Brand health research on a company’s image and positioning of its products or services
Brand Health – a group of research tasks, the solution of which is focused on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the brand and its position in the market relative to competitors’ brands, considered in the categories of their perception by end users. Brand Tracking is a tracking study that allows you to follow the key indicators of brand health in dynamics.
To effectively plan marketing activities in terms of brand promotion, it is extremely important to understand exactly what place the brand currently occupies in the consumer’s mind. For this purpose, a group of research tasks “Brand Health” is used. They are used to: determine the location of the brand in the market segment of competitors, identify strengths and weaknesses, evaluate consumer perception, etc.
Brand health is an assessment of the market situation from the perspective not of the financial component, but of the consumer, who chooses goods based on his or her preferences for specific brands (market units). Each brand has a collective image (plume), which consists of emotional components, personal experience of use, advertising images, and connotations.
Brand Tracking is required in the following instances:
- Conducting a major advertising campaign;
- High brand competition in the market segment;
- To annually monitor the effectiveness of TM promotion work.
Why Brand Health
- Brand awareness – Top of mind (first spontaneously named brand), spontaneous knowledge, knowledge with prompting (choice from a suggested list);
- Pyramid of “brand health” including: knowledge, the experience of first purchase, repeat purchase, willingness to recommend, loyalty;
- Perception in comparison with competitors;
- Identification of points of parity and differentiation (commonality with competitors and uniqueness inherent in the brand);
- Map of brand “personality” (includes rational and emotional characteristics);
- Assessment of the knowledge of the brand’s advertising communications;
- Evaluation of the NPS index;
- Identification of motives and barriers to purchase the products of the studied brand;
- Key indicators/criteria affecting the choice of brands.
What a brand health pyramid includes
There are several techniques for building pyramids, the most popular of which demonstrates the transition of brand knowledge into sales and brand loyalty:
- Awareness;
- Purchase;
- Re-purchase;
- Advocacy;
- Loyalty.
It is also not uncommon in this type of research to use Millward Brown’s Brand Dynamics pyramid, which includes levels:
- Presence (knowledge of the brand);
- Relevance (relevance to the needs of the consumer);
- Functionality (ability to meet customer needs);
- Advantages (how the brand is better than others);
- Close connection (customer attachment).
It is considered that the movement of the client on levels occurs sequentially. This type of data presentation allows you to visualize consumer conversion rates as they move to the next level. In most cases, the pyramid is also built for several competing brands to compare conversion rates.
How often the research is done
Competition is a continuous process. Therefore, the company whose brand takes into account the peculiarities of the audience has the greatest sales. To do this, it is necessary to constantly evaluate consumer behavior. Brand tracking allows you to “keep your hand on the pulse” and develop effective promotion strategies, as well as timely assess the need for rebranding or repositioning the brand.
It is recommended to measure the health of the brand on a continuous wave basis: monthly, quarterly, or once or twice a year. The interval between surveys depends on the company’s capabilities and the scale of the tasks being solved during the year. Tracking is also conducted during major advertising campaigns before and after communications, to evaluate the effect obtained.
It is important to ensure the continuity of research results, which is achieved by choosing an identical sampling structure and tools (the use of a single questionnaire for each measurement).
