市场营销之品牌影响

RANDINGISAHOTTOPICinboardroomsaroundtheworldbecausemostCEOsrecognizethatastrongbrandisapowerfuldriverofshareholdervalue.Indeed,McKinseyanalysissuggeststhatabouthalfofthemarketvalueoftheFortune250istiedtointangibleassets.ForsomeoftheworldÕsbest-knowncompanies,theÞgureisevenhigher.Intangibleassetsincludemorethanjustbrands,ofcourse.Nonetheless,ourresearchintotheconnectionbetweenbrandstrengthandcorporateperformanceat130consumercompaniessuggestsstrongbrandsgenerate,onaverage,totalreturnstoshareholders(TRS)thatare1.9percentabovetheindustryaverage,whileweakerbrandslagbehindtheaverageby3.1percent.WhydobrandsÒworkÓforcustomers?Thereasonsarefamiliar:theysimplifyeverydaychoices(ashopperwhoregularlybuysCrestdoesnÕthavetoagonizecontinuallyovertoothpaste),reducetheriskofcomplicatedbuyingdecisions(IBMmainframesandBoeingjetsaresafechoices),provideemotionalbeneÞts(TiÄfany),andoÄferasenseofcommunity(AppleComputerandSaturn).Strongbrandsarethereforeenormouslyattractivetoseniormanagers,whoseinterestisfedbyanynumberofbooksandarticlesonhowtogetandkeepthem.Butanyonewhothinksseriouslyaboutbrandingsoonrealizesthattherearebasicallytwokindsofstrongbrands:thosethatarefocusedandthosethatarediversiÞed.Nearoneendofthespectrum,Dellhasmaintainedafocusedlinkbetweenitsbrandanditscoreproductline:personalcomputers.AttheotherendisDisney.Inthe1950s,thatcompanytoohadafocusedbrand,whichsigniÞedworld-classanimation,mainlyforchildren.Today,DisneyÕsbusinessesincludeÞlms,television,publishing,soÄtware,themeparks,hotels,cruises,andevenMARKETINGTHEMcKINSEYQUARTERLY1999NUMBER2101DavidCourtisadirectorinMcKinseyÕsDallasoÄÞce;MarkLeiterisaconsultantintheNewYorkoÄÞce;andMarkLochisaprincipalintheAtlantaoÄÞce.Copyright©1999McKinsey&Company.Allrightsreserved.BAbrandcangrowquicklyifitsownerbuildsonthefoundationofperformance,personality,andpresencetocreateinnovativestrategiesforexpansionthroughfocusordiversificationDavidC.Court,MarkG.Leiter,andMarkA.LochBrandleverage23445-PR/BrandLeverage29/7/9911:07AMPage101anentiretown(Celebration,Florida).ThecompanyÕsnamenowrepresentsthebroaderconceptofÒwholesomeentertainmentandlivingatanyage.ÓDellhasdecidedtoremainfocusedfornow,whileDisneyelectedÐandmanagedÐtodiversify.ThecrucialquestionforCEOsiswhichcamptheywanttobein.Astheseexamplesshow,astrongcompanycandowellineither.ButwhenwebrokedowntheÞguresshowingthatstrongbrandsearntotalreturnstoshareholders1.9percentabovetheindustryaverage,wefoundthatfocusedbrands(suchasDell,LeviÕs,Sprint,andGillette)earn0.9percentmorethantheaverage,whilediversiÞedbrands(suchasDisney,GE,andAmericanExpress)earnnolessthan5percentmore(Exhibit1).AtleastthreefactorsappeartobedrivingthesuperioreconomicsofdiversiÞedbrandleverage.First,leveragingabrandwidelytendstospreadbrandmanagementsupportcosts.Second,thetendencytoÒconvergence,Óinwhichhithertoseparateindustriesbegintomerge,meansthatnewmarketopportunitiesareopeningupinmanyindustries.Third,relationshipbeneÞtsseemtohavegrowingimportanceforcustomers;indeed,relationshipbuilding(throughloyaltyprograms,betterservice,andabetterunder-standingofcustomers)maynowcountformorethanfunctionalbeneÞts.Asrelationshipsoutstripproductsinimportance,leveragingbrandsmakesmoreandmoresense.BRANDLEVERAGE102THEMcKINSEYQUARTERLY1999NUMBER2Tocreateabroadresearchbaseoflargeconsumercompanies,weincludedallFortune250enterprisesderivingasub-stantialpartoftheirrevenuefromcon-sumers.*Thisgaveusaninitialbaseof105companies.Tomakesurethatperfor-manceissuesuniquetolargecompaniesdidnotskewoursample,weadded25smallercompaniesfromtheFortune1000.Thewholesamplebasethushad130com-panybrands.Weinterviewed5,000consumerstoassesstheirperceptionsofthebrandstrengthofthese130companies.Thenweproceededtocalculatehowleveragedtheirbrandswereacrossdifferentproductandservicecategories–inotherwords,whatpercent-ageoftheirrevenuecamefromeachcate-gory.Wefoundthatastatisticallysignificantbreakpointwasreachedwhen40percentofacompany’srevenuecamefromoutsidethecorecategory,andweusedthisinsighttoseparatebrandsintomoreandlessleveragedsegments.Finally,tocontrolforthedifferentlevelsofprofitabilityofdifferentindustrieswecalculatedthetotalreturntoshareholders(TRS)ofeachcompanyandcomparedthiswiththeindustryaverage.Whereacompanyoperatedinanumberofindustries,weplaceditinthecategoryofitsdominantbusinessorbusinesses.Ourapproachallowedustocalculatethereturnsfromstrongerandweakerbrands,aswellasthedifferencesbetweenmoreandlessleveragedstrongerbrands.Exhibit1ofthetextpresentsthisinformation.ABOUTTHERESEARCH*Brandsareimportantbothinconsumerandbusiness-to-businessmarketing.However,giventheconsiderablygreatercomplexityofconductinglarge-scaleresearchwithbusinesscustomers,wefocusedonconsumerbrands.23445-PR/BrandLeverage29/7/9911:07AMPage102Thisisnottosaythateverycompanyshouldpursuealeveragedstrategy.BICstartedoutmarketingaverysuccessfulbasic19-centballpointpen.ItthentriedÐunsuccessfullyÐtoleverageitsvaluepositionintosuchluxuriesasfragrancesandsuchnecessitiesaspantyhose.Hindsightsuggeststhatthecompanyshouldhavestayedput.Likewise,inthe1980sGucciwent