy to use

Get ‘er doneQuick

Response

Fair minded

Logo

Tractor

Green/Yellow

Nothing runs

like a Deere

Honorable

Integrity

Enduring

Quality

Core

Stay Running

Machine

Heritage

Value

Quality

Leader

Effective

Responsible

steward of the

land

Brand Inventory: Connecting perception to business strategy

Brand Inventory Questions Coop Application

1. What does the brand offer?

▪ What products/services are offered under the brand? Agronomy/Feed/Grain/Energy/Building Supplies

▪ What is the brand architecture? All under one brand or multiple

2. How has the brand been built?

▪ How have the 4 P’s been utilized? Product/Price/Placement/Promotion

▪ What brand elements are stressed? Functional vs Emotional

3. How has the brand been leveraged?

▪ Brand extensions? Co-branding? Alliances? Consolidation and communication of brand

4. Has the brand been protected or diluted?

▪ Too many extensions? Product or services brand names

▪ Efforts to protect the brand? Legal/Social/Media/Training

15Source; Keller 2000

Brand Recommendations: Business decisions based on branding

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Leveraging▪ New ways to leverage

the brand

▪ Opportunities for brand

extensions and co-

branding

Protecting

▪ Drop some

extensions/alliances

▪ Respond better to

brand crises

Building▪ Change the

products/services

offered

▪ Change the way the

brand is communicated

▪ Change the brand

architecture

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Establishing Brand Identity

Utilize the foundation that you’ve built to be forward looking

Brand Identity

1. STP Analysis

▪ Segmentation

▪ Targeting

▪ Positioning

2. Select Brand Identity Elements

▪ POP: Points of parity

▪ POD: Points of differentiation

3. Structure Brand Identity

▪ Core Brand Associations

▪ Secondary Brand Associations

18Source: Keller, Sternthal, & Tybout 2002

Brand Definition

Brand Inventory

Brand

Recommendations

Clarify how you will communicate your brand to your customer

▪ Segmentation

▪ How is the market segmented?

▪ Geographic

▪ Demographics/Usage

▪ Benefits Desired

▪ Lifestyle/Psychographic

▪ Targeting

▪ What market segments do competitors serve?

▪ Which segments will we serve?

▪ Positioning

▪ What do we stand for?

▪ How are we different from other brands?

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Segment 1

Old School Joe

Segment 2

Tech Savvy NextGen

Segment 3

Savvy Businessman

Geography Statewide Northeast, Southeast Southern half

Operation Size Medium Small Large

Age (avg) 55 35 45

n 100 25 75

Growth Plans None High Growth Moderate

Tech Savvy NextGen

▪ Less competition for this segment

▪ More easily reached due to geography

▪ Less spend per customer/conversion

▪ More risk; less established

Considerations

▪ Likely higher service requirements early on

▪ CFT engagement to ensure customer acquisition

▪ Differentiation? Product or service?

▪ Payoff: brand loyalty

Select Brand Identity Elements

▪ POP: Points of Parity

▪ Associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand

▪ Consumers view as necessary to be a legitimate and credible offering within a product or service category

▪ POD: Points of Differentiation

▪ Strong, favorable, and unique brand associations

▪ Differentiate your brand from competitors

▪ Can be attributes, benefits, emotions, symbols

▪ Example:

▪ Which is a POP? Which is a POD?

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Points of Parity?

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Rank Responses

1 FOOD

2 591173

3 CLEAN

4 CLEANLINESS

5 DRINKS

6 Other

Points of Difference?

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Rank Responses

1 ATMOSPHERE

2 MUSIC

3 VARIETY

4 BETTER QUALI...

5 COST

6 Other

Points of Differentiation: choosing wisely

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Desirability Criteria

▪ Relevance

▪ Is the POD personally relevant and important?

▪ Distinctiveness

▪ Is it distinctive & superior?

▪ Believability

▪ Is it believable & credible to consumers?

Deliverability Criteria

▪ Feasibility

▪ Can the product perform at the level stated?

▪ Communicability

▪ Can it be communicated?

▪ Sustainability

▪ Is it difficult to attack or copy?

▪ Can it be sustained over time?

What do you want your brand to stand for?

▪ Structure Brand Identity to drive the ideal brand image

▪ Core Brand Associations

▪ Most Important Points of Differentiation

▪ Most Important Points of Parity

▪ Reflects Brand’s Positioning

▪ Secondary Brand Associations

▪ Important Points of Differentiation

▪ Important Points of Parity

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Brand

Essence

Core

Extended

Brand Framework puts Brand Identity into practice

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Beliefs

Strategy

Experience

Brand Purpose

Brand Ambition

Why we exist

Future aspiration; Where do we want the brand to be in 5 years?

Brand DeliversWhat will our audience experience and feel whenever they interact with the

brand?

Who is the brand? Who is the audience?

Growth Audience

Insight

Descriptive psychographic

segment

A clear articulation of a

deep and unrevealed

behavior; motivation or

belief that can be leveraged

to unlock growth

Who are we fighting

against?

Frame of Reference

Who/what is the brand’s

competitive set (category or

product) OR arch enemy?

Our Conviction

Assets

Personality

What we’ll fight for on

behalf of our customer;

beliefs that we live by

~3 assets/values that

uniquely represent the

brand

~3 ownable characteristics

or personality traits

Business decisions to support branding

▪ Planning and Goal Setting▪ Annual planning with quarterly check ins

▪ State goals for brand utilizing SMART format

▪ Budgets▪ Clarify up front the spend breakdown to support branding

▪ Communications/Channels▪ This is KEY!! Ensure communication of brand is differentiated, consistent, relevant, and adaptable

▪ Review all aspects (print/radio/email/signage/website/social/digital ads/employees)

▪ Identify areas of strength and weakness and clarify areas of opportunity

▪ Products▪ SKU rationalization/branding opportunities/promotional activity; pricing

▪ Services▪ Identify which are core, profitable, cost inhibitive, value add, and sustainable; pricing

▪ Relationships/contracts/partnerships▪ Recognize you can’t do everything yourself and ID partners as necessary

26Source: Smarter, Faster, Better (Duhigg), Purina Planning Process

Continue your great work in building your brands!

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