Page 276 - Marketing Management

CREATING BRAND EQUITY | CHAPTER 9 253

• Burton could sell through popular surf shops in the hope that its credibility
would rub off on the Dominator brand.
• Burton could co-brand by identifying a strong ingredient brand for its foam or
fiberglass materials (as Wilson did by incorporating Goodyear tire rubber on
the soles of its Pro Staff Classic tennis shoes).
• Burton could find one or more top professional surfers to endorse the surfboard,
or it could sponsor a surfing competition or even the entire Association of
Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour.
• Burton could secure and publicize favorable ratings from third-party sources
such as Surfer or Surfing magazine.
Thus, independent of the associations created by the surfboard itself, its brand name,
or any other aspects of the marketing program, Burton could build equity by linking
the brand to these other entities.

Internal Branding
Marketers must now “walk the walk” to deliver the brand promise. They must adopt
an internal perspective to be sure employees and marketing partners appreciate and
understand basic branding notions and how they can help—or hurt—brand equity. 40
Internal branding consists of activities and processes that help inform and inspire
employees about brands. 41 Holistic marketers must go even further and train and
encourage distributors and dealers to serve their customers well. Poorly trained
dealers can ruin the best efforts to build a strong brand image.
Brand bonding occurs when customers experience the company as delivering on its
brand promise. All the customers’ contacts with company employees and communi-
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cations must be positive. The brand promise will not be delivered unless everyone in Successful brands such as Burton
the company lives the brand. Disney is so successful at internal branding that it holds seminars on the Snowboards have to think
“Disney Style” for employees from other companies. carefully about how to leverage
When employees care about and believe in the brand, they’re motivated to work harder and feel their strengths with new products
greater loyalty to the firm. Some important principles for internal branding are: 43 and markets, as well as how
to “borrow” equity from other
1. Choose the right moment. Turning points are ideal opportunities to capture employees’
people, places, or things.
attention and imagination.After it ran an internal branding campaign to accompany its external
repositioning, “Beyond Petroleum,” BP found most employees were positive about the new
brand and thought the company was going in the right direction.
2. Link internal and external marketing. Internal and external messages must match.
IBM’s e-business campaign not only helped to change public perceptions of the company in
the marketplace, it also signaled to employees that IBM was determined to be a leader in the
use of Internet technology.
3. Bring the brand alive for employees. Internal communications should be informative and
energizing. Miller Brewing has tapped into its brewing heritage to generate pride and passion
and improve employee morale.

Brand Communities

Thanks to the Internet, companies are interested in collaborating with consumers to create value
through communities built around brands. A brand community is a specialized community of
consumers and employees whose identification and activities focus around the brand. 44 Three
characteristics identify brand communities: 45
1. A “consciousness of kind” or sense of felt connection to the brand, company, product, or other
community members;
2. Shared rituals, stories, and traditions that help to convey the meaning of the community; and
3. A shared moral responsibility or duty to both the community as a whole and individual
community members.
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Brand communities come in many different forms. Some arise organically from brand users,
such as the Atlanta MGB riders club, the Apple Newton User Group, and the Porsche Rennlist on-
line discussion group. Others are company-sponsored and facilitated, such as the Club Green Kids
(official kids’ fan club of the Boston Celtics) and the Harley-Davidson Owner’s Group (H.O.G.).