Managing and building brand equity has become a priority for companies of all sizes in all markets. According to Keller, Brand equity can help marketers focus, giving them a way to interpret their past marketing performance and design their future marketing programmes. Everything the company does can help enhance or detract from brand equity. Marketers who build strong brands have embraced the concept and use it to its fullest to clarify, implement, and communicate their marketing strategy.
Keller recommends assessing your brand on the attributes shared by the world’s strongest brands:
| Your brand | Which means… | Example… |
| 1. Delivers benefits customers desire. | It creates an engaging customer experience. | Starbucks delivers the romance and sense of community defining Italian coffee bars and appeals to all senses-not just taste. |
| 2. Stays relevant. | Elements of the brand, such as the type of person who uses the brand, are modified to fit the times | In marketing its razor blades, Gillette tweaks images of men at work and play to reflect contemporary trends. |
| 3. Is priced based on consumers’ perceptions of the brand’s value. | The nature of the product-for example, premium versus household staple-should influence the price. | Through “everyday low pricing”, Procter & Gamble aligned its prices with consumer perceptions of its products as house-hold staples. |
| 4. Is properly positioned | It clearly communicates its similarities to and differences from competing brands. | Visa labels its cards “Gold” and “Platinum” to equate its status with American Express cards. But it also showcases its cards’ superiority through ads featuring desirable locations that don’t accept American Express. |
| 5. Is consistent. | Marketing communications don’t send conflicting messages over time. | Michelob’s market share shriveled over an 18-year period characterized by inconsistent advertising about when customers should drink their beer. |
| 6. Fits sensibly into your brand portfolio. | Brands work logically together. | Clothing retailer Gap Inc.’s Old Navy brand targets the broad mass market, the Gap brand covers basic style-and-quality terrain, and the Banana Republic brand anchors the high-end market. |
| 7. Has an integrated marketing strategy. | All marketing activities and channels communicate the same messages about the brand, solidifying the brand’s identity. | Coca-Cola’s logo, promotions, corporate sponsorship, and interactive Web site all reinforce the company’s key values, such as “originality” and “classic refreshment.” |
| 8. Has meanings that managers understand. | Managers know consumers’ different perceptions of the brand. | Gillette protects the brand identity for its traditional manual razors by marketing its electric razors under the separate Braun name. |
| 9. Receives sustained support. | Companies consistently invest in building and maintaining brand awareness. | A consumer products company continues its advertising and marketing efforts even after building a positive image in consumers’ minds. |
| 10. Is constantly monitored. | Companies use a formal brand-equity-management system. | After Disney’s brand audit revealed that consumers resented excessive exposure of the Disney characters, the company decided not to co-brand a mutual fund. |