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Building a unique brand identity: measuring the relative ownership potential of brand identity element types

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Abstract

A strong brand identity must comprise unique identity elements such as logos, colours or characters that distinguish it from competitors and facilitate recognition and purchase. A critical marketing function is therefore deciding which elements to invest in, to protect and build this identity. Within this paper, a new measure, Competitive Intensity, is proposed as a means to critically evaluate brand identity elements on their uniqueness potential. Results of testing 1281 in-market elements from 13 consumer packaged goods categories in 19 countries show that character, logo and logotypes have the greatest potential for unique brand ownership. Colour, however, is more challenging to develop as a unique brand identifier due to high levels of competitive sharing. Competitive intensity varies for elements of the same type, suggesting that practitioner execution plays a critical role in successful ownership. Being the first empirical comparison of eight element types, this paper provides comprehensive guidance to practitioner decision-making.

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Notes

  1. Within this paper uniqueness is used in two separate contexts, as a general concept and also to describe a specific metric. Where referring to the metric, Uniqueness has been capitalised and italicised for clarity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marketing, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, University of South Australia, UniSA City West, 70 North Terrace, Adelaide, Australia

    Ella Ward, Song Yang, Jenni Romaniuk & Virginia Beal

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  1. Ella Ward
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Appendices

Appendix A: Description of data sets

Consumables: food or drinks

Collection period

Category

Category screener. Purchased at least once in the past:

Sub-category

Country

Respondents (n)

July 2015

Bottled Beverages

3 months

Carbonated Soft Drinks

Norway

602

Water

Iced Tea

Norway

406

June 2015

December 2014

December 2015

Breakfast Foods

6 months

Cereal

Liquid B/fast

Australia

623

Cereal

France

400

Germany

400

Italy

400

Spain

400

UK

400

Cereal/toaster pastries

USA

400

February 2015

Coffee

3 months

NA

France

512

Germany

300

Poland

300

Russia

300

September 2015

Chocolate

3 months

NA

Australia

402

Germany

404

Russia

420

South Africa

406

UK

404

July 2015

Dairy Products

6 months

Chilled

Australia

617

Frozen

Australia

620

August 2015

Snacks

6 months

Cookies

USA

407

Salty Snacks

Japan

412

Mexico

407

UK

402

Household goods

Collection period

Category

Category screener.

Purchased at least once in the past:

Sub-category

Country

Respondents (n)

March 2015

Air Freshener

12 months

NA

USA

409

February 2015

Dishwashing Detergent

Dishwasher in household

NA

France

607

Netherlands

600

April 2015

Food Storage

12 months

NA

USA

411

December 2014

Hair-care

6 months

NA

China

627

India

628

USA

622

Brazil and UK: June 2014

All other countries:

March–August 2015

Household Cleaners

12 months

Drain Cleaner

USA

412

Bathroom

Cleaner

Argentina

600

Brazil

401

France

400

Germany

401

Russia

400

Thailand

400

UK

600

Furniture Care

Argentina

403

Argentina

400

Brazil

412

UK

406

UK

400

USA

404

USA

349

Glass Cleaner

USA

400

April 2015

June 2015

Insect Sprays

12 months

Insecticide

Italy

402

France

408

Argentina

421

Australia

410

Brazil

408

China

406

India

403

USA

420

Personal repellent

Argentina

400

Brazil

403

Germany

406

Italy

413

USA

410

March 2015

Laundry Detergent

12 months

NA

USA

409

Appendix B: Example of within survey element presentation

figure a

Appendix C: Asset type inclusion at category level

 

B-fast foods

Chocolate

Snacks

HH cleaner

Insect Spray

Coffee

Dish Detergent

Bottled Beverage

Laundry Detergent

Food Storage

Dairy

Hair-care

Logotype

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

   

Product Form

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

  

✓

  

Character

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

     

✓

 

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Ward, E., Yang, S., Romaniuk, J. et al. Building a unique brand identity: measuring the relative ownership potential of brand identity element types. J Brand Manag 27, 393–407 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-020-00187-6

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