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206   Chapter Eight

        Perceived quality is a key strategic variable for many companies (Aaker
        1996), and it is a key-positioning dimension for corporate brands.

        Brand Associations
        Brand associations can be anything that connects the customer to the brand
        (Aaker 2000). These associations help determine the brand image with the
        customer and marketplace. Brand associations can be hard—related to
        specific perceptions of tangible functional attributes, such as, speed, user-
        friendliness, taste, and price. Brand associations can also be soft—emotional
        attributes like excitement, fun, trustworthiness, and ingenuity (Biel 1993).
        Apple is an example of a brand with values that have resonated with those
        of its target audience. Emphasizing values such as fun, excitement,
        innovation, and humor (Kochan 1997), the company has succeeded in
        carving out a niche for itself in the highly competitive personal computer
        marketplace (Levine 2003).


        Other Proprietary Brand Assets
        Beyond their use as a tool in achieving a competitive advantage, brands are
        also a financial asset to a company. Successful brands can be traded or used
        to increase the valuation of a company during a corporate acquisition.



        8.3 Brand Development

        Strong brands can create tremendous values for the companies that own
        them. Developing strong brands that lead the market is always one of the
        most important goals for companies, that strive to excel in the marketplace.
        The brand development process develops strong brands that fit the owner
        companies’ business goals and their comparative advantages.

        The objective of a brand development process is to create a brand that
        achieves and maintains the intended position in the minds of customers
        within the targeted market group. In other words, the brand development
        process must create a brand image in the minds of customers that reflects the
        brand identity defined by the company. The creation of this brand position in
        the minds of customers involves the creation of the brand identity, the trans-
        mission of the brand image to customers, and the receipt and acceptance of
        this image by customers, as illustrated by Fig. 8.7. This process is influenced
        by a variety of factors, which include the nature of the brand identity, organ-
        ization factors, the communications media, and market forces.
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