Six Brand Elements

By Julia

Memorability

In order to gain customers the conumers must be aware of the brand. A memorable brand will definitly strenghten brand awereness. Memorable brand must be recognizable as well as easily recalled. A distictive brand name or a logo helps a potential customer to associate your specific product and services to your brand. Swatch is a playful name as it combines the words Swiss and Watch. It actually stands out of the crowded watch market and it is very easy to remember. 

Meaningfulness

Based on many assumptions, a brand should literally represent the products or the services of the company. The logo or the name should indicate or at least hint what the company is all about. On the other hand, the brand could be linked somehow to their typical customer instead of their products. 

Swatch is a playful name as it combines the words Swiss and Watch. Its is easy to associate the brand with the product and anyone who hears about the brand could tell they are doing watches. The logo is very simple but distinctive. The Swiss flag represent quality and the know-how of Swiss watchmaking.

Likability

Aesthetically pleasant communication is very often appealing to the consumers. Of course it is depending on the target audience and also the product range, but in general people want to see fun and interesting communication. Swatch is very careful with their communication and in general their communication is very consistent. Swatch has a very positive image, which increases the likability of the brand. Swatch can awake positive and neutral opinions, but very rarely provokes consumers.

Transferability

When building a brand, one must consider the chance that later on the company will do a line or category extensions. In order to do that, the brand must be transferable. The company might also be expanding to other counries and cultures, when a specific element of the brand can challenge or even prevent expanding the operations. Swatch has proven to be very transferable, as the brand exist all around the planet.

Adaptable

In a long run, any brand element might reguire little tweaking and updating. When we look at the logo of Pepsi, it has been remade several times, respecting the original logo. In any case, the brand must stay relevant through the years.

Swatch logo has maintained the same throughout all the years. The logo has seen some international adaptations, but the official logo has not changed. The simple but distinctive logo is rather adaptable, but this far the market hasn't required any changes.

Protectability

The brand elements should be protectable in legal as well as in competititve sense. In case the company goes international, there is even more legal protection and registrations to be considered. Protectability is not only about the legal actions, but also protectability concering the competitors, meaning can the conpetitors legally adapt to your brand and in that way devrease your value in the market. The Swatch logo and brand is registered and as a part of a big and powerful group, Swatch is properly legally protected.

Source: Lane Keller, K. 2008. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. 3rd edition. New Jersey. Pearson Education.