IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE

Imperial College Business School

How to Build Brand Equity through Social Advertising and Gamification

by

Pornchanun Suphayak Word Count: 5000

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for MSc Strategic Marketing degree

September 2014

Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................... 1

Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................... 2 Introduction................................................................................................................ 3

Literature Review ...................................................................................................... 4 • Brand Equity............................................................................................................4 • Gamification.............................................................................................................6

o How Gamification Builds Brand Equity ..................................................6 • Social Advertising ....................................................................................................7

o How Social Advertising Builds Brand Equity..........................................8 • The Luxury Sector...................................................................................................9 • The Wellness Sector...............................................................................................10

Research Approach.................................................................................................. 11

Results ....................................................................................................................... 11 • The Wellness Sector...............................................................................................12 • The Luxury Sector.................................................................................................14

Conclusion................................................................................................................. 17

Recommendations .................................................................................................... 18 • Identity....................................................................................................................18 • Meaning ..................................................................................................................19 • Response .................................................................................................................20 • Resonance ...............................................................................................................20

o Behavioural loyalty...................................................................................20 o Attitudinal Attachment ............................................................................21 o Sense of Community.................................................................................21 o Active Engagement...................................................................................22

References ................................................................................................................. 23

1

Executive Summary It is a fact that brand equity holds a great promise as a vehicle for driving success

for brands, and there are many marketing strategies to build brand equity; with

gamification and social advertising being two of the more effective ones.

This report explores the effectiveness in building brand equity through gamification

and social advertising. As part of the literature review, secondary research, including

facts and figures, is predominantly based on academic journals and other related

reputable sources. They are critically analysed as to how gamification and social

advertising contribute towards building brand equity.

The discussion is analysed based on practical brand equity building case studies for

two different sectors, including wellness and luxury, as well as examples of real life

experiences for each brand, which are used to better demonstrate the creation of

brand equity, namely Nike and Swarovski.

Recommendations are drawn using Keller’s customer-based brand equity model

and encompassing gamification and social advertising in each of the four steps in

the pyramid, namely identity, meaning, response and relationships, along with

suggested examples to better explain how brands could enhance brand equity

through future actions.

The research and case study results demonstrate that gamification and social

advertising are more than just a fun undertaking, but that they have instead been

proven to effectively promote strong and sustainable brand equity.

2

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family for their everlasting love

and endless support and to thank them for being the warmest family I could ever

ask for. Also, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all my friends for a year

full of experiences, happiness and laughter. Thanks for staying by each other’s side

and helping each other along the way. My life here would not be complete without

you guys.

In addition, I would like to say a special thank you to my supervisor, Angela

Dalrymple for being an extraordinary course director and for providing vast

knowledge and guidance throughout. And many thanks to all my professors Omar

Merlo, Mirjam Tuk, Mike Berry, Daniel Rowles, Andreas Eisingerich and Magnum

guest speaker, Alper Eroglu whom have made my accomplishments possible.

It has been an honor and a pleasure to be a part of the Strategic Marketing course

at Imperial College Business School. I truly have appreciated every moment and all

of the memories here will surely be missed very much.

With warm regards,

Pornchanun Suphayak

3

Introduction

In this globalised world, it is not enough to have a good product or to offer a good

service. Having high brand equity is the key differentiator that establishes long-

lasting relationship and drives success (Osak, 2013). Through advanced technology

and the rise of big data, innovations of gamification and social advertising have

become the next big thing. It enables brands to market themselves with fun, as well

as incorporate personalised advertising through social media that could increase

engagement and interaction, which, therefore, enhances the creation of strong

brand equity and strengthens the ability to remain competitive in the market.

The main purpose of this report is to emphasise on building brand equity through

gamification and social advertising. It contains firstly a literature review on brand

equity, gamification and social advertising to provide a better understanding of these

important terminologies, along with two real-life case studies in regards to the

wellness and luxury sector. This is then followed by further analysis of both cases,

which will be critically discussed to provide an in-depth insight into different

theoretical and practical perspectives. Finally, an overall conclusion and

recommendations will be given on how to effectively create higher brand equity by

using gamification and social advertising, and other relevant strategies on future

implementations for both sectors.

4

Literature Review

The literature review consists of an overview on brand equity and an analysis of its

importance. Two strategies in particular, gamification and social advertising, are

highlighted in terms of concepts, trends and challenges, as well as an overview on

two relevant sectors - health and wellness, and luxury – in order to support brand

equity creation in practice.

Brand Equity

According to the Marketing Research Association, brand equity reflects the true

value that a brand name holds for its products and services (2010). Moreover, the

Imperial College Business School Strategic Marketing’s branding lecture content

stresses the concept of brand equity, as “the different outcomes result in the

marketing of a product or service because of its brand name, as compared to if the

same products or service did not have that name” (Merlo, 2013). In short, brand

equity is, when a brand imprints a favourable image and feeling that will stay in a

consumer’s mind and that they will perceive as an added value to the functional

features of a product or service (Aaker and Biel, 1993). The power of brand equity is

further built by associating with a symbol, a slogan or a name (Keller, 1993) and it

also can be classified as the company’s most valuable asset, which has an ability to

determine, whether people will choose the brand over others or pay more for it

(Alagon and Samuel, 2011). Having strong brand equity not only enables a

company to obtain larger margins, more favourable reactions to price changes and

an increase in marketing communication effectiveness, but also greater customer

loyalty and longer-lasting customer and brand relationships (Keller, 2001).

Additionally, it gives the brand a sustainable competitive advantage, which cannot

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be easily retaliated compared with a brand that only has products or services

without distinctive identities (Kim, et al., 2011).

The challenges presented when effectively building brand equity are mainly, to

create a familiar brand name and a positive brand image together with strong,

favourable and unique brand associations (Keller, 1993). Even though it is

necessary for brands to communicate, brands are being shaped and influenced

greatly by consumer opinions in this era of multi-channel communications and social

media, resulting in a lessened ability to control conversations and more exposure to

the risk of negative publicity (Eiilm University, n.d.). Nonetheless, great challenges

also present greater opportunities. Instead, marketers can foster more meaningful

connections with consumers by emphasising brand-related conversations, by

deepening the understanding of their needs, and by crowd-sourcing ideas and

gathering insights that could further develop and improve products, services and

user experiences (Frampton, 2013).

Unilever’s Magnum is a very good example of how a brand builds its equity by

utilising social advertising and gamification as its strategy. The Magnum brand is

one of the first that comes to mind, when people think of ice-cream, therefore

illustrating its success (Eroglu, 2013). The two brand-building strategies will be

further explored at a later point in this report.

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Gamification According to the Oxford Dictionary, gamification can be defined as “the integration

of game design elements and mechanics in other non-game contexts” (Oxford

Dictionary Online, 2013). To clarify, it is an idea of understanding human psychology

and behaviours that evolve around the fun, playful and challenging aspects of

games and to apply them to real-life activities (Dale, 2014). Such a gamification

strategy consists of rewards, rankings, levels, leaderboards, points, contests,

challenges and badges (Neef, 2012).

Hamari, Koivisto and Sarsa (2014) state that due to social media megatrends,

gamification has become increasingly popular in the past few years. Figures from

the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IABUK) (2014) indicate that 32.9 million people

across the UK, including both males and females, and mostly in the 25-45 year age

bracket, participate in gaming. Accordingly, research has found that over 70 percent

of the world’s largest 2,000 companies are expected to have at least one gamified

aspect to their business by the end of 2014 (Gartner, 2011). Research firm M2

supports the statement that social games have become one of the biggest

contributors to the consistent growth of social media (Workman, 2013).

How Gamification Builds Brand Equity

In a marketing context, gamification plays an important role in creating effective

marketing strategies, in order to build brand equity and to drive success for brands

(Wise, et al., 2008). As it is a method for integrating fun and competitive elements

that support user engagement and social interaction (Hamari, Koivisto and Sarsa,

2014), which result in positive motivation, favourable behavior, as well as enhanced

experiences are brought on by gamified products or services (Burke, 2013).

Thus, the brand could create a strong emotional connection with its audience, which

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could foster an intimate relationship, lifelong loyalty and strong brand equity

(Duggan and Shoup, 2013).

It is clearly an effective strategy in the short-term, as a lot of people play these

games with particularly high levels of engagement during the initial launch of games

(Palmer, Lunceford and Patton, 2012). However, studies have found that

gamification is not a sustainable strategy. No game lasts forever, as people will

eventually lose interest and move to the ‘next big thing’. It is basic human nature

(Fisher, 2012). Since gamification only provides extrinsic incentives, such as points

and rankings, it could gradually decrease a consumer’s intrinsic motivation (Antin

and Churchill, 2011). Moreover, another risk associated with gamification is the

“moral hazard of game play”, which occurs, when participants become too focused

on the actual game and game-based incentives, rather than brand associations

(Schacht and Schacht, 2012). Hence, it is a real challenge for marketers to

implement gamification strategies that are readily adaptable to psychological and

behavioural changes, in order to maintain user interest and engagement.

Social Advertising

With the advance of the internet, consumers have become more connected with

each other and are able to socialise at all times using online networks (Kiang and

Chi, 2001). Research shows that more than two thirds of the internet population is

connected through social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace

(Gole, n.d.). According to IAB, Social Advertising Best Practices, social advertising

can be defined as “an online ad that incorporates user interactions that the

consumer has agreed to display and be shared. The resulting ad displays these

interactions along with the user’s persona within the ad content” (2009). To better

illustrate, social advertising enables marketers to unlock a user’s limitless

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interconnected data and utilise information on them and their peers, including their

lists of friends, comments, messages, photos, as well as their affiliations with other

brands, products, organisations, etc. Thus, it allows them to interact, share and co-

create content on their social media platforms (Bakshy, et al., 2012).

Recent research by Tucker (2012) emphasizes, that social advertising grants

marketers the opportunity to leverage the power of an individual’s social network in

order to create personalised ads, contextualise their displays, as well as target

advertising to consumers individually on social media platforms. Moreover, social

advertising is a winning platform for companies in regards to building brand equity,

as it directly influences advocacy, as well as advertising products and services

(Pivot Conference, 2013). According to survey statistics by Gartner, Inc. (2014),

when it comes to overall global social media revenue, social advertising revenue

alone has increased by 31 percent in 2014 and is expected to grow by almost 13

percent year-on-year.

How Social Advertising Builds Brand Equity

Researches have evidenced that there is a positive relationship between social

advertising and brand equity (Moayyed, Dehyadegari and Bakhshizadeh, 2012). In

general, a consumer’s level of motivation to recommend a brand is likely to

increase, if it resonates with them. They appreciate not only what a product or

service does for them, but also the experience they have with a brand that recalls a

positive emotional reaction; one so powerful that they are willing to share it with

others (Ansari-Dunkes and Enckevort, 2013). Nowadays, the consumer’s voice

carries more weight than ever before (Frampton, 2013). Word of mouth on social

networks has become a key referencing information (Allsop, Bassett and Hoskins,

2007). In addition, approximately 78 percent of the world's consumers prefer

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recommendations through word of mouth, when consider buying a product. In

addition, any advertisements coming from friends are believed to be more honest

and unbiased compared with advertisements from different sources of mass media

(Moayyed, Dehyadegari and Bakhshizadeh, 2012). Thus, advertising through social

media using an individual’s information and connections would definitely enhance

the efficacy in building brand equity.

The Luxury Sector

For the last fifteen years, the global luxury goods sector has been one of the most

attractive and profitable sectors, where a globalised consumption has led to

continuous growth (Kim, et al., 2011). A shift in consumer behaviour around the

world can be noticed in terms of valuing more well-known brands and a material

lifestyle (Solomon, et al., 2004). Hence, attitudes towards luxury brands have shifted

accordingly in regards to influencing brand equity (Kim, et al., 2011).

Research shows that there is a positive relationship between brand equity and

purchase intention, especially for luxury goods (Kim, et al., 2011). Although the price

of luxury goods is known to be expensive, high equity brand enthusiasts would still

be willing to pay an extra amount for these products (Ko and Kim, 2011), because

the brand has a unique and irreplaceable meaning perceived by the customers, and

they often believe luxury goods have an additional value besides the product itself

(Yang, 2010).

This reinforces that gamification and social advertising could promote the creation of

brand equity, therefore suggesting that these strategies could also increase the

purchase intention in regards to luxury goods (Ancuta, 2012).

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The Wellness Sector

According to Paul Zane Pilzer, a well known economist, the wellness sector

encompasses “products and services that promote wellness rather than respond to

illness” (2002). And wellness itself can be defined as ‘a condition of good physical,

mental and emotional health’ (American Heritage Medical Dictionary, 2014). The

emergence of advanced technology and education during the past generation has

caused a rise in wellness trends. This revolution has changed consumer perception

towards health (PWC, 2011). The wellness sector has gained in popularity and has

become mainstream, as consumers believe in the importance of healthy living and

lifestyle enhancements (Miller, 2006). Embracing wellness activities places

significant emphasis on an appropriate diet, exercise and other lifestyle

modifications (Wicken, 2000).

Despite the common knowledge that physical fitness is healthy, the level of

motivation and engagement is relatively low, or only high during the initial stage of

adoption (Bauman, et al., 2011). However, research highlights that the application of

gamification in a health-related context is escalating and has been proven to be

effective in regards to increasing an individual’s motivation, experience and

engagement, while continuously accomplishing physical wellness activities (Pereira,

et al., 2014) (Wylie, 2006).

To conclude, the combination of gamification and social advertising has led to an

increase in engagement and consumer relationships, and the two selected sectors

indicate that they are suitable for integrating both strategies in order to satisfy

consumer needs, which consequently enhances brand equity (Moise, 2013).

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Research Approach

In order to explore how gamification and social advertising facilitate brand equity,

secondary research was conducted as the main approach of this report.

This report has been developed and re-examined through meticulous research,

mainly referring to literature reviews, including academic journals and reputable

publications specifically on marketing and other relevant areas.

Furthermore, secondary research on strategic marketing lectures and case studies

from the Imperial College Business School, along with related blogs, reports and

articles, have been thoroughly selected and critically analysed in order to broaden

an understanding of real-world practices. Additionally, a contemporary marketing

practice lecture on Magnum’s online brand equity building, ‘The Pleasure Hunt’ by

Alper Eroglu, which was presented on 2nd December 2013, has been included in

order to better understand the concept and to gain a more in-depth insight on the

proposed statement.

Results

This chapter discusses gamification and social advertising strategies and how they

can be used effectively to build brand equity in the wellness and luxury sectors. It

also looks at a number of case studies to provide a lucid and logical understanding.

In the wellness sector, although people are aware that being physically fit is healthy,

they often tend to ignore these activities, as they see exercising and dieting as

something tedious and too much effort. The underlying assumption is that, if the

tasks were more fun, people would be more likely to engage and would feel

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motivated to put in an effort. This is where gamification and social advertising comes

into play. These strategies help to engage people through physical activities away

from the treadmill. Instead it becomes something that is a part of their everyday

lives, as well as a personalized approach that they can actually relate to.

The Wellness Sector Nike has adopted an integration of gamification and social advertising in order to

increase engagement and to effectively enhance brand equity. It has developed

“Nike+”, a gamified GPS-based application measuring and monitoring a user’s daily

activity data, such as the average walking speed, the distance traveled and calories

burned using a sensor connected with a mobile application. It also incorporates

game elements, such as virtual rewards and scoreboards in order to increase

engagement and interaction. In line with the current rise of smartphone usage,users

are always connected with their tracker devices and their peers, which enables real-

time and continuous tracking. They are therefore more involved and encouraged to

participate in healthy activities (Zuckerman and Oz, 2014).

This wearable device is designed to be worn directly on the body, either on the wrist

or under the foot, therefore exposing users to the brand unknowingly almost all time.

According to consumer-based brand equity theory, by making the device highly

visible, Nike has successfully created a highly salient brand, which has increased

brand recall and recognition, as well as the likelihood of the brand being in

consumer evoke sets and being on the top of the mind, when considering

purchasing sports. It is an essential foundation that links to other components in the

pyramid in order to build strong brand equity.

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Additionally, Nike has optimised social media platforms by connecting the

application with social networks, such as Facebook. This requires users to create an

individual account and allows them to share their achievements and to challenge

fellow runners in the Nike community. Nike then utilises the data obtained to learn

directly from user behavior. It can, for example, effectively personalise advertising

by offering Nike products that are a best fit for that particular customer. Also, Nike+

encourages users to share recommendations through social networking sites, which

could result in positive word of mouth and generate referral traffic. Hence, Nike has

optimised both online and offline platforms in order to interact with its customers and

has become a part of their everyday lives.

With Nike+, not only the extrinsic incentives, such as leveling up or receiving points,

are rewarding, but the intrinsic incentives are even more appealing, as they satisfy

the need for well-being, which deepens the relationship and increases the chance of

users continuously using the product and developing equity towards the brand.

As a result, one year after launching Nike+, the company had achieved a ten

percent increase in revenue in the U.S. running shoes market and sold over 1.4

million Nike+ products, such as sport bands and iPod kits. More than 600,000

participants from 170 different countries had joined the Nike+ application by then

and the number has since increased to seven million within six years (Co-creation,

n.d.).

The success proves the effectiveness of incorporating gamification and social

advertising in the wellness sector. By enhancing exercise experiences and by

making it more attractive brand equity can be boosted.

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The Luxury Sector In regards to the luxury sector, it requires significant investments and effort to

convince consumers to puchase high involvement products. As the products are not

a necessity, consumers do not purchase these on a routine basis. According to

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, possessing luxury goods, such as Swarovski, can

satisfy beyond the basic needs and will most likely satisfy the top levels of the

pyramid, namely self-esteem and self-actualisation (Businessball, n.d.). If a brand

can satisfy consumer needs in terms of achieving status, respect and self-fulfillment,

it can develop an intimate relationship and deeper connection with its customers,

which would also lead to strong equity towards the brand. Therefore, brand equity is

crucial to buying motivation in the luxury sector.

As mentioned earlier, gamification and social advertising are key strategies in

building brand equity. The luxury jewelry sector is an interesting sector to be

gamified, as it seems to have a different dimension, and it appears almost

impossible to engage with jewelry through games. However, by utilising gamification

and social advertising, luxury brands can be perceived as more friendly and

reachable. Swarovski is one of the most famous brands in the luxury sector. It has

implemented many different and effective marketing campaigns, including

gamification and social advertising to better engage with its target market. It was

also the first luxury jewelry brand to utilise gamification. The famous scavenger hunt

campaign “Discover Your Light Treasure Hunt” by Swarovski launched in 2011. The

goal was to build brand equity with existing high-end middle aged consumers, as

well as to extend its fan base within lower age groups. Lower age groups have a

higher perceived risk and do not often consider buying crystals and jewelry. The

campaign requires participants to use their smartphones in order to search for clues

and puzzles around London to find “hidden gems” and to earn points that would win

them splendid prizes. Not only are they able to gain a new insight into the Swarovski

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treasure hunt’s 40 locations, which spontaneously build connections and

attachments, but they are also exposed to personalised advertisements along the

game (Drisk, 2011).

According to the customer voluntary participation model, positive word-of-mouth and

customer participation are the key to re-purchase behaviour and brand loyalty

(Merlo, 2013). Swarovski has fully utilised customer participation in its scavenger

hunt campaign in order to encourage positive word-of-mouth and by emphasisinge

engagement, which could further trigger purchase intention and enhance brand

equity.

Moreover, prior to the launch of the campaign, Swarovski’s advertisements were

very prominent, using billboards, fully-wrapped taxis and in-store promotions to

aggressively raise brand awareness. Not only has Swarovski now also utilised

gamified elements in launching the scavenger hunt campaign, but it has also

exploited social media elements by involving participants online to find additional

clues and to enable them to share their experience using social media networks.

Swarovski uses the data gathered online to personalise advertisements for its target

customers and offers those products that are most related to them in order to

increase purchase intention and future purchase opportunities. The analysis shows

that social advertising is another crucial means of attracting consumers. The

products themselves are high-involvement and high risk-purchases requiring

personal relatedness and positive emotional connections, which can be fully

satisfied through social advertising.

It is very clear that Swarovski has engaged with its target consumers by using both

online and offline platforms to effectively interact and build strong relationships.

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This campaign was a huge success in regards to winning fans and building the

brand. It was able to accomplish its goal of extending the fan base to a lower age

group, as more than 600 participants aged 20-30 voluntarily joined the campaign

(Disneyrollergirl, 2011). The success was also proven in a significant 30 percent

increase in Twitter followers and Facebook fans (Boye, 2011).

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Conclusion The literature reviews and the case studies for the two sectors show that by

incorporating game elements, fun and innovative experiences can be introduced to

the learning and buying process. For consumers, it becomes more attractive and

more feasible to interact with luxury products, as well as building affective

attachments and personal relationships through personalised advertising.

When comparing the case studies of Nike+ and Swarovski with Magnum, it can be

seen that they have adopted similar strategies. The results are also very promising

in terms of building equity for all brands. By contrast, Nike+ and Swarovski are

involved with users not only online, but also offline. All brands offer extrinsic value

through game elements and social networks. However, Nike+ and Swarovski offer

both extrinsic and intrinsic value in terms of promoting well-being and enhancing

self-actualisation and therefore reducing the problem of moral hazards in terms of

game playing and the risks associating with purchasing high-involvement products.

All in all, it can be concluded from the research, the case studies, as well as the

analyses, that in this digital era, gamification and social advertising strategies play a

very important role in regards to brand equity creation across different sectors by

engaging consumers, as well as better serving their needs. Despite the wellness

and luxury sector being completely different, they both utilise gamification and social

advertising strategies to effectively promote equity for the brands in both sectors.

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Recommendations The below recommendations are based on Keller’s customer-based brand equity

model and focus on gamification and social advertising implementation in order to

build strong and sustainable brand equity. The model consists of four fundamental

stages, namely, and in chronological order, identity, meaning, response and

relationships.

1. Identity In this first step, marketers need to ensure that clients perceive the true brand

identity, which can be achieved through building high brand awareness.

With the rise of social networking and the big data concepts, a proper content

marketing execution through social advertising can effectively facilitate brand

awareness in regards to the wellness and luxury sectors. Marketers can utilise

consumer information in order to create more personal and meaningful content and

to enhance selective attention towards the brand. For instance, brands could use

consumer data on how often they exercise or purchase jewellery to identify

influence factors for engaging them in such activities and to create personalised

campaigns or promotions to trigger positive motivation and behaviour. Using Nike+

as an example, it encourages participants to publicise their achievements, such as

earning a new title or moving up to the next level, as well as challenges and

achieving a public recognition of their accomplishments by fellow participants in

order to boost awareness and drive traffic. However, Nike could also integrate other

rising social media channels, such as Snap Chat or Vine in order to raise awareness

amongst consumers who use such media channels.

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Also, it is essential for the brands to differentiate themselves and to stand out from

the crowd, so that potential consumers become aware and remember the brands,

when making future purchases. Considering the newness of gamification, marketers

could utilise this innovation to create virality and to make the brand salient in the

consumer’s mind. To do so, wellness brands could introduce game elements to a

consumer’s regular activities, such as calory counting and earning points when

goals are reached. At the same time, luxury brands could use gamification to

integrate an augmented reality to educate consumers about their products and to

enhance in-store experiences.

2. Meaning Marketers are advised to conduct extensive market research in order to realise the

consumers’ true needs for both rational and emotional aspects. They could utilise

social media analytics tools to constantly monitor trends and behaviour patterns by

obtaining consumer information on their likes and dislikes, as well as to leverage

their connections to further obtain peer information. Hence, the results should be

translated to develop social advertisement that best serves a consumer’s needs.

Also, marketers should focus on educating consumers about the brand through

superior customer service and the company’s website, to which game elements

could be attached to in order to increase engagement and efficiency in

communicating brand personality.

Moreover, marketers should always implement activities that are consistent to the

brand image in order to avoid the brand meaning and identity being diluted. When

integrating gamification with luxury brands, it needs to be considered that they are in

a completely different dimension, with luxury brands being perceived as exclusive

and superior, and games being seen as playful and a product for the masses.

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Hence, there is a threat of brand dilution and consumer confusion, which could be

prevented by implementing brand revitalisation. Swarovski could revitalise the brand

by creating a sub-brand targeting a younger generation, including younger designs,

yet maintaining a high quality in materials used.

3. Response At this stage, marketers need to ensure that they evoke positive consumer

judgments and feelings, in order to attain a positive response towards the brand.

To assist consumer responses with the moral hazard of game play, marketers are

recommended to provide additional intrinsic values along with extrinsic ones, so that

the consumers are not overwhelmed by the game elements and game-based

incentives, but rather appreciate more of the value the brand offers. For example,

Nike+ products’ extrinsic value is enabling consumers to track and monitor their

activities, but they are more satisfied with the intrinsic value they offer in regards to

enhancing well-being. As a result, they enjoy playing games and appreciate the

brand.

4. Resonance In order to reach the top of the brand equity pyramid, it is most important for

marketers to establish very strong psychological and emotional connections with the

respective brand. Most importantly, marketers need to know what consumers value,

and offer products or campaigns accordingly in order to reflect and empower values.

Building brand resonance can be broken down into four categories.

4.1 Behavioural loyalty

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Marketers could offer related products that only work with other products of the

same brand in order to make consumers dependent on the brand and to trigger

repeat purchases. Considering the Nike case, Nike+ devices can be solely fitted and

operated with Nike shoes and other related products, such as iPod holders that only

fit with Nike costumes. This can trigger consumers to purchase other related

products, once they have purchased one product. The luxury sector, on the other

hand, could promote behavioural loyalty through offering premium services and

exclusive loyalty programmes, such as personalised incentives or gamified status

memberships, like leaderboards showing the most frequent buyers.

4.2 Attitudinal Attachment To increase emotional connections, marketers should offer an intrinsic value and

make the brand special beyond its products or services. For example, the wellness

sector could launch charity running events to create a deeper emotional attachment,

because it not only promotes well-being, but also contributes to society. The luxury

sector, on the other hand, could launch events that are invite-only for VIPs, in order

to make consumers feel more special and to create a stronger bond with the brand.

4.3 Sense of Community Marketers could create communities to better promote health and fitness or luxury

lifestyles for consumers to communicate, interact and share brand values with

those, who have similar interests. To do so, marketers could use social influencers

in order to enhance the expertise and credibility of conversations and activities in

those sectors. Nike in particular could endorse famous sports players so as to

encourage them to become opinion leaders in their community.

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4.4 Active Engagement We live in an era of constantly available digital smart devices. Applying gamification

and social advertising in regards to mobile appliances could improve active

consumer engagement, as research has shown that people spend an average of

8.68 hours a day using mobile devices (Miller, 2014). Moreover, brands could

further build positive word of mouth promotion and referrals through social

conversations and sharing, and finally, encourage strong personal relationships and

loyal followers.

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