Brand Associations are not benefits, but are images and symbols associated with a brand or a brand benefit. For example- The Nike Swoosh, Nokia sound, Film Stars as with “Lux”, signature tune Ting-ting-ta-ding with Britannia, Blue colour with Pepsi, etc.

Associations are not “reasons-to-buy” but provide acquaintance and differentiation that’s not replicable. It is relating perceived qualities of a brand to a known entity.

For instance:

• Hyatt Hotel is associated with luxury and comfort;
• BMW is associated with sophistication, fun driving, and superior engineering.
• Most popular brand associations are with the owners of brand, such as - Bill Gates and Microsoft, Reliance and Dhirubhai Ambani.

Brand association is anything which is deep seated in customer’s mind about the brand. Brand should be associated with something positive so that the customers relate your brand to being positive.

Brand associations are the attributes of brand which come into consumers mind when the brand is talked about. It is related with the implicit and explicit meanings which a consumer relates/associates with a specific brand name.

Brand association can also be defined as the degree to which a specific product/service is recognized within it’s product/service class/category. While choosing a brand name, it is essential that the name chosen should reinforce an important attribute or benefit association that forms it’s product positioning. For instance - Power book.

Brand associations are formed on the following basis:

• Customers contact with the organization and it’s employees;
• Advertisements;
• Word of mouth publicity;
• Price at which the brand is sold;
• Celebrity/big entity association;
• Quality of the product;
• Products and schemes offered by competitors;
• Product class/category to which the brand belongs;
• POP ( Point of purchase) displays; etc

Positive brand associations are developed if the product which the brand depicts is durable, marketable and desirable. The customers must be persuaded that the brand possess the features and attributes satisfying their needs. This will lead to customers having a positive impression about the product.

Positive brand association helps an organization to gain goodwill, and obstructs the competitor’s entry into the market.

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