Brand Audit
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Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit
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You have a total of two weeks 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
Competencies
Your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below.
· 1.1: Organize document or presentation clearly in a manner that promotes understanding and meets the requirements of the assignment.
· 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.
· 3.1: Identify numerical or mathematical information that is relevant in a problem or situation.
· 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.
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
After you have reviewed the Slate case file and read about branding, proceed to Step 2, where you will examine the elements of branding decisions.
Slate Case File
Client Name: Slate, Inc.
Industry: Gaming
Competitors: 1. Sony PlayStation
2. Microsoft Xbox
Product Lines: Gaming consoles
Slate, Inc. has asked us to provide a brand analysis report on these two competing brands to inform Slate’s decisions on the direction of its own branding strategy.
The gaming industry revenues have seen an increase in sales among consumers staying home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Heading into the year-end shopping season, consumers are trying to balance a weak economy with their higher need to entertain themselves at home. This has helped drive up Sony’s shares 46% since its March lows (Reuters, 2020).
Sony announced that its next-generation PlayStation 5 console will launch in November, 2020 and will sell for $499.99, and $399.99 for the version without a disk drive, as it squares off against rival Microsoft’s Xbox console (Reuter, 2020)
Microsoft announced that its next-generation Series X Xbox game console will also launch in November, 2020, and will sell for $499.99. The new console supports 4K graphics and has a solid-state drive that allows faster loading times than older generation consoles. Microsoft also announced a lower-priced model, the Xbox Series S, an all-digital console that will sell for $299.99 (Fortune, 2020).
Source
Fortune (2020, September 9). It’s official: The Xbox Series X will launch in November. https://fortune.com/2020/09/09/x-box-series-x-november-10-release-date/
Reuters (2020, September 16). Sony PlayStation 5 to launch November priced $499.99 and $399.99. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sony-playstation-5/sony-playstation-5-to-launch-november-priced-499-99-and-399-99-idUSKBN2673G6
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
When you have finished reading about the branding elements, proceed to the next step, where you will begin your research on Slate’s competitors.
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
Then proceed to the next step, where you will discuss branding strategy.
Step 4: Discuss Competitors' Branding Strategies
Importance of Branding
Review the meeting details, and response to Carlos’s questions. Support your arguments with at least one source from the course readings, and three reliable non-scholarly sources derived from your own research.
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.
meeting on the importance of branding -Meeting on Social Media Platforms
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.
"Social media is considered an important marketing communication channel, and it's a crucial element of a company's branding strategy," Carlos stresses. "There has been shift from text-centric to visually oriented experiences in social media platforms. The trend toward visual social media," he continues, "has been mainly driven by the increasing popularity of smartphones, as well as the enhancements in mobile internet services" (Li & Xie, 2020).
"I want you to research and discuss the role social media plays in an organization's branding strategy," Carlos adds. "Business-to-consumer, or B2C, companies leverage social media platforms—mostly Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest—to target and engage their customers. I also want you to recommend two social media platforms, including those listed here, and discuss how companies can leverage them to enhance their branding strategy."
References
Li, Y., & Xie, Y. (2020). Is a picture worth a thousand words? An empirical study of image content and social media engagement. Journal of Marketing Research, 57(1), 1–19. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.1177/0022243719881113
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, non-scholarly sources (15 in all).
I suggest using reliable non-scholarly 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, as well as SCHOOL Library databases, 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 dropbox located in the final step of this project. Then proceed to the next step, where you will write your brand analysis report.
Step 6: Submit Your Brand Analysis Report
Required Readings
Chapters 7 and 16
Lancaster, G., & Massingham, L. (2018). Essentials of marketing management (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Deliverable: Based on your research of the two companies’ brands, write an eight to nine-page report starting with introduction, (four pages on each company under its own heading, and each brand element discussed and supported separately under its own subheading) that addresses the following branding elements :
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)
As you examine these branding elements, your report should also answer the following questions:
1. How strong are the companies’ brands in the market?
2. What are the factors contributing to their strengths and weaknesses?
3. How are these two brands competing against each other? How strong is their global performance?
4. How do consumers perceive their brands?
5. Are there any sub-brands? Are there any brand extensions?
Support your work with course readings, scholarly sources, and reliable nonscholarly sources, such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, the Financial Times, Statista, the Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as UMGC Library databases, such as Hoover's, IBIS World, and ABI-Inform. All sources have to be cited using APA formatting, both within the text and in the reference list.
Your report to Carlos should be 11-12 pages, excluding cover page, 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.
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.
Step 8: Submit Your Work
