🏦 The Bank Account of Good Will

Why some brands are unforgettable, and how to build one that lasts.

Ever stand in a grocery aisle and choose the $6 bottle of Heinz ketchup over the $2 store brand, without even thinking? Or pay a premium for a North Face jacket when a generic one offers similar warmth? That invisible force guiding your hand is brand equity. It’s the gut feeling, the trust, and the reputation a brand has built up in your mind over time.

It’s not just a logo or a catchy jingle. It's the sum of every interaction, every product experience, and every promise kept. For brand managers and marketing strategists, understanding brand equity isn't just an academic exercise; it's the key to building a resilient, profitable brand that customers don't just buy from, but believe in. It’s the difference between having customers and having a tribe.

In 30 seconds, brand equity is the commercial value that derives from customer perception of your brand name, rather than from the product or service itself. It's the reason a Nike swoosh on a t-shirt makes it worth more than an identical unbranded shirt. This value is built on a foundation of awareness, positive associations, perceived quality, and fierce loyalty. A brand with high equity can command higher prices, enjoy lower marketing costs, and weather market storms more effectively because it owns a piece of real estate in its customers' minds.

🏛️ The Four Pillars of Brand Equity

Building brand equity can feel abstract. Luckily, marketing professor Kevin Lane Keller created a roadmap called the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model. Think of it as a pyramid. You can't get to the top (loyalty) without building a strong foundation first. We've simplified it into four actionable pillars.

"Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room." — Jeff Bezos

🔍 Pillar 1: Build Brand Salience (Be Seen & Remembered)

What it is: This is the foundation. It’s about creating brand awareness, but it's deeper than just being recognized. Salience means your brand comes to mind at the right time. When a customer thinks, "I need sustainable, comfy shoes," does your brand pop into their head?

Why it matters: If customers don't think of you when they're ready to buy, you don't exist. Strong salience makes you the default choice, cutting through the noise of competitors.

How to do it for e-commerce:

• SEO & Content: Optimize for problem-aware keywords, not just product names. If you sell blenders, create content around "best smoothie recipes" or "how to make almond milk." Be the answer before they even know they need your product.
• Top-of-Funnel Ads: Use social media and display ads to build familiarity with your target audience. The goal isn't an immediate sale, but to plant a seed.
• Consistent Visuals: Use the same logo, color palette, and fonts everywhere—on your website, packaging, emails, and social profiles. Repetition builds recognition.

Quick Win: Do a quick search for your main product category in Google. Are you on the first page? If not, your next marketing meeting should focus on a content strategy to get you there.

✨ Pillar 2: Craft Brand Meaning (Performance & Imagery)

What it is: Once people know who you are, you have to define what you are. This pillar is about what your brand stands for, and it has two sides:

1. Performance: Does your product actually work? Is it reliable, effective, and well-designed? Does your shipping arrive on time? Is your customer service helpful?
2. Imagery: What abstract ideas do people associate with your brand? This is about the personality. Are you innovative (Apple), rugged (Patagonia), or comforting (Campbell's Soup)?

Why it matters: Performance is the price of entry. A bad product will kill even the best marketing. Imagery is what creates an emotional connection, turning a functional purchase into a statement of identity.

How to do it for e-commerce:

• Product Excellence: Relentlessly gather customer feedback from reviews and surveys. Use it to iterate and improve your product. A great product is your best marketing tool.
• Brand Storytelling: Your "About Us" page isn't just filler. It's a prime opportunity to tell the story of why your brand exists. TOMS Shoes built an empire on its "One for One" story.
• Strategic Partnerships: Collaborate with influencers or other brands that embody the imagery you want to project.

Quick Win: Write down five words you want customers to associate with your brand. Now, look at your website, last three social posts, and your packaging. Do they reflect those five words?

👍 Pillar 3: Elicit Positive Responses (Feelings & Judgments)

What it is: This is the customer's reaction to your brand. It's also split into two parts:

1. Judgments: These are logical opinions about your brand. Is it high quality? Are you a credible company? Is your brand superior to others?
2. Feelings: These are emotional reactions. Does your brand make customers feel safe, excited, confident, or happy?

Why it matters: People make decisions with their hearts and justify them with their minds. You need to win both. Positive feelings create a halo effect, making customers more forgiving of minor missteps and more likely to recommend you.

How to do it for e-commerce:

• Social Proof: Prominently display customer reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content (UGC). This builds credibility (judgment).
• Surprise and Delight: Include a handwritten thank-you note in orders, offer a surprise freebie, or provide proactive customer support. Online pet supply retailer Chewy is famous for sending hand-painted portraits of customers' pets, creating powerful positive feelings.
• Transparent Policies: Have clear, fair, and easy-to-find return and shipping policies. This builds trust and positive judgments about your credibility.

Quick Win: Identify one small, scalable way you can 'surprise and delight' a customer this week. Implement it.

🤝 Pillar 4: Forge Brand Resonance (The Ultimate Loyalty)

What it is: This is the pinnacle of the pyramid—the holy grail. Resonance is a deep, psychological bond between the customer and the brand. Customers with high resonance are not just loyal; they're advocates. They feel like they are part of a community. They buy repeatedly, participate in your brand's social media, and defend you against critics.

Why it matters: Resonance is the ultimate competitive moat. It's what allows brands like Harley-Davidson or Peloton to create communities where customers feel a sense of belonging. These customers have a high Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and act as a volunteer marketing army.

How to do it for e-commerce:

• Build a Community: Create a private Facebook Group, a Discord server, or a dedicated forum for your best customers. Give them exclusive access and a place to connect with each other.
• Loyalty Programs that Add Value: Go beyond simple points-for-discounts. Offer early access to new products, exclusive content, or invitations to special events (even virtual ones).
• Listen and Co-create: Involve your community in product development. Skincare brand Glossier famously built its product line based on direct feedback from its "Into The Gloss" blog readers.

"You don't want to be a brand that people like. You want to be a brand that people love." — Bozoma Saint John

Quick Win: Send a personal email to your top 10% of customers (by spend or frequency) and ask for their opinion on a new product idea. Make them feel like insiders.

📝 A Simple Brand Equity Audit You Can Run This Quarter

Brand equity feels big, but you can start measuring it with a simple audit. Use this template to get a baseline. Send it as a survey to a segment of your customers.

Part 1: Awareness (Salience)

• When you think of [product category, e.g., 'men's grooming'], what is the first brand that comes to mind? (Unaided recall)
• Which of the following brands have you heard of? [List of your brand and 3-4 competitors] (Aided recall)

Part 2: Meaning & Perception (Performance & Imagery)

• Please rate our brand on the following attributes (1-5 scale): Quality, Value for Money, Trustworthiness.
• Which of the following words would you use to describe our brand? (Provide a list of positive, negative, and neutral attributes, e.g., 'Innovative', 'Reliable', 'Boring', 'Expensive').

Part 3: Response & Loyalty (Feelings & Resonance)

• How likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend or colleague? (0-10 scale for NPS).
• How do you feel when you use our products? (Open-ended or multiple choice: 'Confident', 'Happy', 'Relieved', etc.).
• How likely are you to purchase from us again in the next 6 months? (1-5 scale).

This simple framework gives you quantitative and qualitative data to see where you're strong and where you need to invest more effort.

🧱 Case Study: Allbirds' Flight to Brand Equity

Allbirds didn't invent the shoe, but they built incredible brand equity in a crowded market. How?

• Pillar 1 (Salience): They owned a niche: "the world's most comfortable shoes," made from sustainable materials. Their simple, distinct design became instantly recognizable.
• Pillar 2 (Meaning): Their performance promise was comfort. Their imagery was all about sustainability and simplicity. As a certified B Corporation, their commitment to the environment wasn't just marketing fluff; it was a core part of their identity.
• Pillar 3 (Response): Customers felt good (feelings) about buying a sustainable product and judged the shoes to be of high quality and innovative (judgments). Time Magazine called their wool runners the "world's most comfortable shoes," providing massive third-party validation.
• Pillar 4 (Resonance): Silicon Valley and celebrities adopted the shoes, creating a tribe of early adopters. Customers weren't just buying shoes; they were buying into a philosophy of conscious consumption and comfort. This created a loyal following that propelled their growth and successful IPO.

Remember that bank account of good will we started with? Every positive customer experience, every kept promise, and every great product is a deposit. Every late shipment, unhelpful support ticket, or broken feature is a withdrawal. Building brand equity isn't a one-off campaign; it's the sum of your daily operations.

It's the slow, steady, and deliberate process of earning trust. The lesson is simple: make people feel seen, understood, and valued, and they will reward you with their loyalty. That's what brands like Chewy, Allbirds, and LEGO did. They didn't just sell products; they built relationships. And that's exactly what you can do, too. Start with one small deposit today.

📚 References

• Brand Equity: What It Is, Why It's Valuable, and How to Build It - Investopedia
• What is Brand Equity and How to Build It - HBS Online
• Brand equity: What it is, why it's important & how to measure it - Qualtrics