Measuring and managing brand equity

Purpose – A strong brand is among the most valuable intangible assets for any company. This paper aims to provide empirical evidence of a brand equity model and illustrates the application of the model on a Danish bank. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model is founded on a customer‐based approach to brand equity. The model links customer‐brand relationships to rational and emotional brand responses, which are in turn linked to six drivers including product quality and service quality. The conceptual model is operationalized by a structural equation model with latent variables and a measurement system. To validate, the model surveys were conducted for four brands in three industries, and the paper presents results from 351 interviews with customers of the largest Danish retail bank. The model is estimated and tested by using partial least squares. Findings – A high level of explanatory power is obtained, and the results indicate strong support for the proposed model. The estimated model gives performance indexes for each variable in the model and impact scores for the relationships between the variables. The findings are discussed and a brand equity map is developed. Research limitations/implications – The study in this paper is limited to one brand in the banking sector. However, the model and the measurement system are generic and should be applicable to all types of brands and industries. Practical implications – The paper provides a model to understand brand equity building. The proposed brand equity map depicting impact versus performance of brand equity drivers may support the brand strategy development process. Originality/value – The paper provides a brand equity model, which is based on state‐of‐the‐art thinking within branding and includes both rational and emotional brand responses. The model has been applied in practice with good results, and the proposed brand equity map is useful in assessing and developing a brand's strength.