Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

280 BRAND RELEVANCE
Brand Equity
Brand equity often represents the strongest barrier. The brand
that fi rst gets traction for the new subcategory, the early market
leader, has more freedom to create brand associations, less
clutter in which to operate, and the potential to defi ne the new
category or subcategory in a way that links to the brand and
emphasizes the innovations the brand owns. The result can be
a strong brand with visibility and energy that has preempted the
most effective positioning strategy.
The strength of the brand, indeed the success of the offering,
will depend in part on the brand strategy. Should it be a stand -
alone new brand? An endorsed brand? Or should the fi rm use an
existing master brand with a new subbrand?
A new brand developed to support an offering that defi nes
a new category or subcategory is able to signal “ new ” and to
develop a benefi t story and a personality without inhibitions. For
an offering that hopes to transform the marketplace, such as
Muji, Zipcar, or the Segway, a new brand with a blank sheet
of paper is desirable or even necessary. A new brand is needed
when there are resources to build the brand, when the story is so
new and compelling that it can break through the clutter, and
when there is no established brand that fi ts the offering.
However, an established brand used as a master brand can
mean that the brand - building effort will be less expensive and
more feasible, and the resulting brand strength is likely to be
higher. The established master brand provides credibility and
visibility. Asahi Super Dry, Kirin Ichiban, and the Plymouth
Voyager minivan would probably not have been successful without
the master brands Asahi, Kirin, and Plymouth, respectively.
Another option is to create a new brand but one endorsed
by an established brand. Consider the role of the endorser
brand for General Mills ’ Fiber One, Toyota ’ s Prius, Apple ’ s iPod,
and PowerBar ’ s Pria. In each case the endorser added credibility
to what otherwise would be an unknown brand from an
unknown fi rm.