10 Brands That Might Not Find Out If The Mayan Prophecy Turns Out to Be True

We came across 24/7 Wall Street's predictions for the 1o brands most unlikely to make it to the end of 2011 a couple weeks ago. Some of the picks didn't surprise us.

A&W Restaurants, for example, has been shrinking slowly but surely for a long time now. Likewise, MySpace has been goofing around with one ill-conceived marketing strategy after another. One of it's more recent decisions to go after young people looking to talk about movies and entertainment seemed more likely to suffocate than rescusciate the firm.

Others though, like Kellogg's Corn Pops and SAAB cars were a bit more confounding.

Mostly though, the list got us thinking about the concept of brand equity, particularly how to build and sustain it. In other words, how to best avoid making 24/7 Wall Street's brand deathwatch.

Though most marketers are unsure how to measure it—there is no universally agreed upon measure—most recognize that a brand’s equity is comprised of different components.

We've actually identified seven:

Brand Permeation: a weighted combination of brand and advertising awareness and availability (i.e., distribution).

Brand Distinctiveness: a weighted combination of measures that indicate brand differentiation, uniqueness, and superiority.

Brand Quality: An overall assessment of the brand as a whole and its line extensions in terms of its overall reputation for quality of product or service.

Brand Value: A weighted combination of measures that reflect the extent to which the brand delivers what buyers pay for—often known as “price-value.”

Brand Personality: The extent to which the brand’s image is congruent with who the buyer is or wants to be.

Brand Potential: The extent to which consumers will pay more for, go out of their way for, or are willing to try this brand’s new products, services, or line extensions.

Competitive Inoculation: The extent to which the consumer would stick with the brand in times of adversity or competitiveness.

For more on this topic and suggestions for going about understanding each component’s contribution to overall equity, download our free white paper, "Build a Great Brand While Your Competitors Commoditize."