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Chapter 7
Leveraging Secondary Brand Associations to Build Brand
Equity
Chapter Objectives
1. Outline the eight main ways to leverage secondary associations.
2. Explain the process by which a brand can leverage secondary
associations.
3. Describe some of the key tactical issues in leveraging secondary
associations from di erent entities.
Overview
This chapter addresses the way in which secondary associations can be
leveraged to build brand equity. Secondary associations are those
related to other entities to which a brand is linked, such as the parent
company, country of origin, channels of distribution, spokespeople,
events, characters, other brands, and third-party sources. The link may
lead consumers to assume or infer that beliefs, attitudes, and
perceptions they have for the external source also hold for the brand.
This ability to “borrow” equity from the people, places, or things
associated with the brand creates additional leverage for marketers
beyond that generated by brand elements and marketing programs.
Leverage can only occur when consumers are familiar with the external
source and associations for the sources are relevant to the brand. The
leveraged associations are most likely to be considered in brand choice
decisions when consumers have low interest or knowledge levels.
Three criteria for evaluating the extent of leverage resulting from
brand linkage to another entity: awareness of knowledge of entity,
meaningfulness of the entity’s knowledge, transferability of the entity’s
knowledge.
Eight di erent ways to leverage secondary associations to build brand
equity are linking the brand to: (1) the company making the product;
(2) the country or some other geographic location in which the product
originates; (3) retailers or other channel members that sell the product;
(4) other brands, including ingredient brands; (5) licensed characters;
(6) famous spokespeople or endorsers; (7) events; and (8) third-party
sources.
The chapter notes that attempts to leverage secondary associations
require the company to relinquish some control over the branding
process. In particular, managing the transfer process so that only the
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall.
relevant secondary associations become linked to the brand may be
di4cult. Unwanted secondary associations may also become linked to
the brand. For example, if one of two brands in a co-branding
agreement becomes a target for negative publicity, the other brand
may 7nd its brand equity negatively a ected as well.
Brand Focus 7.0 discusses one of the biggest events for corporate
sponsorship, the Olympic Games. Companies spend up to $50 to be
lead sponsors for the Games, and then spend as much as $100 million
on related marketing activities; however, not everyone thinks the
Games provide good value since the increasing commercialization of
the competition makes it harder to break through the clutter.
Science of Branding
THE SCIENCE OF BRANDING 7-1
UNDERSTANDING RETAILERS’ BRAND IMAGES
Academics have identi7ed the following 7ve dimensions of a retailer’s
brand image:
Access—The location of a store and the distance that consumers
must travel to shop are basic criteria in their store choice
decisions.
Store Atmosphere— Di erent elements of a retailer’s in-store
environment, like color, music, and crowding, can in@uence
consumers’ perceptions of its atmosphere, whether or not they
visit a store, how much time they spend in it, and how much
money they spend there.
Price and Promotion— Consumers are more likely to develop a
favorable price image when retailers o er frequent discounts on
a large number of products than when they o er less frequent,
but steeper discounts.
Cross-Category Assortment— Consumers’ perception of the
breadth of di erent products and services o ered by a retailer
under one roof signi7cantly in@uences store image.
Within-Category Assortment— As the perceived assortment of
brands, @avors, and sizes increases, variety-seeking consumers
will perceive greater utility, consumers with uncertain future
preferences will believe they have more @exibility in their
choices, and, in general, consumers are more likely to 7nd the
item they desire.
THE SCIENCE OF BRANDING 7-2
UNDERSTANDING BRAND ALLIANCES
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Academic research has explored the e ects of co-branding and
ingredient branding strategies:
Co-Branding— Park, Jun, and Shocker compare co-brands to the
notion of “conceptual combinations” in psychology. The 7ndings
show how carefully selected brands can be combined to
overcome the potential problems of negatively correlated
attributes (here, rich taste and low calories).
Simonin and Ruth found that consumers’ attitudes toward a
brand alliance could in@uence subsequent impressions of each
partner’s brands. Brands less familiar than their partners
contributed less to an alliance but experienced stronger spillover
e ects than their more familiar partners. Voss and Tansuhaj
found that consumer evaluations of an unknown brand from
another country were more positive when it was allied with a
well-known domestic brand.
Kumar found that introducing a co-branded extension into a new
product category made it less likely that a brand from the new
category could turn around and introduce a counter-extension
into the original product category. LeBar and colleagues found
that joint branding helped to increase a brand’s perceived
di erentiation, but also sometimes decreased consumers’
perceived esteem for the brand and knowledge about the brand.
Ingredient Branding— Desai and Keller conducted a laboratory
experiment to consider how ingredient branding a ected
consumer acceptance of an initial line extension, as well as the
ability of the brand to introduce future category extensions.
The results indicated that with slot 7ller expansions, although a
co-branded ingredient eased initial acceptance of the expansion,
a self-branded ingredient led to more favorable later extension
evaluations. With more dissimilar new attribute expansions,
however, a co-branded ingredient led to more favorable
evaluations of both the initial expansion and the subsequent
extension.
Branding Briefs
BRANDING BRIEF 7-1
IBM PROMOTES A SMARTER PLANET
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IBM decided it needed to radically transform itself from a
product-focused company to a value-added, services-oriented
company. IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano spun o the
company’s famous PC division and began to invest heavily in software
and business consulting. Another critical aspect of the transformation
was aligning the public perception of IBM with this new vision.
“Smarter Planet” became the slogan for the corporate campaign,
which had its roots in some of IBM’s recent accomplishments.
The initial goal of the “Smarter Planet” campaign was to position IBM
as a leader in solving the world’s most pressing problems. One of the
7rst campaign activities was an op-ad series, “Building a Smarter
Planet,” targeting forward-thinking leaders.
The campaign also included TV ads and targeted ads to three groups:
business and government leaders in large organizations, IT
professionals, and the mid-market. It included a strong digital
component, with an expanded IBM Web site and a Smarter Planet blog.
Videos were created and distributed across eight of the largest
video-sharing sites. IBM also launched a “Smarter Cities” global tour to
bring key policy and decision makers together to discuss the topical
issues they faced, such as transportation, energy, health care,
education, and public safety.
IBM analysts estimated that the Smarter Planet strategy expanded its
market potential by as much as 40 percent globally, or by an additional
$2.3 billion in revenue. IBM’s brand tracking revealed increases across
the board on a variety of image measures and overall judgments
related to consideration, preference, and likelihood of doing business.
IBM’s stock price increased by 64 percent during the campaign.
BRANDING BRIEF 7-2
SELLING BRANDS THE NEW ZEALAND WAY
In November 2010, New Zealand was ranked as the third-strongest
country brand in the world, a credit to the country’s remarkable
qualities, but also to its concerted marketing program through the
years.
In 1991, New Zealand began a branding initiative called “The New
Zealand Way.” The key objectives of the New Zealand Way brand
campaign were to reposition New Zealand to re@ect its contemporary
positioning and undertake a sustained campaign that could be a
powerful force to bene7t trade and tourism in the global marketplace.
The New Zealand Way brand campaign promoted the country, its
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tourism and trade products and services, and its famous people, known
as “Brand Ambassadors.”
In 1999, a decision was made to develop a more focused campaign for
tourism and Tourism New Zealand sharpened its destination global
marketing with its campaign: “100% Pure New Zealand.” The
campaign focused on building awareness of New Zealand as a unique
holiday destination due its spectacular natural landscapes and
fascinating culture and people.
Buoyed also by publicity from the highly popular Lord of the Rings 7lm
trilogy, which was 7lmed there, plus the pro7le from the America’s Cup
which Tourism New Zealand cleverly used for promotion, the number of
visitors to the country increased by 50% during this time. NZTE chose
to focus its branding e orts on international business development
re@ecting emerging and relevant values for enterprise such as
innovation, creativity, and integrity.
In 2011, the tag line for the tourism campaign was changed to “100%
Pure You” with the subline, “It’s About Time.” The intent was to build
on the prior campaign to target people who were actively considering
New Zealand for a holiday vacation and to encourage them to travel
soon.
BRANDING BRIEF 7-3
INGREDIENT BRANDING THE DUPONT WAY
DuPont introduced a number of innovative products for use in markets
ranging from apparel to aerospace. Many of the company’s innovations
became household names as ingredient brands in consumer products
manufactured by many other companies.
DuPont learned an important branding lesson the hard way. Because
the company did not protect the name of its 7rst organic chemical
7ber, nylon, it was not trademarkable and became generic. A key
question that DuPont constantly confronts is whether to brand a
product as an ingredient brand. To address this question, the 7rm has
traditionally applied several criteria:
On the quantitative side, DuPont has a model that estimates the
return on investment of promoting a product as an ingredient
brand. The goal of the model is to determine whether branding
an ingredient can be 7nancially justi7ed, especially in industrial
markets.
On the qualitative side, DuPont assesses how an ingredient
brand can help a product’s positioning. If competitive and
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consumer analyses reveal that conveying certain associations
would boost sales, DuPont is more likely to brand the ingredient.
DuPont maintains that an appropriate, e ective ingredient branding
strategy leads to a number of competitive advantages, such as higher
price premiums, enhanced brand loyalty, and increased bargaining
power with other members of the value chain. DuPont employs both
push and pull strategies to create its ingredient brands.
BRANDING BRIEF 7-4
MANAGING A PERSON BRAND
Guidelines for managing a person brand:
A person brand must manage brand elements.
A person brand is built by the words and actions of that person.
A person brand can borrow brand equity through secondary
associations and employ strategic partnerships with other people
to enhance brand equity.
Credibility is key for a person brand.
Person brands can use multiple media channels.
A person brand must stay fresh and relevant and properly
innovate and invest in key person traits.
A person brand should consider optimal positioning in terms of
brand potential and associated points-of-parity and
points-of-di erence.
Brand architecture is simpler for a person brand but brand
extensions can occur, for instance when a person adds to his or
her perceived capabilities.
A person brand must live up to the brand promise at all times.
A person brand must be a self-advocate and help to shape
impressions.
Brand Focus
BRAND FOCUS 7.0
GOING FOR CORPORATE GOLD AT THE OLYMPICS
Corporate sponsorship is a signi7cant part of the business side of the
Olympics and countries themselves vie for the rights to host the
Games.
Corporate Sponsorship
Corporate sponsorship of the Olympics exploded with the commercial
success of the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. At that time, many
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international sponsors, like Fuji, achieved positive image building and
increased market share. Besides direct expenditures, 7rms spent
hundreds of millions more on related marketing e orts.
Sponsorship ROI
Although several 7rms have long-term relationships and commitments
with the Olympics, in recent years other long-time sponsors have cut
their ties. Although many factors a ect the decision to engage in or
renew an Olympic sponsorship, its marketing impact is certainly widely
debated.
Ambush Marketing
In some cases, sponsorship confusion may be due to ambush
marketing, in which advertisers attempt to give consumers the false
impression they are Olympic sponsors without paying for the right to
do so. Nonsponsoring companies attempt to attach themselves to the
Games by, for instance, running Olympic-themed ads that publicize
other forms of sponsorship like sponsoring a national team, by
identifying the brand as an o4cial supplier, or by using current or
former Olympians as endorsers. Containing ambush marketing requires
much diligence.
Beijing 2008 Summer Games
The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing held special appeal for some
advertisers because the Games represented a connection to the
burgeoning Chinese market. General Electric began its 7rst global
campaign revolving around the Beijing Games in 2005. UPS also chose
the Beijing games to strengthen its brand presence in China.
London 2012 Summer Games
Recognizing the important 7nancial contribution of sponsorship, the
London Games were supported by the British government’s
introduction of extensive anti-ambush legislation. Banned were
activities such as sky-writing, @yers, posters, billboards, and projected
advertising within 200 meters of any Olympic venue. Organizers of the
London Games also embarked on a multimillion dollar advertising
campaign, “The Greatest Tickets on Earth,” in hope of raising £500
million from ticket sales. Outside the country, the government also
embarked on a “Visit Britain” and “Visit London” promotional campaign
to attract tourists.
City and Country E ects
A number of bene7ts may be evident for a host country that can be
hard to quantify. One important psychological bene7t is civic pride and
patriotism for serving as host to such an iconic global sporting event.
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Another often-overlooked bene7t is the investment in improving
infrastructure that often leads up to hosting the Games.
Summary
Many corporate sponsors continue to believe that their Olympic
sponsorship yields many signi7cant bene7ts, creating an image of
goodwill for their brand, serving as a platform to enhance awareness
and communicate messages, and a ording numerous opportunities to
reward employees and entertain clients. Other view the Games as
overly commercialized, despite the measures undertaken by the IOC
and USOC to portray the Olympics as wholesome. In any case, the
success of Olympic sponsorship depends in large part on how well it is
executed and incorporated into the entire marketing plan.
Discussion questions
1. The Boeing Company makes a number of dierent types of aircraft
for the commercial airline industry, e.g., the 727, 747, 757, 767,
and 777 jet models. Is there any way for Boeing to adopt an
ingredient branding strategy with their jets? How? What would be
the pros and cons?
2. After winning major championships, star players often complain
about their lack of endorsement oers. Similarly, after every
Olympics, a number of medal-winning athletes lament their lack of
commercial recognition. From a branding perspective, how would
you respond to the complaints of these athletes?
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3. Think of the country in which you live. What image might it have
with consumers in other countries? Are there certain brands or
products that are highly eective in leveraging that image in global
markets?
4. Which retailers have the strongest image and equity in your
mind? Think about the brands they sell. Do they help to contribute
to the equity of the retailer? Conversely, how does that retailer’s
image help the image of the brands it sells?
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5. Pick a brand. Evaluate how it leverages secondary associations.
Can you think of any ways in which the brand could more
eectively leverage secondary brand knowledge?
Exercises and assignments
1. Ask students to poll consumers regarding their associations for
di erent countries. What products or services 7t with and could
bene7t from being linked to the countries? Are the associations
consistent with the way in which products and services from those
countries are being marketed? (Can be related to Branding Brief
7-2: Selling Brands the New Zealand Way)
2. Tell students to suggest celebrity endorsers for brands currently
without one, and to explain their recommendations. For example,
does Dennis Rodman’s 7ery personality make him a good
spokesperson for Tabasco? Does Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’
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ever-present cell phone make him a perfect candidate to endorse
Nokia phones? Would Rosie O’Donnell be a made-in-heaven match
with Nickelodeon because of her love for and knowledge of classic
TV shows?
3. Assign students the task of 7nding co-branding opportunities in
various product categories. For example:
Facial tissue Pu s and Vaseline Intensive Care lotion?
Spaghetti sauce Ragu and Gallo wine?
Hotel Red Roof Inn and Serta mattresses?
4. Have students identify a brand with an active licensing strategy and
evaluate the 7t of the licensed products with the brand’s image.
What changes should be made in the brand’s licensing policy?
Examples of brands with products in numerous categories outside
the original include Jell-O, Looney Tunes, Ralph Lauren and Star
Wars.
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Key take-away points
1. Linking the brand to some other entity—some source factor or
related person, place, or thing—may create a new set of
associations from the brand to the entity, as well as a ecting
existing brand associations.
2. Brands can “borrow” equity from their association with people,
places, programs, and other non-product-based sources.
3. Leveraging secondary associations can be problematic because it
requires marketers to give up some degree of control over the
branding process.
4. Secondary associations are strongest when consumers have
awareness and strong, favorable, and unique perceptions of the
external source.
5. Secondary associations are most likely to a ect evaluations when
consumers lack the ability or motivation to judge product attributes.
6. Because of associations to product assortment, pricing and credit
policy, quality of service, and so on, retailers have their own brand
images in consumers’ minds.
7. An existing brand can also leverage associations by linking itself to
other brands from the same or di erent company.
8. Licensing creates contractual arrangements whereby 7rms can use
the names, logos, characters, and so forth of other brands to market
their own brands for some 7xed fee.
9. A famous person can draw attention to a brand and shape the
perceptions of the brand, by virtue of the inferences that consumers
make based on the knowledge they have about the famous person.
10. Sponsored events can contribute to brand equity by becoming
associated to the brand and improving brand awareness, adding
new associations, or improving the strength, favorability, and
uniqueness of existing associations.
11. Marketers can create secondary associations in a number of
di erent ways by linking the brand to various third-party sources.
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