1. KLV brand awareness and image survey
Subtitle: KLV Wageningen Alumni Network is well known and appreciated
KLV will be celebrating its 125th anniversary in style in 2011. The association is investing a
lot in this. To make the intended brand awareness and positive image effects quantifiable,
KLV decided to have two sets of measurements made. This article is about the baseline
measurement in October 2010, before the jubilee.
On instructions from KLV, the largest Wageningen Alumni Network, Trigenum carried out a
(baseline) survey in September and October 2010 of its image and brand awareness. Both
members and non-members were asked to take part in the survey, without the name of the
principal being stated beforehand. A total of 1,982 people took part in the survey. 87.5% of
these (n=1,734) studied at Wageningen University in the past. Respondent demographics:
60.4% 6.9%
9.0%
39.6% 11.5% 18-25 years
27.7% 26-35 years
22.1% 36-45 years
46-55 years
22.8% 56-65 years
over 65
Male Female
What is your gender? How old are you?
(n=1,722) (n=1,727)
The number of respondents is comfortably enough to allow good and reliable statements to
be made. A number of important results are given for you below.
KLV brand awareness is very high!
Spontaneous familiarity with the name
56.0% of those asked mentioned KLV spontaneously, with it being top of mind (KLV
mentioned first) for 50%. 9.5% spontaneously gave the full name, KLV Wageningen Alumni
Network, with it being top of mind for 8.8%.
Overall, 62.0% gave one of the two names, i.e. KLV or KLV Wageningen Alumni Network
(excluding the duplicates). As might be expected, the familiarity is greatest among
members. Additionally, we see that members aged 18 to 26 are more familiar with KLV than
their older counterparts.
Assisted brand awareness
When people are shown a list of various organisations and networks for graduates,
familiarity with the name KLV (Wageningen Alumni Network) increases to 89.5%.
Spontaneous
82.1%
56.0% 26.1%
KLV
57.4% without duplicates:
9.5% 47.9% 89.5%
KLV Wageningen Alumni Network
Assisted brand awareness
(n=1,961)

2. In addition, at least a quarter of the respondents also knew of the Wageningen Alumni
Portal (35.9%), the Vrouwennetwerk Wageningse Ingenieurs (VWI, Wageningen women
science graduates' network) (25.7%) and the LinkedIn Group of Wageningen University
(25.7%).
Image: KLV is professional and reputable… and a lot more besides
The survey received a lot of neutral responses to the image questions. This means that the
image of KLV is currently not very clear. If we look at the image aspects, we see that KLV
scores well on professionalism and reliability in particular. The average score for both image
aspects on a five-point scale is 3.5. This is followed by 'KLV is modern' (average 3.4). The
most critical respondents are in the age category 26 to 55. Additionally, we see that men
give more positive judgements across the board on image aspects. The same is true for
members as opposed to non-members.
The added value of membership is a critical success factor, scoring an average of 2.7 on a
five-point scale.
KLV membership
In response to the question “Are you a KLV member” 44.4% indicated that they were
ordinary KLV members. One striking aspect is that quite a number of respondents are not
sure whether they are KLV members or not (see diagram below).
17% don’t know!
I am a (regular) member
17.0%
I am a student member
44.4%
17.0%
No, I’m not a member at the moment
but I was in the past
14.1%
7.6% No, I have never been a member
I don’t know f or certain if I am a
member or not
Are you a KLV member?
(n=1,692)
Almost 8 out of 10 members would recommend KLV membership to others. The networking
function (directory and contacts with former fellow students) are the key reasons for being
a KLV member, along with keeping up-to-date on developments. The main argument given
by non-members for not joining is the lack of added value. A sixth of respondents said that
the main reason was that they are no longer working in the agricultural sector. A fifth of
non-members are considering KLV membership in the future. This is one interesting group
of potential members that the survey has revealed.
The jubilee: the “How to feed the World” theme is highly appreciated!
Both spontaneously and after suggestions were listed, a preference was expressed for
events with genuine content (symposium, congress and lectures) for the jubilee. The theme
of “How to feed the World” was popular (3.8 on a five-point scale). The events with less
formal content, such as a party evening and barbecue, scored 'fair' or 'good' among
younger people (up to 36) in particular.

3. The result: “A result to be proud of, after the KLV rebranding!”
This measurement has provided a picture of the brand awareness and image of KLV.
Looking at the results, we can say that KLV is a strong brand, despite the fact that we do
not have figures for comparable organisations. If we look at benchmarks from other
randomly chosen sectors, we can see that the brand awareness is good. In addition, the
results also give a picture of the requirements for the jubilee.
If you took part in the survey, you will have contributed to the Wageningen University Fund
(WUF). A sum of 450 euros will shortly be paid into the Anne van den Ban Fund. We and
KLV would both like to thank all the participants very much for their cooperation, remarks
and suggestions.
Trigenum BV – December 2010
www.trigenum.nl