Elaboration  of  the  Framework

Here   above   many   theories   have   been   described,   but   an   original   framework   will   be   then   created  to  describe  the  possible  outcomes  and  the  importance  of  packaging  change  in  regards   with   the   brand   preference   and   the   brand   relationship.   The   Customer-­‐Based   Brand   Equity   provides  the  possibility  to  measure  the  impact  of  these  marketing  activities.  In  fact,  in  every   level   of   its   pyramid   it   is   possible   to   see   and   then   evaluate   a   variation,   either   positive   or   negative,  of  a  component.  I  have  interpreted  this  model  associating  a  concept  to  every  level:  

1)  Who  are  you?  Which  means  what  is  the  brand  in  term  of  salience  and  awareness  for  the   customers.   Here   the   packaging   tends   to   fulfil   a   fundamental   role:   a   more   recognizable   packaging   will   have   more   possibility   to   have   a   strong   awareness   in   consumers   mind,   in   comparison  with  a  plain  or  non-­‐well-­‐identifiable  packaging.    In  the  case  of  Bellavista,  it  has   differentiated   its   wines   from   the   competitors   and   from   one   to   another;   before   the   transformation   most   of   the   bottles   were   almost   the   same,   the   labels   had   just   a   slightly   variation  of  colours  and  some  wines  where  confused  one  with  an  other,  some  case  reported   that  after  the  change  consumers  were  more  aware  of  the  entire  product  line  whereas  before   they  were  thinking  that  Bellavista  was  producing  just  2-­‐3  types  of  sparkling  wine,  instead  of  7.  

2)   In   this   stage   the   question   proposed   is:   What   are   you?   This   brings   to   many   facets   of   the   research  and  it’s  an  essential  part  of  the  framework.  Here  the  question  asks  customers  what  is   the  brand  in  their  imagery,  what  is  the  performance  of  the  brand.  In  few  words,  it  is  the  total   set  of  images  that  they  associate  with  the  brand  and  the  rating  in  terms  of  performance.    

During  this  step  we  have  some  theories  to  put  in  and  mix:  

Brand   user   image,   which   is   the   image   of   the   typical   user   of   the   brand,   held   in   the   mind   of   customers.   It   concurs   to   form   the   brand   personality,   defined   as   the   set   of   human   characteristics  that  consumers  link  with  a  brand.  Furthermore,  this  imagery  part  of  the  brand   has  to  be  related  with  the  customers;  this  is  where  the  self-­‐concept  theory  starts.  In  our  case   we   are   more   interested   in   the   actual   self,   which   is   the   totality   of   the   perceptions   that   the   individual  has  about  himself.  But  this  is  not  the  end,  it  is  not  worth  to  just  measure  the  self   concept,   we   need   to   seek   for   the   level   of   congruence   between   the   brand   user   image/the   personality  of  the  brand  and  the  actual  self  image  of  the  consumer.  In  this  stage  it  is  located   the  first  study,  a  survey,  of  the  research  which  seeks  to  measure  the  level  of  congruence  of   customers  image  and  Bellavista  different  images.  

3)   The   question   in   third   rung   of   the   pyramid   is:   What   about   you?   This   is   explained   in   the   feelings  and  in  the  judgement  that  the  consumer  has  towards  the  brand.  In  this  stage  we  have   the  first  outcome  measuring  the  first  real  and  relevant  result  of  the  packaging  change;  here   the  attitude  towards  the  brand  would  possibly  change  in  terms  of  preference,  defined  as  the   brand  that  the  consumer  favours  in  his  consideration  set.  In  this  part  of  the  research  we  are   searching   for   the   effect   of   the   packaging   change   on   the   feelings   and   the   judgements   of   customers;  this  is  the  step  where  they  concretely  form  their  preference  and  where  there  are   first  signs  of  modification  in  the  brand  relationship.  This  will  be  evaluated  in  the  first  study  of   the   research,   in   conjunction   with   the   measure   of   the   actual   self-­‐image   congruence.  

4)   In   this   last   level,   Resonance,   the   question   is:   What   about   you   and   me?   In   this   part   all   is   concentrated  on  the  relationship  that  the  customer  has  with  the  brand.  Here  is  important  to   understand   the   degree   of   attachment   to   the   brand   and   the   level   of   activities   that   they   have   with   products;   understanding   the   relationship   in   this   way   will   help   to   evaluate   the   importance  of  the  brand  in  the  customer’s  life,  the  real  impact  of  marketing  activities  on  his   mind  and  heart.    

The  attention  will  be  posited  in  particular  on  the  effect  of  the  packaging  change.  Thus,  we  go   deeper  and  deeper  in  the  feelings  that  the  consumer  holds  toward  the  brand,  trying  to  unveil   outermost  effect  on  the  bonds  that  they  hold.  In  sum  we  are  looking  for  the  real  response  of   the  customers  in  the  dialogue  between  them  and  the  Brand.  The  qualitative  method  that  will   be  employed  is  the  one  to  one  in-­‐depth  interview.  Following  the  work  of  Fournier  on  brand   relationship,   the   respondent   will   be   asked   to   describe   their   usage   history   situation   of   the   brand.  The  figure  below  shows  the  elaboration  of  the  Customer-­‐based  brand  equity  pyramid;  

in  every  level  I  have  substituted  a  theory  of  the  framework  in  order  to  permit  the  evaluation   of  the  influence  of  packaging  change.