Assessing branding strength: comparing marketer judgement and consumer data for brand identity elements

Abstract A brand’s identity, which is made up of brand elements like logos, colours, and taglines, helps consumers to recognise the brand. Marketers are responsible for building a strong, unique brand identity over time: deciding which brand elements to use and where, with some brand elements better able to cue the brand for consumers at a given point in time (reflecting past investments). These decisions are often made using intuitive judgements based on marketers’ own brand knowledge and experience to prioritise or retire certain brand elements. This research explores whether these judgements are an adequate substitute for consumer knowledge, which marketers are looking to affect. We compare marketers’ intuitive judgements with consumers’ brand associations measured on two dimensions (fame and uniqueness) for 405 brand elements used by 50 brands in five categories, considering multiple conditions. Results show marketers’ judgements are rarely accurate, typically overestimating fame and underestimating uniqueness of consumers’ associations with brand elements, though stronger brand elements are more accurately judged. The results recommend that brand managers should rely on consumer research to manage their brand’s identity or, where this is not possible, make judgements with a group of their colleagues.