Winning Applause from an Empty Theater?

Visibility without credibility is just expensive noise.

Winning Applause from an Empty Theater? Your traditional brand strategies need a serious re-boot!
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Winning Applause from an Empty Theater? 
Your traditional brand strategies need a serious re-boot!
Shantanu Sengupta
Jul 25 

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Imagine you’re the Senior Vice President / Brand Head of a premium smartphone company. Your campaign achieved 83% brand awareness, model features outperformed closest competitors, and your marketing team is celebrating record reach-metrics. Yet sales is plummeting and customer loyalty is riding an all-time low. And adding insult to injury, a startup with 1/10th of your budget just stole some of your most valuable customers. 
Where did you go wrong? 
You fell into the awareness trap – i.e. believing that being known equals automatically makes your brand the chosen one; that superior features guarantee preference; and that yesterday's brand-building playbook still works in today's skeptical, oversaturated marketplace. 
Unfortunately, these are some critical misconceptions many of us are still holding upon in the modern business landscape.
8 Misconceptions that Kill Modern Brands
Mistaking Awareness for Relevance
Having high brand awareness will mean nothing if your customers don't see you as credible or contextually relevant. For example, a well-known hybrid car brand still has to fight for credibility in the electric vehicle space. Visibility without credibility is just expensive noise.
Confusing Customer Satisfaction with Brand Loyalty
High customer satisfaction scores don't automatically translate to brand loyalty. Because highly satisfied customers can easily switch to competitors, and truly loyal customers can become brand advocates even when alternatives exist. 
Brands like Harley-Davidson or (to some extent) India's Royal Enfield understand this distinction very well. They don't just satisfy customers. They create cult-like communities that defend and promote the brand organically.
Underestimating the Power of Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty is not about repeat purchases. It's about creating sustainable relationships that inspire active promotion. When customers become brand ambassadors - who see your brand as self-expressive or socially beneficial - you've moved from transaction to transformation.
Operating in Single-Brand Silos
The most successful brands today work as portfolios – i.e. teams of brands supporting each other. A very good example is Apple's ecosystem. Or perhaps even Tesla's energy solutions, which amplify its automotive brand. Lone-wolf branding is dead.
Focusing Only on Short-term Metrics
Big data has made us addicted to immediate results. But often, it’s at the expense of long-term brand equity. Every "quick-win" that damages your brand asset is actually a long-term loss disguised as a short-term gain.
Believing Price is the Primary Differentiator
Many brands of personal mobile gadgets, fall into the trap of competing primarily on price. The think that lower costs automatically equal higher market share. Unknowingly, it leads to brand commoditization and erodes its long-term value. 
In contrast, consider how premium brands like Mercedes or Louis Vuitton maintain pricing power through strong brand equity. Or how brands like Tanishq command premium pricing in jewelry through trust and craftsmanship associations.
Treating Brand Image as Static
Your brand image isn't just product attributes anymore. It's about associations that intrigue, resonate, and most importantly – differentiate. Brands like Patagonia don't just sell outdoor gear. They sell environmental activism. That's how modern brands are built.
Assuming ‘Digital Marketing’ = Abandoning Fundamentals
In the rush to embrace digital channels and data-driven marketing, many brands lose sight of core brand principles. They chase viral moments and trending hashtags - while diluting their brand identity. Successful digital brands like Netflix or Zomato maintain consistent brand personality across all digital touch-points while leveraging technology to enhance - not replace - fundamental brand building.
Re-booting Traditional Brand Approach 
Renowned branding expert David Aaker, often revered as the "father of modern branding," recently developed a comprehensive framework that addresses all these misconceptions head-on. In his latest work - 5Bs of Modern Branding - Aaker talks of a synergistic approach that recognizes branding as far more complex and strategic than traditional awareness-building exercises.
The Five B’s of the frameworks are: Brand Relevance, Brand Image, Brand Loyalty, Brand Portfolio and Brand Equity. 
The 5Bs of Modern Branding Framework (image via MBR/Sagepub.com)
As Aaker notes:
Building strong brands is about activating all five Bs in concert. Managers can tap into the enormous synergy of the framework by drawing these individual components out of their organizational silos and integrating them.
Let's explore each of these 5Bs with a few examples both Indian and global markets:
Brand Relevance: 
Beyond Awareness to Credibility
It's not enough to be known – you must be seen as a legitimate option. Brand relevance means your brand is both visible and credible in the specific context where customers encounter it. For example:
Tesla in Energy Storage - While Tesla built incredible awareness in electric vehicles, entering the energy storage market required establishing new relevance. They had to prove their automotive battery expertise translated to home and grid storage solutions.
Jio's Digital Ecosystem - Just from being another telecom provider Reliance’s Jio made themselves relevant, by bundling multiple digital services – from entertainment to payments. It created a comprehensive digital lifestyle proposition that established credibility across multiple contexts.
How can you make your brand Visible? Consider attaching your brand to energizing elements, creating newsworthy innovations engaging customers or developing signature programs that draw attention. 
How can you build Credibility? You can maintain a history of fulfilling customer expectations, seek credible endorsements, demonstrate usage by respected organizations or trumpet your financial success and market acceptance.
Brand Image: 
The Associations That Differentiate
Brand image comprises all the associations that come to mind when people encounter your brand. These associations must intrigue, resonate, and most importantly, differentiate. For example: 
Apple's Design Excellence - Apple's brand image not just limited to technology. It's more about design thinking, simplicity, and premium experience. Every touch-point of Apple reinforces associations with innovation, elegance, and customer-centricity.
Tata Group's Ethical Leadership - The Tata brand image is built on pillars of integrity, philanthropy, and nation-building. From Tata Steel to Tata Consultancy Services, each sub-brand benefits from these core associations while adding their own specialized imagery.
What should Key Brand Image Pillars be able to do? They should be able to provide clear points of differentiation, resonate with customers, employees, and/or stakeholders, to represent the brand internally & externally, as well as foster emotional connection.
Many Differentiation strategies that can be considered are: Functional benefits, Brand personality, Social purpose, Self-expression opportunities, Unique attribute positioning, etc. 
Brand Loyalty: 
From Transactions to Relationships
True brand loyalty goes beyond repeat purchases to create relationships based on engagement, self-expression, and social benefits. Two striking examples are: 
Harley-Davidson's H.O.G. Community - The Harley Owners Group creates a lifestyle community where the brand becomes central to members' identity and social connections. It's not just about motorcycles – it's about belonging to a tribe.
Royal Enfield's Riding Communities - Royal Enfield has built incredible loyalty through organized rides, clubs, and events that make owning the bike part of a larger adventure culture. Their "Pure Motorcycling" philosophy creates emotional attachment beyond the product.
One can consider building brand communities, which offer self-expression opportunities, social benefits & belonging, share helpful information & engagement opportunities, create experiences that bring customers together, etc. 
Brand Portfolio: 
The Power of Brand Teams
Successful branding rarely focuses on a single brand. Instead, it builds portfolios where brands support each other to advance organizational strategies. For example: 
Uniqlo's Fabric Innovation - Uniqlo created branded fabric technologies like HEATTECH and AIRism. These aren't just features – they're sub-brands that provide differentiation, credibility, and energy to the master brand while being impossible for competitors to replicate.
Mahindra's Portfolio Strategy - Mahindra successfully manages multiple brands across sectors – from Mahindra Tractors to Mahindra Adventure to Mahindra Electric. Each brand supports the others while maintaining distinct identities for different market segments.
According to Aaker, there are many types of supporting brands that could contribute to a portfolio, where each brand contributes to the total brand experience. These are: 
Branded Differentiators: e.g. Schwab's Intelligent Portfolio, Intel Inside for manufacturers, Tata Tiscon for construction, etc.
Branded Energizers: e.g. Dove's Real Beauty, Red Bull's extreme sports, Asian Paints' Beautiful Homes, etc.
Branded Credibility Sources: e.g. Apple's Genius Bar, McKinsey's methodology frameworks, Infosys's proprietary platforms, etc.
Endorser Brands: e.g. Courtyard by Marriott, Tata Consultancy Services, Lexus, etc. 
Sub-brands: e.g. Ford's F-150 Lightning, Godrej's Good Knight, Callaway's Big Bertha golf equipments, etc.
Co-brands: e.g. Under Armour's Curry Brand shoes, Starbucks in Target stores, Netflix partnerships in India, etc.
Brand Equity: 
The Strategic Asset at the Center
Brand equity is the owned asset that enables current and future organizational strategies. It's the umbrella under which all other brand elements must operate.
Managing Brand Equity Requires 3 Key Tasks:
Understanding Brand's Strategic Role, i.e. how the brand supports current and future strategies.
Coordinating the 5Bs Seamless Integration, breaking down functional silos
Defending Long-term Brand Value, even when facing pressure for immediate results.
How to demonstrating Brand Value? Some of the methods Aaker talks of are: sharing compelling case studies (Lifebuoy), quantify intangible brand assets and  referencing studies linking brand equity to financial performance. One can also consider conducting strategic analysis showing which brand assets enable future success,
How to Implement the 5Bs Framework?
Your success will require coordinated action across all 5Bs of the framework. 
First, win brand relevance battles by creating new subcategories with must-have benefits, not just claiming superiority. Work on highlighting brand essential features to prevent competitive copying.
Secondly, develop clear brand vision with supporting pillars that create differentiation that resonates with target audiences. Maintain consistency across all touch-points.
Thirdly, design experiences creating emotional attachment and build communities around their shared values. Focus on those segments which are likely to become advocates.
Next, identify opportunities for branded differentiators and energizers. Manage endorser relationships proactively and develop mutually beneficial co-brand partnerships.
Finally, assess the brand's strategic role regularly, coordinate efforts across functions, and defend long-term building against short-term pressures.
Aspiring for Brand Excellence
In today's environment of information overload and market skepticism, ordinary strategies fail. As Aaker emphasizes, success requires creative, out-of-the-box programs that break down silos, helping people connect and work together.
Your transformation goal will be to move from ignored to talked about, from ordinary to demonstrably different, from forgotten to memorable, from passive customers to brand communities, and from credible to inspiring.
Five Critical Success Factors:
Integration: The 5Bs must work together, not in silos
Long-term Focus: Treat brand equity as strategic asset, not tactical expense
Value Creation: Build relevance and loyalty through genuine customer value
Portfolio Strategy: Leverage brand teams over single-brand approaches
Strategic Agility: Adapt quickly while maintaining brand consistency
Conclusion
The brands that will thrive in the coming decade will definitely be those that master each element of Aaker's 5Bs framework as interconnected elements of a strategic system.
Whether you're building the next unicorn startup or revitalizing an established brand, the basic principles remain the same - create relevance, build resonating associations, foster genuine loyalty, leverage portfolios for mutual support, and treat brand equity as the strategic asset it truly is.
Over the next few years, the marketplace will only become more complex and competitive. The question is: will your brand strategy evolve to meet these challenges, or will it remain stuck in outdated approaches that prioritize awareness over relevance, features over differentiation, and transactions over relationships?
The choice – and the opportunity – is yours.
Note: 
This article draws insights heavily from David Aaker's 5Bs of Modern Branding. David Aaker is vice chairman of Prophet and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, widely recognized as the "father of modern branding."
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