Brand Effectiveness: Conversions Are Not the Measure

For many companies, brand effectiveness is measured by the number of conversions. In fact, that is not quite right — sales figures are certainly one of the metrics, but they cannot give the full picture. There are many models for assessing effectiveness. One of the best known — is the method of Scott Davis and Michael Dunn, based on analysing a person's touchpoints with a company. This model is better suited to the service sector or FMCG. Today we will look at a more universal method — Brand Health Tracking.

The name says it all: brands can fall ill just like ordinary people. BHT — is a study that makes it possible to determine a brand's position on the market, identify its USP in the eyes of consumers and compare it with the advantages the brand claims, and pinpoint problem areas. BHT is conducted through quantitative surveys of the target audience using a classic or non-classic set of metrics. Periodic health monitoring makes it possible to track, for example, the effectiveness of a long-running advertising campaign and even of branding as a whole.

The highest scores usually go to companies that have developed custom metrics and clear KPIs. Customised metrics give you timely warning if your brand lacks distinctiveness or if its advantages are being misperceived by the target audience.

What is the standard set of KPIs?

1. Brand and advertising awareness

The respondent is asked: “Please name the car brands you know”. Suppose the respondent named BMW, Mersedes and Range Rover on their own and could not recall any more. The interviewer then reads out a list of other competitors — for example, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce and Bentley — and notes the brands the consumer knows.

The first three, which the person named unprompted, — are spontaneous awareness, and the first — BMW — is Top of mind (the leader). The brands the person recognised from the list read out — are prompted awareness.

This indicator makes it possible to determine the position in the competitive field, and also to identify additional competitors in the category when the list is expanded.

2. Brand fit with perception

An important point to understand — is how well consumers' associations with the brand match its actual positioning. What qualities does the brand have? Suppose Range Rover — is the most masculine car. Which car, in the consumer's opinion, is the most masculine? Do they consider Range Rover masculine? On what scale is masculinity measured?

This indicator makes it possible to find out the real attitude towards the brand and its emotional advantages, and to identify points for adjusting the communication strategy or brand strategy.

3. Consumption

Here data are collected and analysed on the consumption patterns of the product category in question — whether it is a car or candy floss. Several blocks of questions make it possible to find out which choice factors are key, what the consumption situations are, how demand would change if the price changed, whether the product meets the audience's expectations, and so on.

4. Trends

The trends block — is a mix of the previous two: here the availability of companies' products for purchase is assessed (presence on shelves, number of retail outlets and convenience of their location), as well as preferred brands, reasons for buying them, and so on.

This block makes it possible to detail the position in the competitive field: even if your awareness figures are at one hundred percent, you need to know your strengths and weaknesses in order to stay in the lead.

5. And the familiar NPS — the customer satisfaction index

How many truly loyal consumers do we have? NPS is based on measuring a consumer's willingness to recommend a product — on a scale from 1 to 10, customers are usually divided into three categories: passives, detractors and promoters. Moreover, together with the other BHT blocks, this indicator makes it possible to work out how to raise the existing level of loyalty.

Quantitative BHT research — is one of the most illustrative methods of assessing brand effectiveness. The brand — is a company's main intangible asset, and it is genuinely important to understand how decisive a role it plays in the company's operations, — in order to manage it as effectively as possible.