Gillian Oakenfull

Measuring Brand Meaning

ABSTRACT Brand extensions constitute an estimated 95% of the 16,000 launched in the United States every year. In the research described here, the authors introduce a categorization-based procedure to help marketers identify key elements of a brands meaning for purposes of extension. The procedure identifies attributes that are ‘most definitive’ of the brand - and also what the brand ‘cannot’ be. First they discuss the concept of ‘fit’, then describe the procedure and illustrate its use.

Standing out from the crowd

ABSTRACT This study explores Caucus, a research methodology specifically designed to elicit the key brand associations that drive product differentiation and brand positioning in product categories characterized by many competitor brands—each having a relatively low market share. It begins with an overview of this methodology, contrasting it with two existing brand-association elicitation methodologies. Next, a step-by-step procedure is outlined for executing a comprehensive Caucus study. Then, the procedure and findings of an illustrative Caucus study are presented. Finally, the implications of Caucus for future brand-association research are discussed.