Jon Chandler looks at what Validation means within the wider framework of Brand Health.
Jon Chandler 
23 Sep, 2008
The Validation Challenge
The challenge confronting the measurement of brand success is clear. The traditional tools of quantitative research are notoriously blunt instruments for addressing the fundamentally subjective and emotional nature of brands.
Quantitative research is, by definition, about answering ‘how much?’ questions; questions around ‘who is doing what/’ or ‘how many believe this or that?’. Quantitative measurement has had more of a struggle getting to grips with the world of brands. The two inhabit parallel universes.
Ultimately brands live in the individual mind of the consumer and the collective conscience of groups of consumers. A brand is made up of the accumulated experiences of it and associations with it in the individual consumer mind and, quite crucially, the feelings and priorities that help to organise these. The world of brands is thus a subjective one inhabiting the conscious and unconscious mind.
The
relevance of this to pharmaceutical brands is powerful. If we are promoting
a new mechanism of action against well established and well entrenched opposition,
then our own success requires an accompanying waning of confidence in the status
quo. Conversely if we are defending our territory against the incursions of
‘newer’ and in some ways ‘superior’ competitors, then it will be Doctors ‘belief’
in our brand that will help sustain market share. Such contests are ‘moral’
phenomena, battles that are fought and won in the emotional dimensions that
underpin so called ‘rational’ decision making.
The challenge for brand measurement is to grapple with this emotional world in ways that are meaningful and useful.
The world of brands is simultaneously rational and emotional. What is objectively known and how we subjectively feel about it. To explore this world quantitatively a new kind of brand sensitive measurement is required. Brand sensitive measurement needs to find ways to cross the rational/emotional barrier. What is called for here is a new mind set, new tools and new practices.
New Mind Set; When we think about what it is we are trying to measure, we
recognise that we need to think in ways that are more qualitative, but apply
this thinking quantitatively. For example, to quantitatively identify the values,
both tangible and intangible, attached to a brand, traditional qualitative
enabling techniques used in a quantitative setting can be very valuable. Adjective
lists, emotional framing exercises, brand twinning and mood boards provide
clear insight into the values attached to brands. Applied in a quantitative
setting we can achieve greater confidence with the robustness of a larger sample.
New
Tools; Brand sensitive quantitative research requires tools that can capture
subjective dimensions more effectively, again there is much that can be learned
borrowed and adapted from qualitative research, new tools will often be qualitative/quantitative
hybrids. Here , for example, the READs model measures brand equity based on
the size and strength of relationships doctors have with brands. The model
incorporates the use of both qualitative and quantitative tools, such as metaphor
exercises, attachment scales, as well as attributes lists and questions around
prescribing behaviour. Collectively these can provide a fuller picture showing
fine differences between brands.
New Practices; traditionally there has been clear demarcation between qualitative
and quantitative research, each has its own projects and each has its own research
personnel. Crossing the rational/emotional barrier may be greatly aided if
these boundaries are challenged. This can mean building in ‘crossover’ into
how projects are set up and executed. We can move towards ‘crossover’ when
qualitative researchers work alongside quantitative researchers to develop
sharper questionnaires and measures. We can move towards ‘crossover’ when qualitative
and quantitative phases roll in and out of each other.
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