Leveraging secondary associations to build brand equity: theoretical perspectives and practical applications

Abstract

One potentially valuable strategy for companies to build brand equity for their products and services is to actually link their brands to other people, places and things. By linking their brands to these other entities, consumers may change how they think, feel or act towards the company’s brands. To help understand how these secondary associations can transform brand knowledge, a comprehensive, cohesive model of brand building – the brand resonance model – is reviewed and applied. Theoretical insights are generated and practical issues are identified and discussed to aid brand planning and measurement.

Keywords:

• Brand equity
• brand building
• secondary associations
• brand leveraging

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kevin Lane Keller

Kevin Lane Keller is the E. B. Osborn Professor of Marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Keller's academic resume includes degrees from Cornell, Duke, and Carnegie-Mellon universities, award-winning research, and faculty positions at Berkeley, Stanford, and UNC. His textbook, Strategic Brand Management, has been adopted at top business schools and leading firms around the world through the years. He is also the co-author with Philip Kotler of the all-time best selling introductory marketing textbook, Marketing Management.