Branding & Equity

The key to building brands is combining market segmentation with an in-depth understanding of consumers and the brand identity.

• contains all the richness of the brand, 
• represents the basic potential for positioning in various segments, 
• allows coordinated and controlled communication, 
• and is also a reflection of the actual world of the brand.

Every brand is also placed within at least one category of products or services, which function according to their own rules. For this reason we must have a firm understanding of the categories in which the brand appears.

In the process of segmentation and positioning brands are placed in a certain segment of the market, and the marketing web has to be adapted to this segment. Branding activities have a variable effect on the market as well as on the brand image, and both of these effects must be (and are) measurable.

 Illustration: Brand management is a continuous process.

Our approach 

Valicon branding and brand equity research effectively answers three types of problems faced by clients:

Sharpening brand identity

• What is or should be the brand in different markets? 
• How to overcome disagreements regarding the brand within the company? 
• How to repair the effects of poor brand identity management?

Designing a portfolio of brands and the right architecture

• How to clean up and optimize the portfolio of brands in a company (also in examples of mergers)? 
• What to do in cases of regional overlap?

Introducing a new brand

• How does a brand function in a given segment? 
• If and how to expand a brand into new subcategories?

In our branding approach we combine qualitative motivational and projective research, with in-depth understanding of the categories in which the brand is active, and quantitative research, which lets us determine the strongest identifying elements of a brand in comparison with the competition. This allows us to both interpret and quantify the image of the brand.

Usually we start from the centre and build outwards. First we conduct internal workshops with the client to identify missing pieces of the brand puzzle, then we follow up with the necessary research or find secondary information.

When projects deal with brand identity, image and managing a portfolio of brands, we use the methodological and theoretical foundations laid down by David Aaker and Jean Noel Kapferer. We also use McKinsey’s approach to portfolio management, which is based on a specific style of segmentation, Interbrand’s Brand Platform Analysis and an adapted model of quantitive measures of brand power, intended for brand portfolio management.