Strong brands drive the financial performance of many successful companies. Howdo brands become strong? By virtue of the relationships that consumers developwith them.

These relationships are the end result of all the experiences that consumers have withbrands through direct contact, marketing communication, news, or publicity. All of theseexperiences contribute to the formation of brand associations that are called upon whena consumer is considering a purchase. The decision to purchase one brand over anotherwill depend on the strength and quality of those associations, which determine what anindividual knows, thinks, and feels about a brand.

The associations from which brands derive their value are stored in our brains, wherethey are organized and saved in one of three clusters according to what they relate to:knowledge, experience, or emotion. Some brands succeed by establishing very strong associations in just one of those areas, but it is highly desirable for brands to have well developedassociations across all three. On average, the market shares of brands that haverich associations in each of the three areas are four percentage points higher than thoseof brands with less balanced associations. The essential task of marketing is to create andstrengthen the brand associations that build and support market share.

Gordon Pincott

Chairman, Global Solutions

Millward Brown

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