of the complete marketing mix

Management has concluded that brands represent the most important asset of a company. Independent from their branches, this is almost true for all brands. Brands demand high investment in marketing activities in order to secure and build value. The profitability of this investment can be evaluated from two points of view. The extent to which the investment can satisfy the main objectives of brand leadership, which is to reach an attractive positioning for the consumer and distinguish the brand from competitive offers must be evaluated. The marketing investment also must be assessed according to its orientation towards profit, meaning that the Return on Brand Investment should be assessed from a qualitative point of view as well as from a financial oriented quantitative perspective. This paper introduces an innovative approach to brand controlling which satisfies both perspectives of brand strength as well as the financial objectives. A model based on the statistical instrument of the causal analysis has been developed to help management allocate future marketing budgets effectively and efficiently upon the different marketing instruments