Results were portrayed in a user-friendly manner and quite self-explanatory
The IT corporation Advania operates across Northern Europe, with offices in Sweden, Norway, UK, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark. On Advania’s website, the group CEO Hege Støre sums up her company’s strategy as “Customer Intimacy”. Støre says, “we want to be close to our customers. We do not just mean answering the phone on time and generally having a good service. We want to understand the customers’ needs and businesses in-depth and offer solutions that really help them become more efficient, profitable, or whatever aligns with their goals.”
Audur Inga Einarsdóttir, Director of Marketing at Advania Iceland, echoes such sentiments as she explains why the company sourced brandr Index. “We wanted to see how our strategy aligned with customer expectations. Based on the results of the brandr Index, we saw an opportunity to focus more on sustainability. Both in the sense of improving our track record and helping other companies become more sustainable by utilizing technology. It is essential to understand how our brand is perceived on that account. Our policy is that we practice what we preach, and since we used brandr Index originally, we have gone through our whole portfolio, to gain better understanding on how our products can better harmonize with what our customers’ need. In brief, that’s how the brandr Index aligns with our marketing strategy and efforts.”
The results of the brandr Index survey, Audur says, were delivered as an English language PDF file. This facilitated sharing with Advania’s other offices. “The brandr Index survey results were portrayed in a user-friendly manner and were quite self-explanatory. If I had any questions the Brandr staff were more than happy to answer any questions. To me as the director of marketing at Advania Iceland, in terms of usefulness and being able to utilize the results, I can definitely recommend the brandr Index.”
“When we used brandr Index for the first time the results delightfully indicated that brand image aligned in many aspects with our marketing and communication activities. But, there were also gaps we felt we should focus on, and things that needed an emphasis”
I have used brandr Index a lot in formulating marketing strategy
When reflecting on the difference between brandr Index and other analytical marketing tools Audur says “when we commissioned other surveys the target group seemed to be quite wide. But when we conducted similar surveys ourselves the focus tended to be too narrow, and we did not gain enough insight to position ourselves amongst the competitors. brandr Index seems to strike the right balance, compared to what we have seen and done before.
“When we used brandr Index for the first time the results delightfully indicated that brand image aligned in many aspects with our marketing and communication activities. But, there were also gaps we felt we should focus on, and things that needed an emphasis. Over the past year I have used brandr Index a lot in formulating marketing strategy and we are now sending the survey out for the second time. We want to gauge whether what we have done has shifted brand perceptions.”
“I am now very interested to see how brandr Index can improve how we do things. And how that, in turn, changes the way our target group sees Advania. I would love to see as part of the index more IT companies so that we can compare ourselves to a bigger group.”
Our strategy is not a sprint, it’s a marathon
Audur says that the company considered sending out the survey twice a year. “However, it was important to allow enough time for changes in our marketing activity to take effect. Now, I am very curious to see what comes back the second time. We are sending the survey to the same target group as before. In doing that we are conscious that our strategy is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And brandr Index helps these kinds of long-term marketing strategies.”
“I would very likely recommend brandr Index to other branding practitioners. On a scale of one to ten I would give it a nine in terms of usefulness and also a nine in terms of how likely I would be to recommend it. We will continue to use it.”
“I am now very interested to see how brandr Index can improve how we do things. And how that, in turn, changes the way our target group sees Advania. I would love to see as part of the index more IT companies so that we can compare ourselves to a bigger group”
