Step6

Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit assignments Start Here

Introduction

You have to finish your brand analysis report and should complete the seven steps of this project by the end of Week 4:

· Step 1: Review Slate Case File

· Step 2: Review the Branding Elements

· Step 3: Research Slate’s Competitors

· Step 4: Discuss Competitors’ Branding Strategies

· Step 5: Present Your Research Results

· Step 6: Submit your brand analysis report

· Step 7: Submit Your Work

· Step 8: Complete your brand analysis report

Your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below.

· 1.3: Provide sufficient, correctly cited support that substantiates the writer's ideas.

· 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English.

· 2.5: Develop well-reasoned ideas, conclusions or decisions, checking them against relevant criteria and benchmarks.

· 6.1: Identify the general (external) environment in which an organization operates and discuss the implications for enterprise success.

· 6.2: Evaluate strategic implications for domestic and international markets of an organization's industry.

· 6.4: Develop and recommend strategies for an organization's sustainable competitive advantage.

· 12.2: Analyze marketing information.

· Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit Step 1: Review Slate Case File

· INBOX: 1 New Message

· Subject: Thinking about the consumer and branding

·  

· From: Jillian Best, CEO, MCS

· To: You

· Attachments:

· Slate Case File

· Good Morning,

· I have attached the Slate case file to this email. It provides additional details you will need to inform your work with Carlos Chance, their head of branding.

· Branding  is a very important element of marketing. As you work on this project, it is imperative that you stay focused on the consumer. Remember that a company’s customers do not buy features; they buy benefits, both tangible and intangible. It is also critical to understand customers and how the brand influences their buying decisions.

· Best wishes,

· Jillian

Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit Step 2: Review the Branding Elements

Through correspondences with Carlos about his expectations for the brand analysis report, the focus of your analysis starts to become clear:

INBOX: 1 New Message

Subject: Focus of Brand Analysis

From: Carlos Chance, Head of Branding, Slate, Inc.

To: You

Hello,

Primarily, we want you to examine the  branding strategies   of our competitors. This report will function as a  brand audit  that allows us to examine our competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, customer expectations, and our own relative position in the market.

These details form the basis of the main  branding elements . I met with our CEO, Shanice Watts, and she wanted me to emphasize the following eight categories we would like you to analyze in your report about our two biggest competitors:

1. brand personality

2. brand image

3. brand identity

4. brand differentiation

5. brand positioning

6. brand communication

7. brand loyalty

8. brand equity (including financial equity)

Slate’s executive teams are really looking forward to your report. Thanks for helping us with this.

Best,

Carlos

Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit Step 3: Research Slate’s Competitors

Required Readings

Ferrara, M. H. (2013). Handbook of global marketing. Gale.

1. Building an international brand

2. Managing a brand across multiple markets

3. Global brand success stories

To carry out this assignment, you need to understand Slate’s competitors’ brand strategies, their consumers, how to acquire market knowledge through  primary and secondary research , and how to use that knowledge to build and support a brand.

To start your research, visit the websites of Slate’s two biggest competitors and review both scholarly and reliable nonscholarly sources to explore their branding decisions. Your research of the two companies should focus on the branding elements discussed in the previous step.

Consult a minimum of three scholarly sources and twelve reliable nonscholarly sources (15 total). Make sure that you use reliable, nonscholarly sources such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Statista, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as the UMGC Library databases such as Hoover’s, IBIS World, and ABI/INFORM.

In addition, explore the following branding websites for relevant content:

· www.adage.com

· www.adweek.com

· www.brandchannel.com

· www.ama.org

· www.cmo.com

· www.marketingprofs.com

· project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit Step 4: Discuss Competitors' Branding Strategies

· Importance of Branding

· As you are researching Slate’s competitors, Carlos asks you to participate in a  meeting on the importance of branding  with his team.

· Review the meeting details, then go to the discussion area and begin by posting your main response to Carlos’s questions. Support your arguments with at least one source from the course readings, and three reliable nonscholarly sources derived from your own research. Then respond to at least two postings in the discussion group. Complete all discussion posts and responses by the end of Week 3 at the latest.

· Review the  MBA Discussion Guidelines  for instructions on participation in discussions.

· Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit Step 5: Present Your Research Results

· When you are just about finished with your research, MCS CEO, Jillian Best, decides to check in on your progress. She emails you requesting that you provide a list of the sources you are using for analysis:

· INBOX: 1 New Message

· Subject: Sources for Slate Project

· From: Jillian Best, CEO, MCS

· To: You

· I know that you’re deep into your analysis of the Slate, Inc. case, but I wanted to preview your work and check in on the  sources of information you are using to develop your report. Slate has asked to examine the sources of secondary research that we are using in our report to ensure their quality and originality. Accordingly, I want you to share the list of references you have been using to research Slate’s competitors.

· Deliverable: Provide a reference list derived from your research that has a minimum of three scholarly and 12 reliable, nonscholarly sources (15 in all).  

· I suggest using reliable nonscholarly sources, such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, Statista, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, such as Hoover's, IBIS World, and ABI-Inform.

· All sources should be referenced using APA formatting.

· Thanks for your hard work,

· Jillian

· Submit your reference list to the Assignments folder. Then proceed to the next step, where you will write your brand analysis report.

· Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit Step 6: Submit Your Brand Analysis Report

Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit Step 7: Complete Your Brand Analysis Report

Deliverable: Incorporate any revisions to your final Brand Analysis report.

Also, include the following:

1. A one-page executive summary that highlights the most important findings of your analysis.

2. A clear  recommendation  on Slate’s branding of the new product that they intend to launch, and include your rationale (at the end of the paper).

3. A one-page table in an appendix at the end of the paper that compares the eight brand elements for the two brands.

Your final report to Carlos should be 11-13 pages, excluding cover page, executive summary, the reference list, and appendices. Any graphs, tables, and figures should be included as appendices. Your report should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.