Brand tracking presents a proactive preventative measure rather than a one-off cure. Designed as a regular pulse check, it highlights shifting market dynamics between cyclical intervals. 

What is brand tracking research? 

Brand tracking research is designed to monitor a brand’s performance in the market over time. It refers to the continual, cyclical monitoring of key brand metrics versus the competition to identify trends and changes. It will report on consumer purchase behaviours; levels of brand awareness; and customer price perceptions for your brand and relevant competitors.  

Brand trackers deliver a robust measure of your brand’s performance on both price and non-price (e.g., quality, features, service) factors. A good one will benchmark your brand against your key competition and monitor where you’re winning but also where you’re at risk of potential threats. The cyclical view of your market and competitive dynamics at regular intervals helps identify market changes early, which means you can respond in a timely and strategic manner.  

And beyond curtailing risks, a clever intelligence tracker will highlight where your opportunities lie, so that you can define growth and profit optimisation strategies and monitor the market’s response to these.  

How can a brand tracker benefit your business?

According to a US survey¹ of over 2000 U.S customers across a broad set of parameters, 54% said they would stop using a brand after just one bad experience; 58% have recently switched from a brand they love to its competitor; and 47% want enhanced product experiences.

A comprehensive Brand Tracker can empower businesses that are keen to respond duly to such customer vulnerabilities, including:

• Real-Time Adaptation: Trackers provide timely data on shifts in consumer buying behaviours, market trends, and competitive landscapes to enable quick adaptation in dynamic market conditions
• Customer Perception Assessment: Trackers monitor customer preferences across a range of criteria to enable intelligent segmentation to respond more specifically to changing customer needs
• Price Perception Measurement: Trackers highlight changes in price perceptions over time and versus competitors – it is a critical component of competitor benchmarking that will enable confident pricing decisions

Pearson Ham Group’s tracking initiative:

With multiple years’ experience solving strategic value-proposition problems, our clients regularly request a systematic approach to future governance, and within our governance solutions, brand performance trackers have become a norm at Pearson Ham Group. They’re particularly relevant to fast moving retail, hospitality, and food-service environments that are used to tactical campaigns to gain market share.  

Pearson Ham trackers monitor consumers and identify your active brand champions as well as what’s happening in the broader competitive market to understand your core target audience personas, how they perceive your brand and the competition, and how they behave. We’ll answer questions like these:

• Who are our customers?
• What is a customer’s propensity to choose our brand over the competition?
• Are customers brand loyal?
• How would price increases impact our customer’s perception of our brand?
• Do they believe they are getting good value?
• What are we doing better than our competitors? What are our competitors doing better than us?
• Do our customers recognise our differentiating factors or are we a blanket choice between undifferentiated competition?
• What are our competitors up to?
• How are consumer trends changing in a tough economical climate? Are there seasonal trends?

And we track what has changed over a period of time:

• Are habits / trends changing? Why?
• Who is most impacted by the recessive economy and what are they doing differently?
• What was the impact of a price change? Is it absorbed within the expected price point or is there a greater risk of churn?

A best practice approach

At Pearson Ham Group we are systematic in our approach. We apply a 3-pillar framework incorporating market context; proposition and pricing strategy; and organisational capabilities, into research design. Sampling and target personas are considered within the process to ensure we can deliver robust, confident insights.

We work closely with you, co-creating your bespoke brand tracker that will effectively embed within your current practices.

Decoding data with powerful dashboards

Brand tracking has evolved significantly in recent years with advancing technologies. We leverage a variety of such platforms including advanced Power BI and Tableau to create customised dashboards. Here are 4 key benefits of processing data via analytic platforms:

1. Comprehensive Data and Predictive Analysis: Advanced analytics tools enable processing of large datasets by multiple filters, for a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of brand performance and changes over time
2. Time Series Analytics: When enough cyclical data points are gathered, time-series analysis enables advance scenario planning based on trend learnings
3. Global and Local Insights: Analytics can be coded to automate cross comparison of data from multiple geographic locations, providing both global and local performance views which is valuable for companies operating in multiple diverse markets
4. Scalability: Our technology solutions can scale with growth, accommodating an increasing volume of data and evolving tracking needs, ensuring intelligence remains effective as the company evolves

Unlock pricing success today

Brand tracking is not merely a strategic choice, it is a vital asset for companies navigating fiercely competitive landscapes. In an environment where consumer preferences can shift rapidly and competitors are constantly upping their game, understanding shifts in the market and in brand performance, is pivotal for a proactive and confident response.

Price position is a key brand tracking metric. It is a direct measure of customer price perceptions and a strong gauge of your brand’s value perception vs the market. Without a robust brand tracking system in place, companies not only risk market share but also losing touch with shifts in customer perceptions.

A well-designed tracker is a key source of intelligence that highlights changes in market dynamics and arms management with the insights they need to confidently shape strategic and tactical response plans to protect their brand.

If you’d like to learn more about Pearson Ham’s Market Research and Brand Tracking services, please reach out to our Intelligence Team for an informal initial chat.  

Notes: 1. Source Propel Survey