Want to look at your brand through different glasses? An international brand study of the Efteling's brand image
Letting guests escape the delusion of everyday life in a natural and fairy-tale environment. That is the mission of the Efteling. But what about the brand image and brand power of the Efteling? Where does the brand currently stand on the various brand KPIs the Efteling has? And how does this differ across markets? And what are hooks to (continue to) achieve brand growth?
Challenge
The Efteling felt the need to look at the brand in a different way, namely by measuring implicitly. Blauw researched the brand image and brand strength in combination with competitiveness in the Netherlands, Flanders, Wallonia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom among (potential) visitors. An international study clearly shows the differences between the regions and offers insights to further strengthen the brand and opportunities for brand growth.
Vision
International brand research
Efteling wanted to map its brand image and brand power by conducting research in a different way: implicit measurement. With the research, the Efteling wanted tools to grow the brand and gain insight into the various brand KPIs.
Solution
Blauw examined the Efteling's question through two research phases: (1) An exploratory phase, and (2) a quantitative validation.
Phase 1: Exploratory phase
We started with an online community research in the Netherlands, Wallonia, Flanders, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, where we started an (online) conversation with (potential) visitors about the leisure category. The community consisted of various target groups of the Efteling. People with young children as well as teenagers and grandparents participated in the community. This ensured that we were able to guarantee the representativeness of the Efteling's target groups. By talking to the (potential) visitors, we discovered at what 'moments' the visitors thought about leisure activities, theme parks and the Efteling. We also discovered what visitors think are the most important perceptual signals of the Efteling and its competitors. In addition, we found out which words and images spontaneously came to mind when visitors thought of the Efteling. With this we mapped the brand elements (Distinctive Brand Assets) of the Efteling, associations with the amusement park and moments (Category Entry Points) when the park was thought of.
Phase 2: quantitative validation
Using the community research, the Efteling had an overview of all key moments, brand elements and associations. Then it was time to validate these insights among a wider audience in the Netherlands, Flanders, Wallonia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
Fire Power Building Blocks
In this quantitative phase Blauw investigated the important building blocks from the Brand Power model that contribute to the brand power of the Efteling: salience, affinity and performance. Want to know more about these building blocks? Read our blog on Brand Power research.
Online questionnaire with different modules based on the Brand Power model
The questionnaire was designed so that we could test the three building blocks from the Brand Power model and map Efteling's key KPIs. Different modules were used to gain insight into the salience, affinity and performance of the Efteling. With the collected results from phase 2, we were able to substantiate the strength of the Efteling brand with figures. We could also see the brand position of the Efteling compared to the competition in the various countries.
Result
What did the research yield for the Efteling?
At a glance, the Efteling discovered how all six regions viewed the brand. Did the United Kingdom think differently about the theme park than Germany? What were the differences between Flanders and Wallonia regarding awareness of the park? Because we investigated the same KPIs in all the various regions, it gave the Efteling a good overview of all - different results. During a workshop (concretization session) we were able to formulate a number of concrete action points together with the Efteling, with which the park could make more focused strategic choices per region.
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