How long does it take to build a national brand, and how much $ does
it
take to build a brand?  I need help with examples.  First good answer
get $4.  And an additional $5 tip per each additional example. 
Maximum tip is $20 (i.e. 5 answers = $24).  If there are additional
good answers, please let me know, and I'll post a separate "google
question."

For instance, how long did it take to build the brand Powerade and how
much did that cost?  How long did it take to build the brand Special K
cereal (part of
Kellogg's) and  how much did it spend?  How long did it take to build
the GAP brand and how much was spent?

It's best if the brand example provided was not the first brand of its
kind.  For instance,
Amazon is the best of its kind (online book store), and Starbucks is
the first of its kind (premium coffee).

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 31 Oct 2003 10:43 PST

Bsaint --

I think that researchers are unlikely to find this very attractive to
answer unless you come up with a definition of when a brand is
"built."  Marketing experts will tell you that establishing a brand is
really a constant process because what counts is the position in the
customer's mind at the time of the NEXT purchase.

At any rate, some suggestions for fine-tuning this question would be:
*  set a definition of recognition of brand name by xx% of the
population
*  recognition of xx% by relevant buying group. (The general public
did not at first recognize Compaq as a major brand -- but Compaq made
sure that IT managers were all familiar with the company and its
products.)
*  seek an answer with the FASTEST known case of brand establishment

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Clarification of Question by bbsaint-ga on 31 Oct 2003 20:50 PST

I thank everyone for your responses.  I think of myself as a fair man.
 If you can give me an example.  I'll comment on it to say if it is a
satisfactory answer.

In short, I am looking for examples for how long it takes to build a
new brand if you already have a line of similar products.  For
example, Kellogg bringing out a new cereal, Honda marketing a new type
of subbrand, etc.  Key things I am looking are: duration to reach a
brand awareness that is somewhat satisfactory by the industry standard
(different for different industries), and cost to achieve that brand
awareness.  Frankly, I care more about [cost to acheive] / [cost to
maintain ratio].  Is this ratio 3, i.e. it takes 3 times the cost to
establish a brand than it takes to maintain a brand?  If someone can
give me some rule of thumb, I'll count that as an answer as well.

Another note: the brand should be for a product that is not too
differentiable to begin with.  For instance, if you try to market
another bottled water, it'll be somewhat challenging.   However, if
you try to market a 6-wheeled car, that's very different.  I'm NOT
looking for the latter example.

This is difficult to answer, but any attempt is appreciated.  I'll
know if an example fit my purposes.  thanks.  bbsaint.

There is an analog in federal trademark law that you might find
helpful.  In general, to prove trademark infringement you must prove
that the defendant’s mark is confusingly similar to yours.  An
exception to that arises when a mark has become “famous.”  Once a mark
has achieved that status, you can circumvent some of the confusingly
similar proof requirements.  See Avery Dennison v. Sumpton at
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&case=/data2/circs/9th/9855810.html

For purposes of your question, you might be able to argue that once a
mark has become famous the owner has succeeded in “building the
brand,” to use your phrase.  Fame under trademark law is a fact-based
inquiry.  Some of the things a court will consider are:
	(A) the degree of inherent or acquired distinctiveness of the mark;
      	(B) the duration and extent of use of the mark in connection
with the goods or services with which the mark is used;
       	(C) the duration and extent of advertising and publicity of
the mark;
       	(D) the geographical extent of the trading area in which the
mark is used;
       	(E) the channels of trade for the goods or services with which
the mark is used;
       	(F) the degree of recognition of the mark in the trading areas
and channels of trade used by the mark's owner and the person against
whom the injunction is sought;
      	(G) the nature and extent of use of the same or similar marks
by third parties; and
       	(H) whether the mark was registered . . . on the principal
register.

See 15 U.S.C. S 1125(c)(1)
(http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=15&sec=1125)

The Avery Dennison case gives a good example of how these factors are
applied and may be helpful in analyzing how a brand is “built.” 
Although the court does not consider actual amounts spent by Avery
Dennison, it does discuss how advertising expenditures are an
important factor.  Note that the court holds that “Avery Dennison” is
NOT famous.

Another thing you could do is examine the financial statements of
publicly traded companies at EDGAR (see
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html) and see how
much they spend a year on advertising and marketing.  That might give
you a rough idea of what they spend to develop and preserve a brand.

the short answer is six months, if you have an unlimited budget, but
really this is a question with no answer- there are so many
"observable" variables that will affect the outcome: what is the
product, how many other products are there in the market, what media
are you using to  advertise, is the advertising effective, how big is
your budget, how big is it compared to other advertisers in the
market, are you looking for spontaneous or prompted brand awareness
etc. etc.

Thats not to mention the various unobservable variables that mean even
informed projections that incoporate all of the known facts have
generally poor accuracy.