The tool of 'Just noticeable difference (JND) can be used to advantage. Brand identity changes can happen for many reasons. In most recent cases, particularly Axis Bank and Vodafone, the identity change was all about a need for a new name to replace the old. In the first case, it was a statutory imperative and in the second, it was due to a change of ownership pattern. The key need is, however, to convey that the change is but a name change alone. Nothing else has changed. We are the same. Our reliability continues. The key points one needs to focus on in such changes are the link elements in terms of visual, aural and experiential imagery that the old brand enjoys in the minds and hearts of consumers. It is important to audit these points carefully and emerge with bridge elements that will continue in the new communication exercise. In such an audit that is consumer-centric, you could emerge with as many as 1,200-1,600 points that spell the meaning of the old brand to the consumer. You need to short-list from this by giving specific weightage to those points that must remain inalienable from the new identity you are about to convey and build. After having gone through this laborious exercise, brands need to ensure that the old imagery balances itself with the new. It is important for the new elements in the brand communication exercise to have the right weightage. For instance, the Vodafone logo and its dominance. Brand-name morphs are sensitive exercises. One deals with them through a series of executions. At times one execution is not enough. For instance, Vodafone will need to have a very quick second-generation campaign following the pug in the new kennel. This campaign needs to be new-identity-specific. ‘Just Noticeable Difference’ format where its presence is slowly phased to a smaller degree of significance visually. Application of JND for marketing strategy:
Product Pricing: Producers apply this concept of differential