Strategic Marketing

Brand Equity for All Musicians My topic will use Keller’s 2002 Model of Customer-Based-Brand Equity ('CBBE') to provide the blueprint for how musicians of all genres & budget levels can build CBBE whilst staying true to their artistic visions. The goal of this blueprint is to go from being unknown, to having a strong and active relationships with a fan-base. I hope that this provides clarity to artists struggling in all levels of the marketing process, from artists who simply want to build their brand’s awareness, to artists who are already well known but want to create a cult-like consumer-base. Additionally, I will integrate other theories introduced in the course, along with practical examples, to support my blueprint. Why Did I Choose This Topic? My motivation for picking this topic is personal. I am in the process of finalising my first release as an musician and wanted to create a cohesive plan for myself to follow. I thought that the exercise of considering a...

This video, titled ‘How the TB-303 Changed Music', resonates and engages with me in a way that epitomises how the Roland TB-303 acid synthesizer has reached the pinnacle of Keller’s model for building CBBE. It demonstrates how the product has, after initial failure, become so successful due to intense and active experimentation between musicians and the product, which ended up creating an entire sub-genre of electronic music. This video shows that the TB-303 (1) highlights the importance of a compelling product story, (2) demonstrates how history and heritage shape brand meaning, and (3) how brand judgements positively contribute to brand responses, all of which culminate in an attitudinal attachment and active engagement with the brand, along with the sense of community which is shared between users of this product. 1. How is the importance of brand story reflected in the video? At 0:46 seconds, Dave Smith explains how when the TB-303 was released it was extremely...

Covid-19 will impart numerous new secondary brand associations on the cruise industry. Entities traditionally considered to have weaker brand associations with the cruise industry; such as the medical profession, Government, and country of origin, have now been moved to the forefront of such brand associations. The creation of new secondary brand associations, coupled with the exacerbation of existing secondary brand associations, present an opportunity for cruise brands to  build CBBE through the established methods of (1) third-party sources, (2) entertainment events, and (3) ingredient branding. While secondary brand associations have been described as a brand associating or linking with another brand in order to benefit stakeholders (Hughes 2020), such associations have also been defined as associations to another object (or entity) linked to the focal brand (Bergkvitz & Taylor 2016, Keller 1993, 2003). For this reason, Hughes’ description of secondary brand associations ...

I believe that the CAA Integrated Brand Equity model by Wang et al (2008) is the best modern support for Keller’s CBBE model, and best focuses on the future of this theory. I will compare Keller’s CBBE pyramid to five different customer-based brand equity models, particularly, I will discuss how Aaker and supporting journals differ from Keller’s model, and will explain how these differences might manifest in marketing practice. Aaker (1992) Aaker’s model conceptualizes brand equity as consisting of five different dimensions used to create value. These dimensions are: (1) brand loyalty, (2) brand name awareness, (3) perceived brand quality, (4) brand associations, and (5) brand assets. I think that while Keller’s model focuses largely on emotion, Aaker believes CBBE is built primarily through recognition. Therefore, Aaker believes that the most successful brands are one that drive recognition (e.g. Disney) while Keller believes that the most successful brands are ones that drive ...

Jamala Wildlife Lodge and Pitch Music & Arts Festival demonstrate how adding experiences to the co-creation of value is an effective way to create and build brand equity (‘CBBE’). It can help with the creation of brand equity by (1) creating uniqueness and personality essential to building brand meaning, (2) creating an emotional experience that fosters positive brand responses, and (3) encouraging intense and active relationships through the co-creation of value. These three reasons will be discussed and applied to two different Australian brands which use experiences as a main strategy to build CBBE; Pitch Music & Arts Festival, and Jamala Wildlife Lodge. Personality and Values I believe that using experiences as an addition to the co-creation of value allows brands to share their personality and values with the consumer, as they are an effective method of demonstrating sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness (the five dimensions of brand pers...

Spotify can build brand equity as effectively as Zara, and similar brands, despite the fact that its basic offering is free and intangible in comparison. It does so because, in comparison to Zara (1) it still has the ability to develop strong brand salience, (2) it can demonstrate brand meaning through performance and imagery, and (3) is extremely effective at developing brand resonance through community engagement. Can Spotify Build Brand Identity as Effectively as Zara? Spotify is in a position to develop brand salience (brand awareness) because it can clearly describe what service category the brand competes in, and can ensure customers know which of their needs the brand is designed to satisfy (Keller, 2001). When compared to Zara, although both operate in different industries and provide for different needs, both are in a position to influence the likelihood they will form part of a customer’s usage consideration set, which is an important function of brand salience. Spot...

Zambrero, a brand which has lost significant brand equity over the past four years and is currently struggling with the ramifications of Covid-19, has the opportunity to rebuild brand equity by focusing on brand performance as a component of the CBBE pyramid (Keller, 2001). The Covid-19 crisis presents an opportunity for this brand to build brand equity by focusing on (1) secondary features, (2) product reliability, and (3) service effectiveness, efficiency and empathy. This blog will detail the ways in which this brand can accomplish these goals. We Keep It Clean! (Hygiene as a Secondary Feature) For me, one of the most important considerations I take into account when ordering take-away food during Covid-19 is the hygienic standards of the product producer. I believe that Zambrero can enhance the perceived quality of their food by developing superior hygiene standards in both the preparation and delivery phase, and marketing these standards through food-delivery applications, and ...

This video, detailing the ‘The Truth About Money in Music’, perfectly describes the truth about brand equity theory when it comes to music. It does so by (1) highlighting the importance of a band’s identity, (2) demonstrating the importance of purpose and meaning for musicians, and (3) describing how the majority of profits for artists are made from live shows, which consolidates intense and active relationships between producers and consumers of music. 1. How is the importance of brand/band identity reflected in the video? The video opens with a question asking artists to provide a history of the band and their biggest milestones to date. The answers to this question reflect the base of Keller’s brand equity theory: brand salience . The video creator does this to create cues used to describe the brand’s identity for the benefit of the audience, which ultimately creates brand salience by promoting awareness through accomplishment association. As is demonstrated in the vide...

The consumption of my reality item suggests that the low price of a good is not indicative of a weak relationship between the consumer and the brand. I argue that low priced goods, when consumed frequently, fosters the development of an extremely strong brand relationship - which results in further benefits to the consumer through customer relationships. Additionally, my reality experience has convinced me that ‘happiness’, in the consumption context, is a combination of the core product benefit, and the functional benefit and social benefit derived from the customer relationship (Beatty et al., 1996). For my reality item, as money is largely a prerequisite of a customer relationship, I will argue that money does buy ‘happiness’.  “G’day Tom number two!”. This was the greeting I received from ‘Tom number one’, a barista at Espresso Room, when I lined up for my daily double-shot flat-white. I have been a frequent customer of the cafe for about a year now, each...

Qantas is an Australian brand that uses its story as a key part of its marketing strategy, this has been effective for a number of reasons; (1) firstly , it has protected Qantas’s brand image from external factors, and (2) secondly , it has fostered a patriotic community investment in the success of the airline. However, there are potential (3) weaknesses associated with an over-reliance on brand story, in my blog I will explain how ‘brand story’ and ‘customer emotional connection’ is linked, and will explain why a customer might develop a negative ‘brand feeling’ (Keller, 2001) in response to a brand story. 1) I believe Qantas’ strong focus on their story as Australia’s most important airline has helped them create a compelling story with a clearly understood central character: the comradery and innovation of the Australian people. This has helped Qantas significantly  throughout the current Covid-19 crisis as brands that do not tell a compelling story ‘risk creating a short-t...

This video, detailing the story of video-store 20th Century Flicks, encapsulates the brand’s nostalgic identity and highlights how this identity has developed over time. This mini-documentary does this by (1) developing a deep and broad awareness of the brands personality, (2) distinguishing between this brand and others similar, (3) detailing what this brand means to the consumer, and (4) highlighting the unique relationship between the brand and the broader community.  https://vimeo.com/393154444 (1) I believe this mini-documentary develops a deep and broad awareness of brand personality because it describes where the video store fits in the (now virtually non-existent) industry. It details the video-rental-store culture of the past, and explains how 20th Century Flicks found success in that era. For me, nothing quite characterised my primary school sleepovers like take-away, too much soft-drink, and renting a movie. This mini-documentary perfectly encapsulates where this...