Distinctive Brand Asset measurement has become cornerstone research for ambitious marketing and insight teams, helping validate some opinions and disprove others. DBA research provides an action plan so rich that it aligns internal discussions, improves marketing effectiveness and unlocks brand growth.
A stress-free process, led by senior experts
Tailored, easily digestible insights
A playbook for asset prioritisation and next steps
Performance benchmarking through our global database
Understand what is the true driver of distinctiveness with your pack. Is it colour? Is it shape? Is it a specific on pack element?
Red Bull Can
Asset Recognition : 97%
Brand Attribution :91%
Character: Aldi - Kevin the Carrot
Characters are not only some of the highest-performing asset types, but they are also the most multi-faceted and can aid all of the key advertising effectiveness levers including Attention, Branding & Communication. DBA research will help you identify where the opportunity might lie in an existing or new character for your brand.
Aldi Carrot
Asset Recognition : 85%
Brand Attribution :59%
Colour: Red Bull
Whether a single colour or a combination, colour plays a key role on its own or as part of multidimensional DBA. Challenging to own in isolation, colour often requires support from shape or context. In most cases, it plays an essential supporting role. Learn about the importance to your brand.
Colour
Asset Recognition : 37%
Brand Attribution :42%
Tagline: Vodafone - Together We Can
While most underperform across most distinctiveness metrics, they can be powerful when activated correctly. Through DBA research, understand the role of your tagline and where the opportunity lies in turning it into a creative platform
Together we can
Asset Recognition : 28%
Brand Attribution :14%
Ad Style: Red Bull
When your advertising “looks like you”, it simply ensures your communications are linked and attributed back to your brand. Understand the distinctive drivers of your advertising so you can lean on a consistent style to boost ROI
Red Bull Ad Style
Asset Recognition : 75%
Brand Attribution :82%
Jingle: McDonalds - I’m Lovin’ It
Underutilised in modern times, audio devices are another weapon in creating a distinctive brand. Understand best practice in selection & activation through DBA consultancy.
I'm lovin' it
Asset Recognition : 77%
Brand Attribution :76%
Our Clients
Why Are Distinctive Brand
Assets Important?
Stand Up In Comms
Having a distinctive brand significantly improves ad recall, memorability and ultimately improves marketing ROI
Stand Together
Connects disparate marketing activities consciously and subconsciously, helping to create truly integrated marketing
Stand Out Physically
With 30,000+ items in an average supermarket, standing out has never been more important on-shelf or online
Stand Out Mentally
Improves how easily your brand comes to mind, playing a leading role in driving Mental Availability
Case Studies With Proven Results
Case Study
Audi
Driving an icon forward
Key Questions Answered
How do our Distinctive Brand Assets perform? What is distinctive about our brand?
What are the misattribution challenges? How much misattribution is there to competitors?
How do assets perform by asset type and against competitors?
How does DBA performance differ across key subgroups?
How do our assets perform versus other iconic brands?
A quantitative assessment of your distinctive assets allows you to understand actual performance, removing any subjectivity or bias. It creates a clear roadmap for the next steps in creating a distinctive brand with evidence that inspires action.
Asset Prioritisation
Understand your strongest performing DBAs, informing which to hero in your communications, online and on pack.
Watchouts & Threats
Be clear on your watchout assets, including those signalling your competitors and being misattributed.
Informing A Pack Refresh
Before updating your pack, understand what makes it recognisable to know what to protect or evolve.
Work In Progress Assets
Understand which assets need more work, adaptation and/or creative application.
Asset Gaps & Opportunities
Identify gaps within your current asset suite and highlight white spaces within the category for specific asset types.
Benchmarking & Ongoing Tracking
Benchmark against competitors and track performance over time using our global DBA database.
The DNA Of
Distinctive Brands
Inspire your team and brand, by understanding how to achieve greater levels of distinctiveness with our guide to Distinctive Brand Assets
Join other leading brands in improving how they use Distinctive Brand Assets through Distinctive BAT
Absolutely fair to say the work you did for us really helped us crystallise our thinking about DBA’s and the role they needed to play for us as a brand going forward. QualiTEA work.
Working with Distinctive BAT on the KLM DBA study was a pleasure; their professionalism, swift turnaround times, and insightful report were impressive and supported important decisions on the usage of our DBA’s.
The Distinctive BAT team were fantastic to work with - responsive, efficient, and critically, clear and strategic with their output. These insights have been really powerful for our short & long-term brand efforts across the business.
It was a fantastic experience working with the Distinctive BAT team, whose work directly impacted our creative and communication strategy in both the short and long term.
The meaning connotations of certain assets can be important to know, but not every asset needs to have meaning connotations. We explore “differentiation” through a meaning module, analysing the meaning associated with assets. This can serve as a health check if there are concerns about the meaning of certain assets or if there is a need to assess the assets' alignment with brand positioning. It can also provide clarity on the role of certain assets, some might be doing a distinctiveness job, while others might be playing a role in differentiation or indeed helping with category codes.
Brands of all sizes can gain insight from DBA research. While brand size does matter and is a factor in how distinctive or not a brand is, we will contextualise the performance within our database to determine if certain assets are performing well, for a brand of their size. We will also capture other metrics like misattribution, category genericness etc., which can also help guide discussions and activations for newer or smaller brands.
There is no real limit; however, diminishing returns set in after a point. As we limit the number of assets respondents see from any one brand, the total sample size will be dictated by the number of assets. We will provide guidance on the optimal number of assets and variants to include during the scoping process.
This varies on the number of assets tested, the sample profile and the number of markets. We have created a robust methodology with research that provokes action, one that offers a high return on research investment. Get in touch to find out more.
From researching the food delivery category in the U.S., to cars in the U.K., to tea in Pakistan through to the yogurt category in Kazakhstan, we’ve done it all, and can cover all major markets and all categories.
Have more questions?
We're here to help. Schedule a discovery call with our Head Of Strategy
As media costs rise and attention fragments, Distinctive Brand Assets embedded across owned, earned and operational touchpoints offer a scalable, cost-efficient path to mental availability.
