The Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model, developed by Professor Kevin Lane Keller, is a framework for building and managing strong brands. The CBBE model is based on the premise that the power of a brand lies in what customers have learned, felt, seen and heard about the brand over time. In other words, the brand's equity is a reflection of the value that consumers attach to it.
The “CBBE Model” consists of four key steps or building blocks:
1)Brand Salience: the ability of the brand to come to mind when a customer thinks about a particular product category. Brand salience is the foundation of brand equity and involves creating brand awareness and recognition.
2)Brand Performance: how well the brand meets customers' functional and emotional needs. It involves delivering on the promises made by the brand and exceeding customer expectations.
3)Brand Imagery: the way customers perceive and interpret the brand. It includes brand associations, brand personality, brand culture and other intangible elements that shape customers' perceptions of the brand.
4)Brand Judgments: the overall evaluations and attitudes that customers have towards the brand. It includes perceptions of quality, credibility, relevance and superiority, among other factors.
Kevin Lane Keller is a marketing professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is widely recognized as an expert in the field of brand management and has made significant contributions to the development of brand management theory and practice.
This model adds value to the theoretical background in the field of marketing by providing a comprehensive framework for handling strong brands. This model is widely regarded as one of the most influential and effective approaches to brand management and has been adopted by many companies around the world.
One of the main values of the CBBE model is that it recognizes the importance of the customer in creating brand equity. The model is based on the idea that the customer has an active role in determining the value of the brand and the key to building a strong brand is to understand and meet the needs and expectations of customers.
The CBBE model also provides a structured approach to brand management that helps companies to identify and focus on the key drivers of brand equity. By breaking down the process the model enables companies to identify specific areas for improvement and develop targeted strategies to enhance brand equity.
The Customer-Based Brand Equity model was first introduced by Professor K. L. Keller in his seminal paper, "Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity" which was published in the Journal of Marketing in 1993.
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In the paper, Professor Keller argues that traditional brand equity models focused too heavily on the financial and strategic aspects of brand management and that a new approach was needed that put the customer at the center of brand management. He introduces the concept of CBBE as a way to capture the value that a brand provides to customers and presents the four-step model for building and managing CBBE.
In the paper he also presented a comprehensive model for actual measuring and divides the tools in two sets:
Indirect measures are those that estimate customers' perceptions of the brand, as opposed to measuring their actual behaviour or purchase decisions. Indirect measures include brand awareness, brand associations, brand personality, brand culture and more. These measures are typically obtained through surveys and other forms of active market research.
Direct measures assess customers' actual behaviour or purchase decisions related to the brand. They base themselves on customer-based brand equity scores, derived from customer metrics such as market share, price premiums and customer loyalty. These measures provide a more accurate and objective measurement, as they reflect the actual value that customers place on the brand.
The model also recognizes that measuring brand equity is a complex, dynamic process that requires ongoing monitoring and adjustment. As such, the model emphasizes the importance of tracking changes in customer attitudes and behaviours over time and making adjustments to the brand strategy as needed.
In conclusion, Keller's contribution has had a significant impact on the field of brand management. The introduction of this model has helped companies better understand the value of their brands and develop more effective brand strategies. The model's comprehensive approach to measuring brand equity, which includes both indirect and direct measures, provides a more complete and accurate picture of brand performance, helping companies to identify areas for improvement and growth. The model remains a cornerstone of brand management and its ongoing development and refinement by Prof. Keller continues to shape the field.
Reference:
Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299305700101