Mckinsey - Better Branding

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1、Marketersrelytoomuchonintuition.Thekeytobuildingbrandsmorescientificallyistocombineaforward-lookingmarketsegmentationwithabetterunderstandingofcustomersandabrand’sidentity.NoraA.Aufreiter,DavidElzinga,andJonathanW.GordonTheMcKinseyQuarterly,2003Number4Buildingstrongbrandsisn’tgettinganyeasi

2、er.Anexplosioninthenumberofbrands—aswellasaproliferationofwaystocommunicatethem,fromhundredsofcablechannelstotheInternet,productplacementinmovies,andevenmobile-phonedisplayscreens—hasmadeittoughertogetmessagesthrough.Inaddition,convergingproduct-performanceandservicelevelsinmanyindustriesha

3、vemadeitmoredifficulttosustainexistingbrands.1Meanwhile,theeconomicdownturnhashamstrungmarketersbycuttingtheirbudgets(Exhibit1).Risingabovetheclutterwithoutbreakingthebankwillrequirecompaniestogetsmarteraboutbranding.Duringthe1990s,marketersspentunprecedentedsums,butmanydiscoveredlaterthatm

4、orewasn’tbetter.Thepromotionaleffortsofsomecompanieswereindiscriminate,focusingonaspectsofthebrandthatdidn’tdrivecustomerbuyingpatterns.Othersfailedtonoteshiftingcustomerpreferencesandevolvingmarketsegments;Volvo,forexample,lostoutonyearsofpotentialsalesbywaitinguntil2003tointroduceasportut

5、ilityvehicle.Inshort,marketersreliedtooheavilyonintuitionandnotenoughonafact-basedunderstandingofthemarketplace.Afewcompaniesarestartingtobuildtheirbrandsmorescientifically—andindoingsohavepushedmarketingtonewfrontiers.Thekeyiscombiningaforward-lookingmarketsegmentationwithamorepreciseunder

6、standingoftheneedsofcustomersandabrand’sidentity.Thewealthofinformationaboutcustomersandbuyingpatterns(obtainedbystudyingeverythingfromloyaltyprogramstocheapInternet-basedsurveys)andtheavailabilityofmoresophisticatedandaccessiblestatisticaltoolsmakeitpossibletoundertakethesetaskswithmorepre

7、cisionandaccuracythanever.Inshort,reachingthenextlevelrequiresamorerigorous,data-basededgetobranding.Certainly,eventhemostadvancedquantitativetechniquescan’tsavebrandswhosevaluepropositionslagbehindthoseofcompetitors.Andadoptingnewmethodologieshasitschal