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for less-savage and more enduring ways to boost sales. Patiently building brands became the preferred alternative. They would allow companies to hold on to customers, win new ones and provide launching pads for new products. David Aaker, a business-school professor who helped spread the idea, identified three main components of brand equity: consumers’ awareness of a brand, the qualities they associate with it (BMW summons up German engineering, Ryanair says “cheap”) and loyalty. The arguments now are partly over how important each element is.

Loyalty is what excites marketers and advertising folk. So-called “lovemarks” such as Apple and Coca-Cola are trademarks that inspire “loyalty beyond reason”, says Saatchi & Saatchi, an advertising agency; the firm runs a website that lists hundreds of them. They have legions of fans, command a price premium and, most important perhaps, are forgiven when they fall short. The “emotional bond puts credit in the bank,” says Mr Cooper. Brands are a promise to consumers, it is often said; they also serve as an insurance policy to cover the cost of breaking it.

Much marketing gospel flows from this view, such as the idea that brands must differentiate, appeal to distinct groups of consumers and foster fidelity. Loyal consumers “really drive brand profitability,” believes Millward Brown, which is part of WPP, a big marketing group. Loyalty and “emotional connection” also figure in the Brand Strength Index devised by BrandFinance, a competitor. Some companies even link pay to indicators of brand health. At HSBC, part of top executives’ bonuses depend on Brand Finance’s valuation.

A second view holds that brands are “a shorthand for choice”, in the words of Martin Glenn, chief executive of United Biscuits, producer of McVitie’s. They make it easier for shoppers to cut through the information bombardment that rains down upon them. On this analysis, awareness matters more than loyalty or passion.

Apple’s computers, for example, may have a strong brand; but they command only a little more loyalty from buyers than do customers of less-ballyhooed makes of computer, argues Byron Sharp, a marketing expert at the University of South Australia. Their slightly higher tendency to stick with Apple probably comes from the hassle of having to convert to a different operating system, rather than love of the brand, he reckons. Harley-Davidson, a motorcycle company, is well known to have a devoted fan base. But in fact such fanatics account for only a tenth of its customers and just 3.5% of its revenue.

On this view, companies that strive to differentiate themselves from their competitors’ brands are mostly wasting their time. Take fizzy drinks. Mr Sharp’s data show that less than one-fifth of the people who quaff them think there is anything unique or special about Coke, Pepsi and the like. Many products marketed mainly to women are largely bought by men, and vice versa. A consumer-goods brand that aimed its marketing at its most fervent fans would lose sales: a typical Coke drinker buys one or two bottles a year.

What constitutes brand equity, Mr Sharp contends, is “physical and mental availability”, by which he means the opportunity for consumers to find products in shops and their propensity to think of the brand when shopping. That is achi本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。