Brand Meaning by Mark Batey

Author:Mark Batey [Batey, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2012-03-11T14:00:00+00:00

Implicit Brand Meaning

Just as objects, or objects as products, have the potential to be mediators of deep, symbolic meanings, so too have brands. Implicit brand meaning refers to the ultimate emotional and psychological implications and significance of a brand, to the psychic resonance that the brand has for its consumers. Implicitation represents the vital, visceral dynamic of consumer behavior and choice. Implicit brand meaning is complex. It is highly symbolic, psycho-social meaning, influenced in great measure by cultural norms and values. It may tap into archetypal patterns and may find expression and reinforcement though ritual. It evolves from the central truth that bonds the consumer to the product or brand and underpins that bond in a far more vital, deep-seated and enduring way than is the case with other facets of the brand. For example, though on the surface Hallmark is a brand of greeting cards, it is the emotional satisfaction of giving and receiving love that is inherent in the implicit meaning of the brand. Disney is about fun and family entertainment, but its implicit brand meaning resides more in keeping alive the magic and wonder of childhood. To most people, IKEA’s primary brand meaning is functional, stylish and affordable furniture. Consumers would not spontaneously talk of democratizing quality design, but projective research techniques may well point to an implicit brand meaning in that area. The laundry category is one of the most fiercely competitive arenas in which a brand could choose to compete. Product performance and innovation is and always has been critical to the category. Unilever’s long-standing Persil brand in the United Kingdom has been no exception to this rule. Yet the brand really evolved through its instinctive understanding of a mother’s pride and the caring and nurturing values behind it—again, the subtle distinction between primary brand meaning and implicit brand meaning.

Despite implicit brand meaning being where brand and consumer really connect, marketers often fail to realize this potential meaning of their brands to consumers. A perfunctory appraisal of brand perceptions is inadequate if truly fertile territory is to be identified. To take an example, independence is a value claimed by hundreds of different brands. But how many go farther than the tip of the symbolic iceberg of this value? Independence from what? Or for what? Is it more about a search for something (e.g., a more authentic, rewarding life) than being free from something (e.g., routine, monotony, convention)? Is it about outer seeking or inner searching? Discovering the world, or one’s own limitations and possibilities? Is it about making a stand and being heroic, or making a withdrawal and being at peace with oneself? Is there a spiritual element to it? What would be the symbolic significance, for example, of a brand like Jeep Wrangler, with its slogan, “Take your body where your mind has already wandered?”

Value expressiveness is one facet or level of implicit brand meaning. It is where a brand represents, or symbolizes, ideals and values with which the consumer identifies. When Apple Computers

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