D1

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 one scholarly and one reliable nonscholarly source. 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.

In the next step, you will respond to your boss’s request for a vetted list of references you are using to support your report.

Questions needed answered are below (in bold writing).

Meeting on the Importance of Branding

Carlos Chance, the head of branding at Slate, Inc. soon hosts a kickoff web meeting asking for the case team’s insights into the company’s logic on brand strategy.

"Over time, products may become generic showing very little differentiation, like cereals," Carlos says. "That’s why branding is crucial in differentiating products. Even utilitarian product choices are influenced by branding, and the driving force is competition.

"When competition is intense, all products soon offer functional advantages: me-too products or follow-the-leader strategies. Accordingly, the only sustainable advantage is brand image, which you might recall from Johansson’s work in his book, Global Marketing (2009). That’s why a continuous marketing effort is needed to support the brand or product. Some researchers argue that anything can be branded—even something as plain as pasta, like Barilla and Buitoni.

"Do you agree or disagree with this statement, and why? Will this argument impact your analysis of Slate’s competitors’ branding strategies?”

Contribute your thoughts in the Slate, Inc.’s project team discussion area, and discuss your ideas with your team members.

References

Johansson, J. K. (2009). Global marketing (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Levitt, T. (1983). The globalization of markets. Harvard Business Review, 61(3), 92–102. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/1983/05/the-globalization-of-markets

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