Brand equity through the eyes of the consumer:

Brand equity through the eyes of the consumer: The case for measuring 'Commitment'

'Brand value is very much like an onion. It has layers and a core. The core is the user who will stick with you until the very end.' This much used quote from Edwin Artz seems simplistic at first glance, but the deeper you delve into it, the more profound are the implications for the brand management process, especially in the measurement of 'brand equity'.

Newcomers such as Lipton are establishing niche markets Whilst many definitions of 'brand equity' exist, most of them agree that any measurement should involve some combination of overall presence, usage or saliency, and public perceptions of the brand. However, this is more of an inside-out rather than the more realistic outside-in view of the brand and one in which not enough importance is given to the consumer experience that the brand generates. Brands are not central to consumers' lives - but consumers are central to a brand's existence; and so any approach to measuring brand equity needs to recognize that. Any practically useful measurement is not simply a function of presence and perceptions, but must also capture the quality of the relationship that the brand has created with its users.

We use the Conversion Model; which views 'Commitment' as the Holy Grail of brand building and measures equity as the brand's ability to convert promiscuous consumers into loyal apostles. Commitment is an attitudinal measure as compared to a behavioural one. Loyalty is behavioural and for that reason alone is not a sufficiently accurate reflection of the consumer-brand relationship.
There may be times when consumers may be highly satisfied with a brand yet still defect to the competition; similarly, dissatisfied consumers do not necessarily gravitate away from a brand at the first opportunity.

Measuring commitment in the UAE youth market

amongst 400 respondents aged 16-24 in the UAE. Our objective was to take a useful measurement of brand equity of key brands in cold beverages (carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks, iced teas etc) and electronic gadgets (MP3 players, gaming consoles, mobile phones etc).
Analyzing the results gives a clear idea of how commitment can shed light on the strength of the brand, important category dynamics, and emerging trends within these categories. As a category electronic gadgets generate greater commitment than cold beverages.

A typical young UAE national is more likely to try out different brands of beverages but unlikely to experiment with brand choice in electronics. While some of this can be attributed to higher switching costs or perceived risk, it also implies that most electronics companies have managed to create a differentiated brand offering through product innovations. Thus 66% of respondents tended to be single minded (i.e. committed to one brand) in their choice of gadgets, while only 47% were single minded in their choice of beverages. The implication is that market factors are more likely to influence brand usage in the beverages category.

Bigger may not always be better
Commitment is also a very useful indicator of future market share. In the cold beverages category a higher incidence of consumption does not necessarily lead to higher commitment. Brands such as Pepsi, 7Up and Coca-Cola currently have the highest consumption levels.

However, when we look into commitment levels we see that new age niche beverages such as Lipton Ice Tea, Power Horse and Oronamin-C enjoy the highest commitment levels in the category, with more committed consumers in their franchises than in the larger brands. This means that these brands have created a strong, dedicated following and while they may be smaller brands currently, they have the potential to wean more and more consumers and hence represent a very real future threat for these large CSD brands.
Based on our experience with cold drinks then, one might argue that a large consumer base leads inevitably to lower commitment. However, for iconic/power brands in some categories this is not the case.

Nokia's 'human' innovation brings success
An example of this is the performance of Nokia in the electronic gadgets category.
Nokia has by far the largest user base with a massive 90% of our respondents claiming to own a Nokia phone. But the more significant measure of Nokia's success as a brand is that 75% of those users are committed to the brand.

This is testament to Nokia's strategy of constant innovation yet consistent adherence to the values of human technology. The only other brands that come close are the iconic Apple Ipod and Sony Vaio, both of which enjoy only a fraction of Nokia's consumer base. An interesting aspect of Nokia's success is that perhaps brands need to be unfettered by the confines of their category and focus primarily on the consumer experience they wish to generate. Would Nokia have managed to create such strong commitment if it thought of itself as just a mobile phone company, and stayed away from photography or music streaming? In a city about to become home to the latest Armani hotel and Versace Pallazo surely that's food for thought.