EXPLORING BRAND-PERSON RELATIONSHIP

Brand Management : Term 4 – Group 4

Roll No. NameFT13170 Shouvik DasFT13224 Ishani SircarFT13312 Arjun ChoudhryFT13351 Namita JoshiFT13389 Vikrant Vijay MahajanFT13466 Ruchika Salhotra

PROFILES OF THE 3 CANDIDATES

1a)    Think about the life stories of our three informants and the quotes regarding the brands they use .Is it appropriate to say that these consumers have formed relationships with the brands they know and use?  In what ways yes, in what ways no?

Jean

• 59 yr old• Barmaid living with her

husband• Italian Origin• Personality Traits• Hardworking• Family Oriented• Independent• Strong• Honest• Disciplined and organized• COMPASSIONATE• SACRIFICE• Believes in “No pain no

gain”• Social – love & care for

People• Part of closely knit

community – intimate• DOES NOT LIKE CHANGES• LOYAL TO GROUP

EXPECTATIONS

Karen

• 39 yr old• Recently Divorced• Working Mother –

Daughters Aged 8 & 12 • Personality Traits• Self disciplined • An under-achiever• Responsible and caring• Aspiring and youthful • Self centred• Unsure and undecided of

long term perspectives in life

• Strong association with ex-spouse and mother

• Influenced by close personalities

• Looks for solace• Gullible in relationships• Professional and keeps to

herself at work environments

• GRASPS FOR FAMILIARITY• FOLLOWS ROUTINE

Vicky

• 23 years of age• University Student• Recently moved out• In the process of Identity

formation. • Conflict between

dependence & interdependence

• Outgoing and people oriented.

• Self assured and confident.

• Ideological and stands for issues

• Loyal towards people & brands

• Very little Experimentation in order to find oneself

• Does not get influenced by choices of others

• Honest and true to self.

Brand Relationship and Associations of JEAN

Forms strong opinions and is High on brand loyalty for relationships with the products she uses after testing and experimenting with other comparative products

Mostly talks about brands of products used by a typical home maker Believes in message conveyed by the brand

With the following brands she associates because it bring resonance, by bringing RELATIONSHIP VALUE

• Reminds of Mom • Estee Launder

• Reminds of Second Daughter• Bugles Snacks • Team Cereal• Nestle Quik• Bunny Yummies

Her relationship is having EXPERIENTIAL VALUE. Believes in using a mix of products from a variety of brands shown below:• Revere Ware – Stainless Steel Pot• Pastene Tomatoes• Philip Berio Olive Oil• Progresso • Italian flavoured bread crumbs• vinegar• Johnnie’s Foodmaster – Meat Shop• Contadina Tomato Paste• Bounty Paper Towels• Frigidaire – Refrigerator • Electrolux – Vacuum Cleaner• Cleaning Agent - Comet Preferred Vs Bon Ami

(scratching sink)• Shampoo – Aussie Miracle ( doesn’t make hair

flat vs. others)• Tide Detergent (dissolves in water vs. others)• General Electric - Iron

Brand Relationship and Associations of KAREN

• Brand associations vary widely across product categories• Indifferent to brands used for general domestic purpose• High level of loyalty to personal brands• Not a frequent switcher and early adapter• Uses brands mostly out of habit and history• Buys what is “Demanded of her”

Indifferent about Tide, Surf , Cheer – Price SensitiveBRAND SUPERIORITY : For Comet vs. AjaxEXPERIENTIAL VALUE : • For Gateway vs. Apple• For Success Rice

Influenced by other relationships for the products:Jim :• Mop & Glo Vs Palmolive• Dove• Brand of Mayonnaise• Hellman Vs Miracle WhipMother• Joy Soap• Lysol cleaner• Ban Vs Right Guard

Personal Products : EXPERIENTIAL VALUE - STRINGENT• Mary Kay• Dove Soap –

Changed after dial (used by mother)• Gatorade• Reebok running

shoes• Coke

Brand Relationship and Associations of Vicki

• Often proud of her brand associations• Exhibits loyalty across the brand family• A stickler to brands and maintains consistency• A systematic variant selector• Open to using new brands if see’s functional benefits• Driven by cognitive and affective beliefs with right balance• Femininity a driver for brand purchase• Floral based products preferred Perceived BRAND SUPERIORITY & LOYALTY SHOWN for the following brands, giving

strong reasons for associations:-• Ivory Soap•Crest toothpaste•Soft n Dry•Musk Perfumes – Intimate Musk & Jordache Love Musk, Opium, Giorgio, Aveda Elixr• Select Innerware - Victoria Secret (Special Occasions), Bali & playtex (comfort based)•Floral Products – Sheets, Comforters, Bras , Shampoos & conditioner - Aeromatics, Mintm Rosemary•Tetley Teabags•Dow (preferred) Vs Lysol Cleaner

1b)    What kinds of connections form between consumers and their closely-held brands?

Brand Relationship Type Reason for buyingReverWare StainlessSteel

Functional Sauce Doesn’t burn

Pastene Tomatoes Functional Best Taste for Sauce

Hunts Special Sauce Self-expressive Taste Enhancer

Philip Berio Olive Oil Emotional She feels that the taste is better

Progresso bread crumbs & vinegar

Emotional Italian

Johnnie’s Foodmaster meat Emotional Better Taste

Contadian Tomato Paste Self-expressive Taste Enhancer

Bounty paper towels Functional She likes using them

Jenn-Air Self-expressive

BRAND RELATIONSHIPS - JEAN

Brand Relationship Type

Reason for buying

Fridgeidaire refrigerator

Functional Perceives Best Refrigerators

Electrolux Vacuum Cleaner

Self Expressive Perceives Best

Comet sink cleaner Functional Old Brand – Bon Ami, Degraded in Quality

Aussie Miracle Shampoo

Functional Doesn’t make her hair flat

Tide Detergent Functional Dissolves in Water

General Electric irons Self Expressive Gifted by Someone

Brand Relationships – Jean - Cont

Brand Relationship Type

Reason for buying

Detergent:Tide,Cheer, Surf

Functional Not able to distinguish between brands.Depend on-Sale, location, display

Success Rice Functional Feels it is one-of-a-kind

Comet Functional Dislikes Ajax because of low performance

Gateway Functional Preferred over Apple

Joy Functional Mother used it

Ban Functional Not Specified

Miracle Whip Functional Not Specified

Mary Kay Emotional Belief keeps her younger

Dove Self Expressive

Superior product Belief

Gatorade Emotional Likes the taste

Reebok Emotional Emotional Attachment

Coke Self Expressive

Not Specified

Brand Relationships – Karen

Brand Relationship Type

Reason for buying

Ivory – Soap Self Expressive

Strong association of Self with soap

Crest-Toothpaste

Functional Suits best for her needs

Soft n Dry Self Expressive

Smells nice, peer recognition

Opium Emotional People notice her

Intimate Musk Emotional Smells nice

Jordache Love Musk

Functional Bought during Xmas

Victoria’s Secret, Maidenform, Playtex, Bali

Functional Different uses, for different instances

Aveda Elixir Emotional Mood Dependent

Brand Relationships – Vicky

Brand Relationship Type

Reason for buying

Aromatics Mint Self Expressive

Gifted by Friend

Rosemary Shampoo

Self Expressive

Gifted by Friend

B& M Baked Beans

Self Expressive

Gifted by Friend

Tetley Emotional Used by mom

Lysol Emotional Used by mom

Dow Functional New – Improved product

Metadent Toothpaste

Functional Hygine Factor

Brand Relationships – Vicky - Cont

1c)     Are these connections specific to individual brands, or can patterns be identified across brands in a given consumer's portfolio?

As per the given data, we could only identify tide detergent serving the trend of a functional relationship, however to understand the trend analysis, we did a categorization of all brands in 4 categories – Food & Beverages, Household Maintenance , consumer durables & personal care. We were able to identify the following across relationship types

Category Emotional Functional Self Expressive Grand TotalConsumer Durable 1 5 2 8Food & Beverages 5 2 5 12HH Maintainance 1 7 8Personal Care 4 6 4 14Grand Total 11 20 11 42

We can identify that the functional attributes across brands have a higher degree of relationship across categories with an exception of F&B where emotional & self expressive relationship have a higher pull

1d)    Are Jean’s brand relationships different from Karen’s or Vicki’s?  Whose brand relationships are strongest?  Why?

Yes, Jean’s brand relationship are different because:- Prefers particular products over brands , while Karen is price sensitive

& need based, vicki’s loyal to the category & the value derived from the a superior product , or the esteem / status it carries in the society

I would argue that Jeans Relationships are the strongest as:- Experience based, after using other products Vs karen & vicki like a

brand without trying the others Specifies products as BEST in her statements, where as karen & vicki

show preference, and back up reasons for the preference Karen is likely to switch brands based on price and convince to fit her

routine, even though she prefers familiarity, we cannot say much as she has the tendency to give into other peoples choices. We would argue that jeans brand loyalty is the weakest among the three individuals

Vicki is in the phase of self discovery, possible she might have the tendency to switch the brand on experimenting on a better product

2.) Think about the pool of brand relationships available for study in the case.

Jean – Brand Association

•Affective relationship is high•Has strong opinions about brands she uses•Brand loyalty is high•Mostly talks about brands of products used by a typical home maker•Believes in message conveyed by the brand•Uses Brands which reminds her of her family•Buys the best brands•May switch brands only if functional benefits are substantial

Karen– Brand Association• Brand associations vary widely across product categories.• Indifferent to brands used for general domestic purpose.•More driven towards cost effectiveness•Believes that all big brands are equally good• High level of loyalty to personal brands• Not a frequent switcher and early adapter.• Uses brands mostly out of habit and history.•Affected by the choices of family members•Likes easy to cook product brands

Vicki– Brand Association •Strongly related to her parents and roots.• Bonds with friends of past and present.• Looks for long term relationships• Faithful and Loyal •Variety seeker when It comes to certain things but by and large very consistent with her rituals and stuff like that.•More aware about things and tries to make a informed choice rather than just going by past associations.

2.2) Can you think of ways to summarize and describe these relationships in ways that might be managerially useful?

•Jean buys some Brands like Rever Ware Stainless Steel and Pastene tomatoes for their functional value

•Philip Berio Olive oil & Progress Bread crumbs are bought due to emotional value

•Electrolux vacuum cleaner is bought because of her Belief that it is the best

•Karen Uses Mary Kay and Dove due to Sensory value

•Vicki uses Opium because people notice her and it provides social value

2.3)Which brand relationships in the case would you describe as especially strong and enduring? What makes you describe these as "strong"? If you wanted to measure the strength or quality of a brand relationship, what questions would you ask the consumer?

AWARENESS

KNOWLEDGE

LIKING

ADOPTION

•Intimate Musk- Vicki

•Mary Kay- Karen

•Dove-Karen

•Opium-Vicki

•Electro Lux-Jean

•Frigidaire-Jean

Weak Brand

Strong Brand

Behavioral Loyalty

1. Which Brand do you usually Buy?2. Which Brand did you use last time?3. Which brand do you currently possess?4. Which brand do you consider buying?5. Which brand will you buy next time?

Brand Substitutability

6. Which brand did you buy last time?7. If the brand had not been available, what would have you done?

2.4) Why do some relationships decline and dissolve while others intensify and endure?

• Delivery of value and quality

• Innovation

• Differentiation

• Competition

5) How does a high quality relationship form and evolve over time?

6) Think about the traditional ideas of brand loyalty, customer satisfaction, and brand equity. Have the stories of Jean, Karen, and Vicki disturbed your sense of the meaning of these terms in any way?

Informant Name Is there any Deviation ?

Comments

Jean NO She has a very strong sense of loyalty towards the products she buys and feels that its worth the money. She is satisfied and does not mind paying more.

Karen Slight She chooses products based on price and discounts . She buys the items available in sale. She shows some sense of loyalty towards the products which make her feel look young.

Vicki NO She is a variety seeker. She likes trying out new stuff but she is very loyal to the brands she uses.

7)If you had to predict three consumer-brand relationships that would endure five years after these initial interviews, which would you select? Why those?

Jean Pastene tomatoesJean will definitely continue to use this product in the next 5 years, since it satisfies all the 3 values of Central, Expressive and Functional

Central Value - I always buy this brand, it is the best Expressive value- The others use rotten tomatoes -They use the best sauce you can tell Functional-The tomatoes used are perfect and the best

KarenMary Kay She will definitely continue to use this product in the next 5 years, since it satisfies all the 3 values of Central, Expressive and Functional

Central Value-It is really made for meExpressive value -The thought of not having it makes me nervous-I depend on it more and need it moreFunctional -It keeps me younger

VickiIntimate MuskShe is likely to continue to use this product in the next 5 years, since it currently satisfies all the 3 values of Central, Expressive and Functional

Central Value-I have gotten that every year sinceExpressive value -I am definitely a variety seeker when it comes to certain things but I mean, on the whole I am pretty consistent with my rituals and stuff like that.-I can’t imagine not havingFunctional - You smell good

8) Draw a Brand Hierarchy pyramid for any of the brands in use by either of Jean, Karen or Vicky .

MARY KAY

Karen has

great affiliations

with this brand

She feels the products keeps her younger to the extent that the non- availability makes her disappointed

She credits much of appearance to Mary Kay and feels dependent on it.