Page 90 - HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategic Marketing

THE BRAND REPORT CARD
Idea in Practice

Grade Your Brand
Keller recommends assessing your brand on the following attributes:

Your brand Which means . . . Example . . .
1. Delivers benefits It creates an engaging Starbucks delivers the
customers desire. customer experience. romance and sense of
community defining
Italian coffee bars and
appeals to all senses—
not just taste.

2. Stays relevant. Elements of the brand, In marketing its razor
such as the type of blades, Gillette tweaks
person who uses the images of men at work
brand, are modified to and play to reflect
fit the times. contemporary trends.
3. Is priced based on The nature of the Through “everyday low
consumers’ percep- product—for example, pricing,” Procter &
tions of the brand’s premium versus Gamble aligned its
value. household staple— prices with consumer
should influence perceptions of its
price. products as house-
hold staples.
4. Is properly posi- It clearly communi- Visa labels its cards
tioned. cates its similarities to “Gold” and “Platinum”
and differences from to equate its status
competing brands. with American Express
cards. But it also
showcases its cards’
superiority through
ads featuring desir-
able locations that
don’t accept American
Express.
5. Is consistent. Marketing communi- Michelob’s market
cations don’t send share shriveled over an
conflicting messages 18-year period charac-
over time. terized by inconsistent
advertising about when
customers should
drink their beer.

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