ABSTRACT
For brand equity to be built, it is critical that communication effects created by advertising be linked to the advertised brand. Competing ads in the product category can create interference and consumer confusion as to which ad goes with which brand. Delaying brand identification or providing few brand mentions may raise processing intensity but direct attention away from the brand. Consumers may not have any inherent interest in the product or service category or may lack knowledge of the specific brand. A change in advertising strategy may make it difficult for consumers to easily relate new information to existing brand knowledge. To address the problem, some potentially effective strategies, grounded in past academic research, are brand signatures, advertising retrieval cues, and coordinated media. The brand signature must creatively engage the consumer and cause him or her to pay more attention to the brand itself and, as a consequence, increase the strength of brand associations created by the ad.
