Brand Management: Where Companies Go Wrong

In the course of our research, we asked consumers to name strong brands. The list of brands most mentioned was short, reinforcing the point that brand-building is underdeveloped in most companies.

Only 15 brands accounted for 50% of total mentions. Consumers set a high bar for brands to qualify as strong, and strength appears to be based on more than company image or size. Brands are viewed in multiple dimensions — encompassing a consumer’s cumulative perceptions and experiences.

At a minimum, strong brands are visible, but awareness does not in itself constitute strength. Developing a powerful brand across multiple dimensions and blending its creative and operational aspects requires active management.
We find, however, that most companies view brands and brand management rather narrowly and passively:
They fixate on brand awareness. Advertising alone does not build a brand. On the contrary, our data show that aided awareness is only weakly correlated with brand health and customer commitment. “It’s not just about what you say, but what you do as a company [to build a brand],” warns Len Vickers, the former head of corporate marketing at General Electric Co.
Consider the grocery industry: Traditional grocers have among the highest awareness ratings and the lowest percentages of customers increasing spending. In the wireless and banking industries, consumers rank advertising last among factors most influencing their impressions of a brand. Advertising accounts for less than 5% of what drives brand impressions.