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The unique approach of BMR Brand Keys rests on sound principles that do not change.
These have definite meanings and you will benefit most by familiarising yourself with them. Precise measurement gives them operational effect; in fact measurement lies at the heart of all our work. If you don’t measure it, how can you manage it?
This gives our solutions an extraordinary degree of strategic value, clarity of direction and certainty of action that you cannot obtain from traditional methods alone.
Here are twelve principles you can bank on: they collectively define and interweave almost everything we do.
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Consumer behaviour in the marketplace can, when correctly measured, be reliably predicted months in advance for any brand, in any product category or service field. |
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Customer loyalty is the rational-emotional bond
between consumer and brand that results in repeat buying. Loyal consumers can be won by understanding how they compare offerings and buy within the category, not by what they bought last time. Loyalty is governed by category-specific drivers, which can be identified and measured. Loyalty-driver metrics are leading indicators of in-market behaviour and sales, and therefore have high predictive value. |
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The category Ideal is the reference against which
consumers compare and buy different offerings or brands within the same category. The drivers of customer loyalty collectively define the category Ideal. These drivers change and evolve, and must be monitored periodically. |
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Brand equity is the strength of the brand compared
to the category Ideal and category competitors; it can be measured and changes tracked over time. Growth in brand equity always leads to positive consumer behaviour in-market; it also correlates strongly with increased purchasing and profitability. |
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Customer engagement is the consequence of any marketing or communication initiative that results in an increase in brand equity for the brand or service; it too can be measured. It is an essential prerequisite to building consumer loyalty. |
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Awareness has nothing to do with consumer engagement with the brand or with customer loyalty. If it did, Guinness would sell stout to a lot more people than it does. Nor is ‘awareness’ indicative of advertising success. Awareness is a popular metric simply because it’s easy to understand and measure, that’s all. |
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Satisfaction is not loyalty, the two are not the same. Satisfaction today is a ‘given’, you either have it or you go out of business. Remember, millions of iPhone owners today were once someone else’s satisfied customers. Satisfaction is a lagging indicator and therefore has little predictive value. |
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The customer decision process is much more emotional than rational, averaging 70:30 across most product and service categories. Traditional research methods are self-limited to measuring only the minority rational element. Our model is unique in capturing and measuring both the emotional and rational components of consumer motivation, then fusing them to reflect real-life consumer behaviour. |
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Consumers and customers have values and expectations for each product and
service category in which they buy. These values and expectations can be measured. They are leading indicators of consumer behaviour, and therefore have high predictive value of what’s likely to happen in-market. |
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To be useful, research should provide a strategic vision for the brand or business that’s compre-hensive, easy to understand, intuitively correct, actionable, and predictive of success. |
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The likely in-market effects of any proposed marketing initiative or investment – whether for the brand, its advertising, promotion, sponsorship, media choice, packaging, positioning etc – can be assessed reliably and evaluated before the spend
takes place. |
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The brand should be the beneficiary of all your
marketing investments, and should be measurable and accountable as such, item by item. |
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Getting all or most of these twelve principles to work for you and your brand is the surest road to business success and profitability, especially in today’s economic climate.
Together, they provide a remarkable strategic and tactical advantage to brands. This includes a clear view of what lies ahead down the road, what opportunities or competitive threats are arising, and how best to move forward. No traditional research tool comes near this capability, no matter what is promised.
Contacting BMR Brand Keys is the first step. Talk with us in confidence about the business, brand, customer, or communications issues you most wish to address, and we’ll devise a uniquely effective research solution you can bank on.
(see Framework for our thinking, approach and methodology)
(see Contact to get in touch with us)
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