ANALYTICS
On surveys we frequently ask respondents to tell us which properties/qualities/ attributes they associate with different brands; this information is then used to determine and compare brand image, strengths & weaknesses.
However, brands that are very well known (e.g. Marks & Spencer, Coca Cola) tend to generally attract much higher levels of mention than less well-known ones on virtually all dimensions (often referred to as the ‘halo-effect’). Similarly, respondents often have more strongly developed opinions on some dimensions than others.
To overcome this a process of ‘normalisation’ is necessary so that all brands can be compared on all dimensions using the same yardstick. The statistics behind this, while not unduly complicated, need not concern us here save to say that for each brand on each dimension a ‘deviation from expected values’ is calculated and used to plot the brand map. The deviations from expected values for each brand on each dimension provide a fuller understanding of relative brand positions.
