Brand Equity: Definition, Elements, Examples, and Strategies

What is Brand Equity?

Brand equity is the value of a brand that plays a significant role in attracting customer attention and loyalty. 

In the business and marketing world, this aspect can make thousands or millions of people willing to queue up just to get a product from a particular brand. Quite remarkable, isn't it?

So, what is brand equity and how to built it to your brand?

It serves as a reputation held by a brand in the eyes of consumers or their target market. Although not tangible, it is still an essential asset that can determine the sustainability and popularity of a brand.

Many leading brands have proven successful in forming emotional connections with their target consumers through such equity. 

This is because the equity or value of a brand is what makes consumers prefer a product from a particular brand over its competitors.

In general, it consists of several elements influenced by perceptions and customer experiences during interactions with a brand. 

In essence, if a brand has positive equity and dominates the market, its level of trust and authority in the eyes of consumers will accordingly increases.

Brand Equity Elements

After you understand about the definition, it's also important to know the crucial elements within it. Here are some of its elements you need to know:

1. Brand Awareness

One of the most important elements is brand awareness. This element aims to increase consumer familiarity with a brand or product to encourage greater purchasing intent. 

Ways to enhance brand awareness include organizing marketing events, using various promotional advertisements, digital campaigns, and more.

2. Perceived Quality

Perceived quality refers to how a brand can enhance a positive image through customer satisfaction with the product's quality. 

It not only relates to the physical aspects of a product but also encompasses the overall customer journey. 

As a business owner, it's crucial to understand how consumers perceive your product—whether they are satisfied or disappointed—and the reasons behind their perceptions. 

Brands with good perceived quality are more likely to build positive brand equity and stand out in the eyes of the target audience.

3. Brand Association

Brand association can make the products/services you offer stick in the minds of your target audience as a top-of-mind brand. 

This element can be built through marketing concepts, logos, names, visual graphics, or other aspects involved when customers interact with the brand.

4. Brand Loyalty

The brand loyalty element refers to the scale of customer loyalty to your products/services. High brand loyalty allows consumers to make repeat purchases and not easily switch to competing brands, making long-term connections more easily established.

5. Property Brand Assets

This element refers to a series of assets that also fall into the category of brand identity, such as logos, color palettes, taglines, and specific typography. 

Good property brand assets within brand equity are easy to remember, have identity and history, and maintain consistency.

Indicators of A Good Brand Equity

Here are some indicators that signify your brand is successfully delivering positive value and making a lasting impression on customers:

• Customers tend to consistently choose your brand.
• Customers perceive your products or services as having good quality.
• Customers are satisfied with their experiences using your products/services.
• Customers are willing to pay more for your products due to the value or quality provided.
• Your brand is associated with positive attributes by customers.
• Your brand image is positive and relevant to the target market.
• Customers are willing to recommend your brand to others.
• Customers are interested and willing to buy the latest products or services from your brand.
• Sales are stable and increasing over time.
• Your brand is considered a leader in the industry or a specific category.
• Your brand is recognized in the international market.

Benefits of Brand Equity for Business

This value keeps a business standing strong and competitively healthy among many competitors in the same niche. 

Although a product may be sold at a high price, with strong value and equity, consumers will still flock to place orders. Some of the other benefits include:

• Strengthening the brand to compete with many competitors.
• Gaining trust and authority directly from customers.
• Increasing customer loyalty for repeat purchases.
• Improving customer retention while building brand value.
• Highlighting a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that is more promising than competitors.
• Maximizing visibility, popularity, and company existence.
• Building emotional connections with the customer base.

How to Build Brand Equity 

Now that you understand that this aspect is a crucial for marketing strategy, you may be curious about how to build strong equity and value for your business. Pay attention to and implement each of the following steps!

1. Build Your Brand Identity

Before maximizing the development of brand value and equity, you need to build brand identity first. 

In this regard, ensure that your brand identity is clear, attractive, unique, and easily memorable. Include information such as Unique Selling Proposition, vision, mission, and general business values. 

This identity should also align with the products/services offered. Strengthen your brand identity by highlighting the advantages of your products compared to similar products in the market.

2. Enhance the Customer Experience (CX)

Brands must ensure that the customer experience from the beginning to the end of the purchase process is pleasant and smooth without any hitches. 

Some ways to improve customer experience include conducting direct trials. You can provide products/services for free trials to assess quality, excellence, or areas that need improvement.

3. Emphasize Business or Brand Value

Next, emphasize brand value to attract attention and create a sense of urgency for purchases from the target consumers. 

In the business world, a brand tends to attract consumers more easily with shared values, perspectives, or principles. 

For example, if your brand focuses on a clear value that prioritizes "organic" products, this strategy will facilitate consumers with similar values to come and buy your products.

4. Implement Suitable Marketing Strategies

An essential stage to build a strong equity and value rely on how you offer your products/services and the marketing strategies.

At this stage, you need to brainstorm to determine how to convince customers that they should choose your brand for the best results. 

The entire marketing team needs to think about the right and effective marketing strategies according to the segmentation of the target customers because each business niche fundamentally has different approaches.

Successful Brand Equity Examples

To further enhance your understanding, here are a few examples of successful equity built by some brands:

1. Google

Google is one of the leading technology companies and search engines that has solidified its dominance by controlling around 90% of the market share. 

With over four billion active users, Google has achieved incredible global coverage. This means that the majority of people worldwide rely on Google as their main gateway to access information on the internet. 

Now, the general public no longer refers to "search engine" but directly substitutes it with the term "Google," proving it as one of the strongest brand equity examples.

2. Aqua

Aqua is also a prime example of excellent brand in Indonesia. Aqua's value and equity has earned it a solid position in the minds of consumers as a trusted and high-quality mineral water brand.

Additionally, almost the entire population of Indonesia would mention this brand when thinking about mineral water, making it a top-of-mind brand among the target audience.