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MarkenWesen Model

MarkenWesen-Modell

Marc Sasserath & Christiane Wenhart · Publicis Sasserath Brand Consultancy, Frankfurt and Berlin · 2004

Introduction
Brands Understood as Human Beings

Marc Sasserath and Christiane Wenhart presented the MarkenWesen Model in 2004 (Sasserath, 2005, p. 144). It comes from Publicis Sasserath Brand Consultancy (PSBC), a planning and brand consultancy that Sasserath set up with Publicis in Frankfurt and Berlin in 2001 (HORIZONT Online, 2001). The model treats a brand like a person. To grasp a person's nature, you look at the whole, and the same goes for the MarkenWesen ("brand being") of a brand (PSBC, 2004, p. 3). The model has two levels. One describes a single brand. The other sets out the parameters that every successful brand shares (PSBC, 2004, p. 3). The three descriptive dimensions mirror a person's body and mind. The four parameters come from personality psychology and from what draws people to each other (PSBC, 2004, pp. 4–5). All four have to be strong, because a strong parameter cannot make up for a weak one (PSBC, 2004, p. 8).

The Model

MarkenWesen Model: a sphere carrying three boxes, Properties & Performance and Values & Character at the top and Manifestations below, each with its guiding questions; from the bottom box a line branches into four arrows pointing to Individuality, Attractiveness, Consistency and Familiarity
Redrawn after Publicis Sasserath Brand Consultancy (2004, p. 6, Figure 2), labels translated from the German original.

Elements

Definitions follow the firm's management summary (PSBC, 2004, pp. 4–12). It is in German, so quotations are translated. The names of the dimensions and parameters are the labels of Figure 2 (p. 6).

Three Descriptive Dimensions

  • 01

    Properties & Performance

    This dimension (Eigenschaften & Leistungen) covers what the brand is and can do, comparable to a person's intelligence or skills (PSBC, 2004, p. 4). The figure poses two questions, "What is the brand? What can the brand do?" (PSBC, 2004, p. 6, Figure 2; translated).

  • 02

    Values & Character

    This dimension (Werte & Charakter) covers the emotional side of the brand, its values and, in everyday terms, its character (PSBC, 2004, p. 4). The figure asks two questions, "What is the brand like? What does it stand for?" (PSBC, 2004, p. 6, Figure 2; translated).

  • 03

    Manifestations

    Manifestations (Manifestationen) are what people can see of the brand, its typical signals and symbols. In a person they would be looks such as eye colour or height (PSBC, 2004, p. 4). The figure asks "Are there symbols or signals?" (PSBC, 2004, p. 6, Figure 2; translated). Each trait of the MarkenWesen is either essential (essenziell), a central part of the brand that should not be changed and is hard to change (in extreme cases the brand is hardly imaginable without it), or accidental (akzidenziell), less important and easy to change (PSBC, 2004, pp. 4–5).

    Telekom: Magenta and the letter T are essential for Telekom, and a switch from magenta to cyan is hard to imagine. Enie, another Telekom manifestation of the time, is accidental. Dropping it would probably change little in how people see Telekom (PSBC, 2004, pp. 4–5).
Four Strength Parameters

  • 04

    Individuality

    Individuality (Individualität) means that the brand stands clearly apart from its competitors. People should form a picture of it that nobody could mistake for another brand (PSBC, 2004, p. 6).

    Krombacher: Nature, freshness and taste dominate beer advertising. In a 2001 survey that TNS Emnid carried out for Publicis Sasserath, 65% of Germans said beer advertising looks more and more alike. Market leader Krombacher uses these traits and does well with them. For the many other beer brands, the summary leaves the question open (PSBC, 2004, pp. 6–7).

  • 05

    Attractiveness

    Attractiveness (Attraktivität) means that the brand matters to its target group and is wanted by it, in the best case admired and loved. As between people, first attraction leads to a relationship in which both sides expect something in return (PSBC, 2004, p. 7). The MarkenWesen therefore needs traits that promise the target group a reward for joining the relationship, ideally as a whole and not only in single traits (PSBC, 2004, p. 7).

  • 06

    Consistency

    Consistency (Konsistenz) means that the brand does not contradict itself, neither over the years nor from one measure to the next: it stays true to itself (PSBC, 2004, p. 7). The reason is how people think. They know only a few traits of a brand, complete the picture with "implicit personality theories" (translated) and expect the brand to behave accordingly, in what it delivers, rationally and emotionally. A brand may still surprise, and it may look and sound different at different touchpoints, as long as the gap stays small enough for it to count as one brand (PSBC, 2004, p. 7).

  • 07

    Familiarity

    Familiarity (Vertrautheit) is more than being known. The brand has to stand close to a person, and it can get there in two ways (PSBC, 2004, pp. 7–8). One is habit, because a brand that is present for years becomes hard to do without. The other is the first impression, when a brand already feels "made exactly for me" (PSBC, 2004, pp. 7–8; translated).

Derived from the MarkenWesen

  • 08

    Brand Proposition

    In the brand strategy, the target MarkenWesen is boiled down to a short core message, the Brand Proposition. It has two supporting parts. The Benefit states what the brand as a whole gives people, not what single products do. The Support explains why the brand can deliver it (PSBC, 2004, p. 12). When the strategy is put into practice, all measures are built around the Brand Proposition (PSBC, 2004, p. 12).

    BMW: BMW derives its Brand Proposition Freude am Fahren ("joy of driving") from its MarkenWesen. It works for every target group, from the financial community to drivers and staff (PSBC, 2004, p. 11).

Source

  1. HORIZONT Online. (2001, January 10). Sasserath Plant für Publicis [Sasserath Plans for Publicis]. HORIZONT. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.horizont.net/medien/nachrichten/-Sasserath-plant-fuer-Publicis-27353
  2. Publicis Sasserath Brand Consultancy. (2004). Das Publicis Sasserath Brand Consultancy MarkenWesen-Modell als Erfolgsfaktor für die Ganzheitliche und Kreative Markenentwicklung [The Publicis Sasserath Brand Consultancy MarkenWesen Model as a Success Factor for Holistic and Creative Brand Development] [Management summary of the originator firm, found on markenlexikon.com]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.markenlexikon.com/d_texte/verfahren_markenwesen.pdf
  3. Sasserath, M. (2005). Die Rolle eines Neuen und Erweiterten Verständnisses von Marken für Unternehmen und Deren Erfolg [The Role of a New and Expanded Understanding of Brands for Companies and Their Success]. In N. Janich (Ed.), Unternehmenskultur und Unternehmensidentität (pp. 143–152). Deutscher Universitätsverlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-11695-0_12
  4. Sasserath, M., & Wenhart, C. (2004). Das MarkenWesen-Modell als Erfolgsfaktor für die Ganzheitliche und Kreative Markenentwicklung [The MarkenWesen Model as a Success Factor for Holistic and Creative Brand Development]. In A. Schimansky (Ed.), Der Wert der Marke: Markenbewertungsverfahren für ein Erfolgreiches Markenmanagement (pp. 518–539). Vahlen. This chapter is the originator's full text; it is not freely accessible, so this profile draws on the firm's management summary and the other sources listed above.

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