Branding research

What is the brand that pops up in your mind when I say Cola? Of beer? Or cheap furniture? So what brand pops up in your mind first? This order is what is called the ‘brain position’ of a brand. So what brain position doCoca-Cola, Heineken, or Ikea have with you?

How does this work? Why do you first think of Coca-Cola? Is it the power of often repeated commercials? Or are other factors at play? The achievement of a prominent brain position depends on the fame of the brand, consistency in presentation of brand name and brand logo, and brand experience. And the experience with a brand must simply be good, whether it concerns taste, price or quality. A brand is no less than a promise!

And promises create expectations. And expectations must be met, continuously. So does an experience fall below expectation? THAT is precisely what must be monitored, for instance with the help of Satisfaction Research.

An experience is not exclusively linked to the features of the product, or the service provided but also to how the staff answers the phone or the difficult the quest for information on a website is. Each point of contact (touch point) is an image creating experience. To establish the touch points of an organization, we must set out the Customer Journey. A trip where each and every step of a customer his way to become a client is meticulously followed.

Finally, how do you feel about a brand? Is it sympathetic to you? Or irrelevant? This too is part of Branding Research. While the first two questions provide company insights in the company’s performance, the last question provides a valuable insight for the Public Relations department.

Branding Research, is about establishing the power of a brand, the ability to meet its promise. In addition to measuring the different aspects that are important for the brand of a particular company, these similar aspects are measured with competing brands. This comparison gives an insight into the relative strength and weakness of a brand versus its competition, i.e. where that company outranks its competition!