Going Beyond Brand Equity

If you have ever taken a marketing course, you likely have at least a fundamental understanding of brand equity; it is that all important shift in the consumer’s mind that happens when your brand is present. The art of branding itself, is done with the intent of building this brand equity - which permits several benefits for both the customer and the company.

The powerful effects of brand equity can easily be seen through the classic Larry Percy experiment, which pitted different beer brands against each other. In this example, participants were asked to taste different beers and then rank them based on preference. However, the taste test was performed twice, once with the brands present and once with the brands hidden. The large and favourable inconsistencies in the answers for the “branded” and “unbranded” rounds coined branding as a potent source for creating strong association towards product, and as a generator of points of difference.

Think about the Cola Wars: Coca Cola and Pepsi sell essentially the same product, so similar that it is almost indistinguishable in a blind taste test; yet the two companies have developed different brand personalities, with Coke’s sitting clearly in the drivers seat. The gross difference in their financial performances can be neatly explained by the stronger brand equity possessed by the Coca Cola brand.

Also in your Marketing course, you may have been taught methods on how to build a brand, and what tends to drive brand equity. Absent however, are the tools needed to save a brand that has developed negative brand equity.

Lets take Beyond Petroleum as an example. Through a series of mishaps - the most prevalent being the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - the company managed to create such negative associations with its brand that employees were warned to be careful where they wore branded clothing, and to use caution when revealing their place of work.

A re-branding in 2000 already showed signs of confusion within the marketing department. A “Beyond Petroleum” Campaign was launched, along with a new logo, to promote BP’s positive environmental outlook. To this day, there remains confusion about whether British Petroleum actually changed their name to Beyond Petroleum, or if that merely became the company’s slogan. A quick google search will confirm the uncertainty. (Their webpage does little to help: http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/our-history/history-of-bp/special-subject-histories/bp-brand-and-logo.html)

The continuous inconsistency between the company’s communications and actions have created outraged consumers vowing to never again purchase the product. This leaves the obvious question; What can BP do to restore its brand, and create positive brand equity to benefit their bottom line?

What’s your opinion? Who is at fault for the negative associations now prevalent? What options exist for the brand?