Boosting Your Brand: A Closer Look at Brand Equity

In a world with so many brands to choose from, making yours shine can seem like an impossible challenge. But, with strong brand equity, your brand can not only attract loyal customers and carve out a sustainable position , but also withstand the waves of market changes and genuinely flourish. Validating and measuring your brand equity is the foundation your brand needs to grow and last for a long time.

Understanding Brand Equity: The What and the Why

Think of brand equity as a brand’s reputation. It reflects the value your brand holds in the eyes and wallets of consumers, and it is built on their feelings and experiences with your brand over time. Brand equity is defined by several factors:

• Customer loyalty: A loyal customer base should be a goal for all brands. Loyalty grows over time through positive experiences and actual connection with the brand.

• Brand awareness: The more people who know about your brand, the better. Building brand awareness means creating memorable experiences that last.

• Brand associations: These are the thoughts or feelings that arise when people think about your brand.

• Perceived quality: This is how good or reliable people think your brand is.

Brand equity is key because it can set your brand apart from competitors, help you sustain higher prices for your products or services, maintain your customer base, and provide a safety net during tough times.

Researching Brand Equity: The How

At Lab42, we’ve developed a questionnaire framework for brand equity studies that includes a range of modules to gauge and understand all aspects of a brand’s equity. Our approach includes:

• Aided/unaided awareness: Measuring whether customers recognize your brand with and without prompts.

• Usage/consideration: Understanding how often your brand is used or considered by potential customers.

• Category importance/brand perceptions: Assessing how much people care about the type of product or service you're offering, and within that category, how do people view your brand?

• Communication awareness: Evaluating the effectiveness and reach of your brand’s communication strategies.

• Custom module: Diving deeper with a custom module that gathers additional insights on brand affinity, brand personality, consumer journey, or other specific questions you may have.

With this approach, we provide a holistic view of your brand’s equity along with insights on how to build and enhance it.

The Benefits of Maintaining Strong Brand Equity

Having strong brand equity is like your brand having its own hype person. It not only boosts your brand’s value, but also makes it easier to capture a larger audience over time. Benefits of having solid brand equity include:

• Competitive advantage: In a crowded market, strong brand equity helps you stand out among the competition, making your brand a preferred choice for consumers.

• Customer loyalty and retention: It’s almost always easier to keep a customer than to acquire a new one, and strong brand equity nurtures a loyal customer base.

• Premium pricing: Powerful brand equity allows for premium pricing. Consumers are willing to pay more for a brand they value and trust.

• Resilience: In turbulent market conditions - which have been all too common in recent years - a strong brand equity helps to act as a buffer that allows brands to better sustain their businesses.

At Lab42, we’re focused on helping brands understand, build, and leverage their brand equity for sustainable growth.