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Brand Elements

Brand elements are those trademarks devices that serve to identify and differentiate the brand. Most strong brands employ multiple brand elements. Nike has distinctive “swoosh” logo, the empowering “Just Do It” slogan and the mythological “Nike” name based on the winged goddess of victory.

Brand element can be chosen to build as much as brand equity as possible. The test of the brand building ability of these elements is what consumers think or feel about the product if they only knew about the brand element. A brand element provides positive contribution to brand equity.

Brand Element Choice Criteria

There are six criteria in choosing brand element. The first three can be characterized by brand building in terms of how brand equity can be build through judicious choice of brand element. The latter three are more defensive and are concerned with how the brand equity contained in the brand element can be leveraged and preserved in the face of various opportunities and constraints.

• Memorable: How easily is the brand element recalled? How easily recognized? Is this true at both purchase and consumption? Short brand name like tide, Nike can help.

• Meaningful: To what extent is brand element credible and suggestive of the corresponding category? Does it suggest something about a product ingredient or a type of person who might use the brand?

• Likeability: How aesthetically appealing does consumers find the brand element? Is it inherently likeable visually, verbally, and in other ways? Concrete brand names such as Wheel, Sunsilk etc evoke much imagery.

• Transferable: Can a brand element be used to introduce new products in the same or different categories? To what extent does the brand element add to brand equity across geographic boundaries and market segments?

• Adaptable: How adaptable and updatable is the brand element? Betty corker received 8 makeovers through the years-although she is 75 yrs old, she doesn’t look a day over 35.

• Protectable: How legally protectable is the brand element? How competitively protectable? Can it be easily copied? It is important that names that become synonymous with product categories such as Kleenex, Xerox, Jell-O, etc retain their trademarks rights and not become generic.

Brand elements can play a number of roles. If consumers do not examine much information in making their product decisions, brand elements should be easily recognized and recalled and inherently descriptive and persuasive. Memorable or meaningful brand elements can reduce the burden on marketing communications to build awareness and link brand associations. The different associations that arise from likeability and appeal of the brand elements may also play a critical role in the equity of brand.

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