Abstract:

Contemporary brand building is no longer a one-way street where organizations vie for consumers' trust and action, but a dynamic, interactive process of conversation between brands, consumers and other stakeholders. Branding such knowledge assets renders traditional yardsticks, specifically the bevy of 'brand equity' measurements, inadequate in providing managers with enough insight to tread that delicate line between consistency and novelty in stewarding their brand's transformational relevance, a notion we label 'The Kabuki Dilemma'. Borrowing from Knowledge Management literature, the authors propose an integrative model of 'Brand Knowledge' creation, which they have empirically tested with over 28,500 respondents across 11 countries in seven languages. The paper concludes with a discussion of branding best practices that the authors believe are critical to maintaining the validity and consistency of such measurements.