Brand Revenue in the Business-to-Business World:

HABER

Brand Revenue in the Business-to-Business World:

The Grapevine Method

By Dominique Deserrano, Managing Director, Sweeney International Ltd

The challenge posed is to create a brand representing YOU - how would

you select and draw attention to the features that need to be highlighted so

that you can describe and sell yourself? If the goal of the exercise is to

promote oneself, then holding back on the self-flattery would be futile,

self-compliments and bold, even grandiose statements would be the only

way forward, there is no place for humility in this exercise!

At Sweeney International, we set our clients this very challenge and the

results were fascinating. So much so, that we were able to build an entirely

new model to help our clients identify their current and potential brand

revenue. The results of the surveys we conducted showed that people

often identify and select similar characteristics which fall into one of three

main categories:

- Physical appearance

- Social behavior and interrelationships

- Cognitive and corporeal accomplishments

At Sweeney International we now consider each of these categories in turn

and use this framework as a blueprint to support both the creation and

development of a given brand for the products and services we are

promoting.

1. Physical appearance

Not all participants focus upon their physical features when self-branding,

however, it appears that those who do, obviously tend to highlight features

in their physical appearance which they consider to be attractive. Some

boast about their great figure, shapely legs or alluring eyes whereas others

draw attention to the colour of their hair or the sensuality of their lips for

example.

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In terms of branding a product or service this naturally guides us first to

consider the packaging, use of colour, symbols, logos, design, aesthetics

and any other physical features.

2. Social behaviour and interrelationships

In this category, we consider the self-perceptions of an individual’s role (or

roles) across a variety of social settings. Do others enjoy their company?

Are they the source of the humour in the room? Are they the trusted or

reliable one? Are they the facilitator, the leader, the peacekeeper, or the

entertainer?

Our findings indicate that many people tend to liken themselves to either

being problem solvers who enjoy finding solutions for others or they choose

to portray themselves as ‘wholesome’ and loyal, drawing attention to their

devotion to ‘good causes’ and their charitable nature. Likewise, being

passionate and committed in both personal and professional contexts also

features highly in this category.

When we begin to observe what constitutes ‘being a good person’ and how

we position ourselves in society we can begin to make the necessary

comparisons and strategically position any given brand through considering

a company’s interactions, communication style and channels, expectations,

associations, and relationships.

3. Cognitive and corporeal accomplishments

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Given that we live in a highly competitive society, it is not surprising that

many people refer to their portfolio of both educational and professional

accomplishments to set themselves apart from the crowd. Similarly, we see

others refer to their intellectual capacity or natural flair for languages,

music, puzzles, mathematics or cultural awareness and this is often given

more credit if these capacities are certified or award winning.

Whilst intellectual attributes are highly valued, it is also evident that we like

to describe ourselves as ‘sporty’ or fit and revel in any associated

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performances or achievements. Overcoming injury or trauma, coping with

or accelerating whilst having a disability or illness are also perceived to be

worthy of promoting. These cognitive and corporeal accomplishments can

all be associated with the goal of achieving self-fulfillment; reaching one’s

potential is the ultimate dream for many.

When branding a product or service consideration needs to be given,

therefore, to the company or product’s affinity for the market, market

leadership position, reputation, personality, richness, uniqueness, equity

and vision.

Brand Revenue

This self-branding exercise was completed by respondents from B2B

industry backgrounds. The participants’ ‘brand kaleidoscopes’ seemed to

be heavily influenced by the degree of closeness to specific relationships

with any given brand. Naturally, the respondents were often concerned

about how they are perceived by others and wanted to address any gap

between the reality and the ideal.

Admittedly, there are hundreds of publications which advise on how to

define a brand or how to understand any given brand dimension. However,

the results of our surveys led us to the conclusion that the respondents

interpreted most of the brand dimensions rather differently to how we would

perhaps imagine to be the case. For instance, brand image is more likened

to the brand which sells the most and brand relationship signifies a brand

which listens to client needs. We were able to elicit the 30 most pertinent

brand dimensions of interest to the respondents. We refer to these

dimensions as The Grapevine, an informal communication network which

has been developed by the respondents, our clients, themselves (see

figure 1).

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Fig.1 The Grapevine – 30 Brand Dimensions

Finding terms to accurately represent the meaning of these 30 brand

dimensions using the respondents’ own words presented a challenge – it

was vital that the names given to the dimensions truly reflected their

significance. After careful consideration we eventually established a series

of connections. For instance, ‘I am successful with this brand, and it helps

me achieve new business’ seemed to signify brand equity. ‘The brand has

had an excellent reputation for a long time’ refers to brand soul and ‘The

brand influences me on an emotional level’ implies brand radiation.

Once we developed our understanding of how the respondents were

defining the 30 brand dimensions, we were able to move to the next step,

semantically creating performance levels for each of these dimensions from

the worst to best case scenario (see figure 2).

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Fig. 2 Top 10 Brand dimensions for Client X in the Automotive Industry

Finally, we implemented a hierarchical scale which facilitated the ranking of

the 30 brand dimensions according to their importance. We were then able

to devise a method to calculate brand revenue, which we define as the

strength and capacity of the brand in relation to the customers.

Each of the 30 brand dimensions are given a weighted calculation which

measures both importance and performance. The total importance of the

30 dimensions is then standardized across 1000 points. For example, if we

take brand soul as being the most important dimension in a survey this

dimension would receive 250 importance points out of the 1000 available.

The performance score for brand soul is 200 points which therefore gives

an 80% result. We repeat this exercise for all 30 dimensions and calculate

the total revenue for your brand, immediately allowing us to identify the

strongest and weakest dimensions.

The Grapevine method connects 30 brand dimensions which have been

derived from our own research using existing client responses and

feedback. For each dimension we calculate a revenue figure which

considers the mathematical ratio between performance and importance. By

collecting these ratios across all 30 dimensions, we obtain total brand

revenue.

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Most of our clients prefer to compare their overall brand revenue to each of

their individual brand(s) as well as considering each dimension. The

Grapevine method allows us to draw such comparisons with brand

competitors (see figure 3).

Brand Relationship

My relationship with this brand is one of true partnership

My relationship with this brand is stable but I would like to receive more attention

My relationship with this brand is not stable, there are too many shortcomings

and associated poor qualities

I do not consider myself to have a relationship with this brand

Brand Richness

I am always interested in this brand, how it evolves and the associated

innovations

I take an interest in this brand from time to time

I do not favour or take more of an interest in this brand over others

I am not interested in this brand

Brand Equity

This brand contributes to my success and helps me gain new business

I expect more success when adopting this brand

Without this brand, the value of my business would diminish

This brand does not contribute to the success of my business over any other

brand

Fig. 3 Sample of Brand Dimension questionnaire

Once brand revenue has been calculated and we have complemented

these results with the outcomes of other more traditional branding

exercises, our clients receive actionable data to support future strategic

decisions and continue strengthening their brands.

Dominique Deserrano

ddeserrano@hotmail.com