Brand Measurement

Wayne Marks Hansa|GRC

Researchers and marketers often think of brand measurement as one focus and customer experience measurement (aka customer satisfaction measurement) as a separate focus. The dilemma is that the customer does not experience the brand separately from the rest of his or her experience. As we have argued in other Thoughticles, the brand promise must be purposefully delivered throughout the customer experience. Hence, from a measurement standpoint, the customer experience also cannot be separated from the brand.

Yet, market researchers and marketers persist with separate studies of "brand" versus the customer experience. More of a rub is that when the results come back from the brand study, the marketer and others invariably ask, "What am I supposed to do to increase brand attraction and retention? How do I make these brand ÿndings actionable?"Let me acknowledge explicitly that there are needs for separate types of studies on brand or the brand promise. For example, one might want to identify "ownable" attributes for the brand, compare the brand at a high level relative to competitors, or gain insight into the brand appeal across di°erent segments. Frustrations arise, however, when measurement expectations and purposes are vague or confused. Often a high-level brand study might be conducted, and the brand managers are left wondering what to do because the study wasn't designed to pinpoint speciÿc areas of the customer experience where the brand was delivered well or not. If one wants an actionable study on the delivery of the brand promise, one has to measure the speciÿc areas and ways in which customers experience the brand promise. This means measurement must go beyond the traditional brand loyalty triangle, and instead must establish a bridge to critical aspects of the customer experience where the brand comes alive as illustrated in the following exhibit.

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