If a brand can not develop or maintain differentiation, consumers do not have a basis for choice over others. Product price will be the determining factor in the purchase decision. Lack of differentiation, the author says, the core of any brand and related business - loyal customer base - can not be created or sustained. At a time when the competitive area for most brands hard cruel, the author describes a new tool that can help companies to maintain the advantage of name honors. Distinctive brand can be a function, service, program or component. It has to be meaningful to the customer, that is, it must be both relevant and significant enough to matter when people buy or use the product or service. It should also be actively managed (and, thus, be able to justify investing time management) for a long period - years or even decades - so that it does not become stagnant. Explores various kinds of brand differences, advantages and disadvantages of their development internally against the outside looking for them, and the question of the management of these brands-in-brands. "Hide
by David A. Aaker Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 7 pages. Publication Date: 01 Oct 2003. Prod. #: SMR122-PDF-ENG
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