Pages: 6

No one wants a doctor – however well qualified – who appears to think that the patient is a hypochondriac; no one wants an investment advisor – however successful – who treats the client like an idiot; no one wants to join a club – however rich its benefits – that acts as if it doesn't want them as a member. Similarly, inappropriate attitudes can distance people from brands that have an otherwise attractive brand image. In this trailblazing book, Blackston provides an extended treatment of his model of Consumer Brand Relationships, first introduced in the 1990s. He describes the concept of “brand's attitude” as an essential complement of brand image, and develops a typology of brand relationships far richer and more nuanced than the familiar concept of brand love. Drawing on numerous examples and cases from a variety of different industries, and supported by 30 years of consumer data, Brand Love Is Not Enough should be on the shelf of any serious marketer or student of branding.

Pages: 4

The Righteous Brand is the second edition of Brand Love Is Not Enough, which presented Blackston's original intuitive model of Consumer Brand Relationships (CBR). The second edition adds extensive new and updated case history material to the original chapters and includes four totally new chapters with an up-to-the-moment analysis of how brands are both victims and players in the culture wars that are currently afflicting our society. Based on extensive original research, they describe how, just like people, brands acquire sociopolitical values, and are subject to “identity” politics. Evidence is presented that incorporating “purpose” into a brand's mission is not necessarily the panacea that many of its advocates claim. It is also clear from the research that informed decision makers do not need Environmental, Societal, and Governance (ESG) guidance in order to assess the degree of societal responsibility of a prospective investment. The final chapter demonstrates how the integration of brands’ “moral values” into the CBR model can resolve many of the issues that brands face in our polarized world. This book not only is essential reading for anyone working in marketing and in advertising or market research, for academics, and for students, but will also provide fascinating insight for anyone who takes an interest in the brands they choose, or choose not, to buy.

Pages: 128

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 18

The concept of brands’ attitudes – what consumers think the brand thinks of them – is introduced via a series of specific examples and case histories. Brands’ attitudes are defined as a consumer-derived construct, which is distinct from and largely independent of the more familiar construct, consumers’ attitudes toward brands, or brand image. The case histories demonstrate that brands’ attitudes are at least as important as consumers’ perceptions in determining brand use and brand loyalty, and the view is advanced that managing brands’ attitudes is vital to successful brand positioning.

Pages: 17

Relational Branding is grounded in the well-established theory of Relational Psychology. Chapter 2 briefly introduces the key concepts of Relational Psychology, and shows how the general relational concepts apply to the specific case of the psychology of the consumer–brand relationship. The general methodological approach to Relational Branding is described, and the concept of brands’ attitudes is fleshed out both theoretically and practically. The concept of a brand relationship map, a device used extensively in subsequent chapters, is introduced.

Pages: 15

Products that are used in or on the body – and extensions of the body, like clothes and houses – have a particular significance for all consumers. It is therefore not surprising that relationships with brands in these categories, such as food, toiletries, health and beauty aids, and detergents and laundry, share certain characteristics. This chapter explains how there is both a tangible and an intangible component of consumption in these categories, and how brands’ attitudes exert a crucial influence over the intangible – “hedonic” – aspect. The argument in this chapter is mainly carried by case histories from several categories.

Pages: 14

This chapter deals with brand relationships in the types of category where brand-as-badge or brand-as-status-symbol abound, such as designer labels, prestige liquors, and credit cards. Because many consumers’ self-image and self-esteem are so intimately bound up with, even dependent on, brands in these categories, relationships with them can be very strong and completely override, for good or for bad, the functional aspects of the product. The chapter highlights the problems that can be created when prestige brands’ attitudes create an unapproachable barrier, that prevents the development of a positive relationship with the brand.

Pages: 10

In financial services, like investment banking or insurance, or any category where there is a high degree of objective risk for the consumer, certain types of brand relationships are privileged. Case histories illustrate how different financial services, such as insurance and investment advising, require different types of brand relationship. Aside from financial services, there are a number of categories – for example OTC medications, or those involving new technology – where the consumer cannot easily evaluate the performance of the product, and where they have to depend on their relationship with the brand in order to reduce the level of perceived risk.

Pages: 19

This chapter includes case histories involving multi-product corporate brands – like automobiles, computers, and telecommunications products. Consumers buy and use these products, but their relationships are mostly determined by the corporate entity; as a result, they are quite different from consumers’ relationships with single-product brands. First, all products which bear the corporate brand name share, to a greater or lesser extent, in the vicissitudes of the parent brand's relationships with their consumers. Second, like altering the direction of an oil tanker, changing the relationships of a corporate brand requires a much greater lead time and commitment of resources, and usually involves a much higher risk. The case of Apple illustrates the changes in brand relationships that can take place as a brand evolves from a startup or insurgent brand into maturity.

Pages: 21

Based on large-scale quantitative studies across multiple product categories, Chapter 7 broadens the discussion from the specific brand relationships inherent in particular product categories, and describes the development of a typology of Universal Consumer Brand Relationships. These relationships are described and illustrated using examples of specific brands. Universal Consumer Brand Relationships are metrics that allow the drawing of generalized conclusions about how different types of consumer brand relationship influence consumer behavior and about the development of brands’ consumer franchises.

Pages: 12

This chapter describes the function of a formal statistical model, which measures the influence of each of the universal brand relationships on the size and strength of brand franchises, and ultimately on the value of branded businesses, as reflected in their stock market valuations. This model serves to demonstrate the link between the micro-level activities of consumer brand relationship management and macro-level market phenomena, and provides a guide for evaluating brand strategies designed to maximize the shareholder value of branded businesses. The chapter concludes with a discussion about possible and probable future developments in consumers’ relationships with brands.

Pages: 71

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 31

In this chapter, the sociopolitical influences on brands are examined. As their corporate owners have become more publicly aligned with liberal or conservative stances, many brands inevitably – either just by association or by deliberate policy – have begun to take on a political hue. Research data illustrates how, just like people, brands acquire sociopolitical values, and are subject to “identity” politics. It is demonstrated how Professor Jonathon Haidt's system of Moral Foundations, which measures the determinants of peoples’ basic sociopolitical instincts, can be applied to brands, and provides a means of measuring their sociopolitical values. It is shown how brands’ moral foundations relate to and interact with conventional brand imagery and influence brand outcomes. The chapter includes in-depth analyses of a number of specific brands – including Monsanto, Ben & Jerry's, Apple, and Wells Fargo – all based on original research by the author, and also covers many other brands.

Pages: 8

A corporate statement of purpose promises – at the very least – better, more transparent, and more socially responsible corporate governance. But it may also include undertakings to go beyond sole profit orientation, and to deliver value to the local or broader global community. Whether the company has just one brand or many, this means that brands too may be required to have a purpose beyond traditional marketing objectives. Many advocates of corporate or brand purpose maintain that this will never compromise brand profitability and may even enhance it. In this chapter, it is demonstrated, through an analysis of 60 different brands, that this is not necessarily the case; any purpose has the potential for making a brand either stronger or weaker. The brand's Moral Foundations should guide choices about brand purpose. Any brand or corporate purpose that is likely to produce a change in a brand's moral foundations should be very carefully evaluated.

Pages: 10

This chapter focuses on one of Haidt's Moral Foundations – Sanctity – as it applies to brands. The name itself of this dimension arouses some suspicion and resistance. Does it imply adherence to religion? Does it lay claim to some “holier than thou” status? At its simplest, a person or a brand with higher sanctity is one with a strong sense of right and wrong. However, brand research shows brands’ sanctity to be multilayered. For example, in more than one category, corporate and financial brands in particular, the relative sanctity of brands, as perceived by consumers, aligns closely with their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) ratings. Of even greater significance is that a loss of brand sanctity frequently heralds a deterioration in important aspects of a brand's image; the loss of sanctity per se does not necessarily damage the brand, but it provides an early-warning sign of potentially damaging image erosion. The meaning of the loss of sanctity in two brands – Wells Fargo and Apple – is explored in depth.

Pages: 20

This chapter describes the extension of the Consumer Brand Relationships model to include brands’ Moral Foundations. The key construct in a consumer's relationship with a brand is the brand's attitude, the consumer's beliefs about what the brand “wants,” “thinks,” or “feels” and how these “motivate” its behavior. The image of a brand is filtered via the brand's attitudes, to define the consumer's relationship with it. Using brands’ moral foundations as the image component a new set of brand relationships – Brands’ Moral Relationships – are identified and described. The moral relationship combines the influence of the brand's moral foundations – the ethical/moral rationale for brand preference – and the brand's attitudes, which translate the moral foundations into a more personal meaning. Two new case histories illustrate how a moral relationship with a brand can embody the values of diverse groups of consumers – even strongly contrasting ones. The appropriate brand attitude can serve to “liberalize” a conservative moral foundation or to “conservatize” a liberal one, hence reducing the risk of it becoming marooned in an identity-defined positioning.