Page 275 - Marketing Management

252 PART 4 BUILDING STRONG BRANDS

We can evaluate integrated marketing activities in terms of the effectiveness and efficiency with
which they affect brand awareness and create, maintain, or strengthen brand associations and im-
age. Although Volvo may invest in R&D and engage in advertising, promotions, and other com-
munications to reinforce its “safety” brand association, it may also sponsor events to make sure it
is seen as contemporary and up-to-date. Marketing programs should be put together so the whole
is greater than the sum of the parts. In other words, marketing activities should work singularly
and in combination.

Leveraging Secondary Associations

The third and final way to build brand equity is, in effect, to “borrow” it. That is, create brand
equity by linking the brand to other information in memory that conveys meaning to consumers
(see Figure 9.5).
These “secondary” brand associations can link the brand to sources, such as the company itself
(through branding strategies), to countries or other geographical regions (through identification of
product origin), and to channels of distribution (through channel strategy), as well as to other
brands (through ingredient or co-branding), characters (through licensing), spokespeople
(through endorsements), sporting or cultural events (through sponsorship), or some other third-
party sources (through awards or reviews).
Suppose Burton—the maker of snowboards, ski boots, bindings, clothing, and outerwear—
decided to introduce a new surfboard called the “Dominator.” Burton has gained over a third of the
snowboard market by closely aligning itself with top professional riders and creating a strong
amateur snowboarder community around the country. To support the new surfboard, Burton
could leverage secondary brand knowledge in a number of ways:
• It could “sub-brand” the product, calling it “Dominator by Burton.” Consumers’ evaluations
of the new product would be influenced by how they felt about Burton and whether they felt
that such knowledge predicted the quality of a Burton surfboard.
• Burton could rely on its rural New England origins, but such a geographical location would
seem to have little relevance to surfing.

|Fig. 9.5|
Ingredients Company
Secondary Sources of
Alliances Extensions
Brand Knowledge

Other
Brands Country
Employees
of origin

People BRAND Places

Endorsers Channels
Things

Third-party
Events
endorsements
Causes