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Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant

Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant

by David A. Aaker
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Release Date: January 2011
ISBN: 9780470613580
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Book Description

Branding guru Aaker shows how to eliminate the competition and become the lead brand in your market

This ground-breaking book defines the concept of brand relevance using dozens of case studies-Prius, Whole Foods, Westin, iPad and more-and explains how brand relevance drives market dynamics, which generates opportunities for your brand and threats for the competition. Aaker reveals how these companies have made other brands in their categories irrelevant. Key points: When managing a new category of product, treat it as if it were a brand; By failing to produce what customers want or losing momentum and visibility, your brand becomes irrelevant; and create barriers to competitors by supporting innovation at every level of the organization.

  • Using dozens of case studies, shows how to create or dominate new categories or subcategories, making competitors irrelevant

  • Shows how to manage the new category or subcategory as if it were a brand and how to create barriers to competitors

  • Describes the threat of becoming irrelevant by failing to make what customer are buying or losing energy

  • David Aaker, the author of four brand books, has been called the father of branding

This book offers insight for creating and/or owning a new business arena. Instead of being the best, the goal is to be the only brand around-making competitors irrelevant.

Table of Contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Preface
  3. 1. WINNING THE BRAND RELEVANCE BATTLE
    1. 1.1. The Japanese Beer Industry
      1. 1.1.1. Asahi Super Dry Appears
      2. 1.1.2. Kirin Ichiban Arrives
      3. 1.1.3. Dry Subcategory is Reenergized
      4. 1.1.4. Happoshu Enters
    2. 1.2. The U.S. Computer Industry
    3. 1.3. Gaining Brand Preference
    4. 1.4. The Brand Relevance Model
      1. 1.4.1. Defining Relevance
    5. 1.5. Creating New Categories or Subcategories
      1. 1.5.1. The Innovation Continuum
    6. 1.6. Levels of Relevance
    7. 1.7. The New Brand Challenge
    8. 1.8. The First-Mover Advantage
      1. 1.8.1. Trend Drivers
    9. 1.9. The Payoff
      1. 1.9.1. Financial Performance Research
      2. 1.9.2. New Product Research
      3. 1.9.3. Perceived Innovativeness Data
    10. 1.10. Creating New Categories or Subcategories—Four Challenges
    11. 1.11. The Brand Relevance Model Versus Others
    12. 1.12. What is Coming
    13. 1.13. Key Takeaways
    14. 1.14. For Discussion
  4. 2. UNDERSTANDING BRAND RELEVANCE: Categorizing, Framing, Consideration, and Measurement
    1. 2.1. Categorization
      1. 2.1.1. How People Categorize
      2. 2.1.2. Gaining Exemplar Status
      3. 2.1.3. How Categorization Affects Information Processing and Attitudes
      4. 2.1.4. Overlapping Sets of Categories
    2. 2.2. It's All About Framing
      1. 2.2.1. Empirical Evidence
      2. 2.2.2. The Scope of the Offering-Adding Options
      3. 2.2.3. Which Frame Wins?
    3. 2.3. Consideration Set as a Screening Step
    4. 2.4. Measuring Relevance
    5. 2.5. Key Takeaways
    6. 2.6. For Discussion
  5. 3. CHANGING THE RETAIL LANDSCAPE
    1. 3.1. Muji
    2. 3.2. IKEA
    3. 3.3. Zara
    4. 3.4. H&M
    5. 3.5. Best Buy
    6. 3.6. Whole Foods Market
    7. 3.7. The Subway Story
    8. 3.8. Zappos
    9. 3.9. Key Takeaways
    10. 3.10. For Discussion
  6. 4. MARKET DYNAMICS IN THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY
    1. 4.1. Toyota's Prius Hybrid
    2. 4.2. The Saturn Story
    3. 4.3. The Chrysler Minivan
    4. 4.4. Tata's Nano
    5. 4.5. Yugo
    6. 4.6. Enterprise Rent-A-Car
    7. 4.7. Zipcar
    8. 4.8. Key Takeaways
    9. 4.9. For Discussion
  7. 5. THE FOOD INDUSTRY ADAPTS
    1. 5.1. Fighting the Fat Battle
      1. 5.1.1. Roles of Scientists and Gurus
      2. 5.1.2. The Government's Role
      3. 5.1.3. Nabisco Cookies
      4. 5.1.4. Dreyer's Slow Churned Ice Cream
      5. 5.1.5. P&G's Olestra
    2. 5.2. From Fat to Health
      1. 5.2.1. General Mills and the Health Trends
      2. 5.2.2. Healthy Choice
    3. 5.3. Key Takeaways
    4. 5.4. For Discussion
  8. 6. FINDING NEW CONCEPTS
    1. 6.1. Apple
    2. 6.2. Concept Generation
      1. 6.2.1. Unmet Needs
      2. 6.2.2. Organizational Creativity
    3. 6.3. Sourcing Concepts
      1. 6.3.1. Customer-Articulated Unmet Needs
      2. 6.3.2. Ethnographic Research
      3. 6.3.3. Observation
      4. 6.3.4. Finding New, Unintended Applications
      5. 6.3.5. Customer Partnering in Concept Generation
      6. 6.3.6. Noncustomer Needs
      7. 6.3.7. Market Trends
      8. 6.3.8. Global Reverse Innovation
      9. 6.3.9. Open Innovation
      10. 6.3.10. Looking to Role Models
      11. 6.3.11. Competitor Analysis—Looking for Openings
      12. 6.3.12. Technology-Stimulated Concepts
      13. 6.3.13. Leveraging Assets and Competencies
      14. 6.3.14. Consider Category or Subcategory Definitions
    4. 6.4. Prioritizing the Analysis
    5. 6.5. Key Takeaways
    6. 6.6. For Discussion
  9. 7. EVALUATION
    1. 7.1. Segway's Human Transporter
    2. 7.2. Evaluation: Picking the Winners
    3. 7.3. Is There a Market—Is the Opportunity Real?
      1. 7.3.1. Evaluating Trends
      2. 7.3.2. The Rosy Picture Bias
      3. 7.3.3. The Gloomy Picture Bias
      4. 7.3.4. The "Market's Too Small" Problem
      5. 7.3.5. Testing and Learning
      6. 7.3.6. Knowing the Value Proposition
    4. 7.4. Can We Compete and Win?
      1. 7.4.1. Does It Fit the Strategy?
      2. 7.4.2. Does It Create Synergy?
      3. 7.4.3. Will the Firm Support the Effort?
      4. 7.4.4. Can the Offering be Created?
      5. 7.4.5. Can the Offering be Brought to Market?
    5. 7.5. Does the Offering Have Legs?
      1. 7.5.1. Attraction of a Growth Context
      2. 7.5.2. Competitor Strategies
      3. 7.5.3. Barriers to Entry
    6. 7.6. Beyond Go or No-Go—A Portfolio of Concepts
    7. 7.7. Key Takeaways
    8. 7.8. For Discussion
  10. 8. DEFINING AND MANAGING THE CATEGORY OR SUBCATEGORY
    1. 8.1. Salesforce.com
    2. 8.2. Defining a New Category or Subcategory
    3. 8.3. Functional Benefits Delivered by the Offering
      1. 8.3.1. Features or Benefits
      2. 8.3.2. Combining Benefits
      3. 8.3.3. The Right Functional Design
      4. 8.3.4. Appealing Aesthetic Design
      5. 8.3.5. From Components to Systems
      6. 8.3.6. Being Customer Involving
      7. 8.3.7. Offerings Tailored to Segments
      8. 8.3.8. Customer Intimacy
      9. 8.3.9. Dramatically Lower Price Point
      10. 8.3.10. Premium Offerings
      11. 8.3.11. New-Generation Offerings
      12. 8.3.12. A New Application or Activity
      13. 8.3.13. An Expanded Competitive Space
    4. 8.4. Customer-Brand Relationship—Beyond the Offering
      1. 8.4.1. Shared Interests
      2. 8.4.2. Personality
      3. 8.4.3. Passion
      4. 8.4.4. Organizational Associations
      5. 8.4.5. Corporate Social Programs
    5. 8.5. Categories and Subcategories: Complex and Dynamic
    6. 8.6. Managing the Category or Subcategory
      1. 8.6.1. Build the Culture to Support Execution
      2. 8.6.2. Become the Exemplar
      3. 8.6.3. Stimulate Buzz
      4. 8.6.4. Create Advocates
      5. 8.6.5. Manage Innovation
    7. 8.7. Key Takeaways
    8. 8.8. For Discussion
  11. 9. CREATING BARRIERS: Sustaining the Differentiation
    1. 9.1. Yamaha Disklavier
    2. 9.2. Creating Barriers to Competition
    3. 9.3. Investment Barriers
      1. 9.3.1. Proprietary Technology or Capability
      2. 9.3.2. Executing the Idea—The Capability to Deliver
      3. 9.3.3. Scale of Operation
      4. 9.3.4. Brand Equity
      5. 9.3.5. Brand Networks
      6. 9.3.6. Brand Loyalty
    4. 9.4. Owning a Compelling Benefit or Benefits
      1. 9.4.1. Delivering Authenticity
      2. 9.4.2. Developing Visible Credibility
      3. 9.4.3. Becoming a Moving Target
      4. 9.4.4. Finding a Branded Differentiator
    5. 9.5. Relationship with Customers
      1. 9.5.1. Enriching the Brand
      2. 9.5.2. Involving the Customer
      3. 9.5.3. Energizing the Brand
    6. 9.6. Link the Brand to the Category or Subcategory
    7. 9.7. Key Takeaways
    8. 9.8. For Discussion
  12. 10. GAINING AND MAINTAINING RELEVANCE IN THE FACE OF MARKET DYNAMICS
    1. 10.1. Walmart
    2. 10.2. Avoiding the Loss of Relevance
    3. 10.3. Product Category or Subcategory Relevance
    4. 10.4. Category or Subcategory Relevance Strategies
      1. 10.4.1. Stick to Your Knitting
      2. 10.4.2. Reposition the Brand
      3. 10.4.3. Gain Parity
      4. 10.4.4. Leapfrog the Innovation
      5. 10.4.5. Disinvest or Exit
      6. 10.4.6. Select the Right Response
    5. 10.5. Energy Relevance
      1. 10.5.1. Energize the Business
      2. 10.5.2. Branded Energizer
    6. 10.6. Gaining Relevance—The Hyundai Case
      1. 10.6.1. The Hyundai Challenges
      2. 10.6.2. The Challenge of Gaining Relevance
    7. 10.7. Key Takeaways
    8. 10.8. For Discussion
  13. 11. THE INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATION
    1. 11.1. GE Story
    2. 11.2. The Innovative Organization
    3. 11.3. Selective Opportunism
      1. 11.3.1. Entrepreneurial Culture
      2. 11.3.2. External Orientation
      3. 11.3.3. Breaking the Silo Trap
      4. 11.3.4. Strategic Drift
    4. 11.4. Dynamic Strategic Commitment
      1. 11.4.1. Leadership
      2. 11.4.2. Obsession with Execution
      3. 11.4.3. Continuous Improvement
      4. 11.4.4. Creating Substantial and Transformational Innovation from the Core
      5. 11.4.5. Strategic Stubbornness
    5. 11.5. Organization-Wide Resource Allocation
      1. 11.5.1. Bias Against the New Business
      2. 11.5.2. Venture Capital
      3. 11.5.3. Skunk Works
      4. 11.5.4. Centralized Resource Allocation
      5. 11.5.5. Strategic Stifling of Ideas
    6. 11.6. Key Takeaways
    7. 11.7. For Discussion
  14. Epilogue: THE YIN AND YANG OF THE RELEVANCE BATTLE
  15. Notes