Brand Auditing Project

Brand Analysis Report

Understanding and supporting the brand of your company is a critical marketing element. This is because this provides a proper basis of knowing which techniques to use in marketing and the benefits to expect from it. With reference to the Slate Incorporated Company, this paper discusses the branding aspect, its strategies and elements. As this is discussed, reference is also made to the competitors of this country. This paper, through its provision of information forms a basis of what is termed to be a brand audit. The paper will also present the recommendations relating to the branding of a new product they intend to launch. The rationale behind this will also be discussed. The competitors to the Slate Company that will be discussed in this paper are the Salon Media Group and the Atlantic companies. This report will present an analysis of their brands under the various brand elements.

Salon Media Group Brand

The Salon Media Group is a digital media outlet which is concerned with national conversations through journalism and is distributed through the social media platforms, news platforms and the mobile apps. Salon Media Group reports to reach 10 million unique visitors monthly. The Salon Media Group brand has therefore been growing in popularity with an upward trajectory shown over the years (Feldush, 2018). The company has embarked into tapping into various solutions that the digital world has provided. It has also customized content to match the various needs of its users and therefore grew its brand in terms of scope and influence. The Salon Media Group brand is therefore a good basis to strike a comparison with the Slate Incorporated Company.

Branding refers to the name, symbol, logo, phrase or a combination of these that help identify a company’s products and services and distinguish them from those of the competitors. For the Salon Media Group Inc., has a logo that identifies and distinguishes it from the competitors. The company also goes by the phrase ‘Independent Journalism with a point of view’ and this sets it aside from its competitors. The news and entertainment area is an area that involves great competition and thus the need to really set pace, the way a company differentiates itself from its competitors is therefore of critical importance. In fact, apart from the identification benefits that branding offers, the company is set to reap greatly from this initiative. Through branding for instance, the consumer knows the source of the information and thus bases on this to either make decisions or not (Sheinberg, 2021).

The Salon Media Group Company has a mixed brand strategy that involves companies marketing their own brands under their own brand names and private labels and to different segments (Kerin &Hartley, 2019). The Salon Media Group Company has marketed its content services and used the various platforms to market it to the different segments of its audience. From an interview with the Insider Intelligence Magazine in 2017, the companies’ video content tapped into the niche that had existed way back in 2015. This was through conversations tapped as videos and thus tapping into the various technological solutions. Salon Media Group video content for example is done through both live videos in studios and online though Skype to those who cannot make it to the studios. This therefore ensures user flexibility and that everybody is served at their convenience.

The branding elements of the Salon Media Group in this paper will be tackled under the brand personality, brand image, brand identity, brand differentiation, brand positioning, brand communication, brand loyalty and brand equity sub headings.

Brand Personality

The brand personality element includes a set of human characteristics that are associated with a certain brand name. Brand personality is developed over time. Often at times, consumers choose that brand personality that relates to their own self-image (Kerin & Hartley, 2019). The Salon Media Group has a curious but exciting personality. Its growing number of unique visitors monthly is a great indication of this. The Salon Media Group Incorporated has also diversified its content across different options and build its personality over time. Under the brand personality element are the brand competence, brand sincerity, brand excitement, brand sophistication and brand toughness dimensions.

With brand sincerity that highly stems from the genuineness of a brand with aspects such as the honesty, wholesomeness and cheerfulness of this brand. Customer feedback and recommendations of the Salon Media Group in LinkedIn prove the cheerfulness of the brand. Being in a news and entertainment genre, the Salon Media Group has to ensure reliability of its content disseminated through the various platforms. This thus ensures that the content presented to the final users is great and capable of being backed up for decisions. From the various interviews with the company’s key personnel, the company’s brand has been made less and less sophisticated with time. The company, has adopted improved technological solutions to disburse content to the audience in the manner that the audience relates with and understands. This has therefore ensured growth of the brand over time.

Brand Image

As a branding element, the brand image provides a reflection of the company it represents. The definition of the American Marketing Association is that a brand image refers to the perception of a brand in the minds of the people. Customers in a business relationship are one of the key stakeholders and the main reason for all the marketing. What they perceive of a business is therefore key in ensuring consideration, this is in essence the brand image. The Salon Media Group’s gains revenues from subscriptions and other fees charged for accessing the content. From the financial results under the Routers.com for the periods 2015-2017, an upward trend was adopted in the growth of revenue. This indicates a growing brand image and thus more customers who explain the growth in the revenue and subscriptions.

Brand Identity

Brand identity stems from the long term perspective. It is the distinct and the relatively lasting characteristics of the brand. With brand identity, consumers perceive brands to be distinct and prestigious. Brand identity is developed over time and adjusts to the changes in the market forces Essamri, McKechnie &Winklhofer (2019). The Salon Media Group started in 1995 and has grown its brand all these years to be a liberal news channel. With the need to adjust to the various market changes, the Salon Media Group has diversified its services and dissemination channels. This has seen a rise in its identity. With the recent pandemic and thus the need to change and match the consumer needs ahead of the situation, the Salon Media Group still strengthened its brand identity.

Brand Differentiation

This is about setting a consumer’s brand apart from its competitors. Brand differentiation entails associating a superior performing aspect with multiple consumer benefits. Brand differentiation strongly relates to response to reputation and managing of the portfolio. It also relates to how customers interact with the company. The Salon Media Group is a people centric company, whose products and services are just aimed at people. The company has diversified its content over time to ensure that the people are addressed individually at their points of need. The company is performing to a level termed as superior in content. In 2017 for example, the company received an award for the scripted and unscripted video series. In the previous periods, the company had received recognitions in the writing, commentary and investigative contents. This implies a properly differentiated brand.

Brand Positioning

Brand positioning is all about designing a company’s offering and image. This is with an aim of occupying the target customer’s mind. Positioning manipulates the mindset of the target customer. The brand positioning strategy presents a balanced approach for both the place and the target market. The Salon Media Group through its presence in social media platforms positions its brand in the minds of all its target customers. The information about the company is also in a website and easily accessible through a search engine. This ensures effective brand positioning.

Brand Communication

As a brand strategy element, brand communication relates to core values and benefits to the customers. The Salon Media Group website is well furnished with information on the values and benefits and thus serves the role to proper brand communication.

Brand Loyalty

This refers to a favorable perception of, and the consistent buying of a brand over a certain period of time. The rising number of subscriptions by the Salon Media Group and the number of unique monthly visitors indicates the affiliation of customers to this brand. The Salon Media Group is therefore doing well in this aspect of the branding strategy.

Brand Equity

As an important component in the branding strategy, brand equity relates to the added value that a particular brand offers beyond the functional benefits that the product offers. The industry within which the Salon Media Company operates in sets the company on the move in as much as the brand equity is concerned. The company started out its content communication through print media but with time adopted videos. It also allows lifetime access to content by allowing free publication.

The Atlantic Company

The Atlantic Company operates within the media industry and covers news, politics, culture, technology and health through videos, podcasts, articles and flagship magazines. This company recorded a gross revenue of 28.43 million dollars in 2019 which has been on an upward trend over time. The Atlantic Company has a branding strategy that targets its various customers under the various segments. The Atlantic Company’s branding strategy is mixed in nature. For a mixed branding strategy, marketing of products happens under a company’s own brand. The mixed strategy brands the various products and services under its own brand. The different branding strategy elements for the Atlantic Company, a competitor to the Slate Inc. will be discussed in the sections below. This will be in reference to the brand personality, brand image, brand identity, brand differentiation, brand positioning, brand communication, brand loyalty and brand equity sub headings.

Brand Personality

As a brand strategy concept, this relates to human characteristics that are concerned with a certain brand name. Brand personality is about the human feel to a certain company’s brand. For the Atlantic Company, much has been done in bringing the human aspect in this brand. The company has published articles about its brand, an example being the article on the Atlantic Brand Partners (Pressroom, 2020). With this, the company aimed at a singular experience for all its users. Atlantic Company’s brand to its target market is that of a composed person, ready to be a one-stop shop for all their needs.

Brand Image

Brand image communicates the perception of the brand to the eyes of its target market. Brand image is about how the customers perceive the organization’s brand. In the case of the Atlantic Company, the brand image gives the allegiance of customers to what a company offers. Thimothy (2016) asserts that brand image makes an impression to the customers, creates communication and communicates about how put together an organization is. Brand image is therefore a way to build credibility and accountability. The Atlantic company through its subscriptions strategy earned 300000 new subscriptions within its first year. This implies a positive brand image of the company in the eyes of its customers.

Brand Identity

Brand identity is the whole concept around the distinctiveness and the lasting characteristics of the brand. Brand identity is therefore about how the consumer perceives the company’s products. The Atlantic Company, has recorded a rising number of consumer awareness and thus an indication of proper brand identity. This is an indication of the knowledge of the lasting characteristics of the brand.

Brand Differentiation

Brand differentiation relates to setting a company aside from its competitors. Brand differentiation serves the function of differentiating the company from competition and evaluating a company’s reputation. Brand differentiation within the company considers elements such as good customer service, packaging, response to comments and the product specific comments. Brand differentiation is a wholly inclusive concept and involves various stakeholders within a company. Brand differentiation for example is built over time by actions such as innovativeness and honest communication. The company’s corporate social responsibility actions may also contribute to brand differentiation.

For the Atlantic Company, brand differentiation is a concept that the company has really put into practice. Through the values that the company hold and practice, the employees have been urged to uphold innovativeness and honest communication. The company has brand audits and the values serve as an audit criteria against which performance is matched. Recommendations from this undertaking have been upheld and practiced. As per the company’s strategic plan, innovations within the company have been encouraged. The company through tapping into other platforms has also considered other innovations and thus diversified its products. This has helped the company to better tap into the market. Adoption of innovations and values have brought about brand differentiation. Atlantic Company engages in corporate social responsibility actions. This is aimed at giving back to the society and building on the brand reputation. The Atlantic has built on its corporate social responsibility over time through various actions. The corporate social responsibility is wholly inclusive.

Brand Positioning

As a branding strategy element, brand positioning relates to occupying that position in the mind of the target customer. As a branding element, this involves, positive associations with the brand and thus yields benefits to the company. Brand positioning also helps in making choices and realizing unique advantages. Brand positioning helps in realizing depth of integrated solutions and creates a belief in the customer that by buying this brand then that is the best alternative ever (Atlantic, 2020). The Atlantic Company has positioned its brand as per the customers’ reviews and commentaries to the feedback articles. The Atlantic Company’s brand is well known in the United States of America and the most preferred and sought after.

Brand Communication

Brand communication stems from the need to make the brand known. This is the main reason behind brand communication. Communication of the brand involves the values and the benefits that customers expect from that business. Brand communication in tapping the benefits that are realized as a result of technological changes, uses platforms such as social media. Social media platforms bring about the digital transformation that is desired by the various programs and operations. The Atlantic Company has enhanced brand communication and widened the use of social media platforms. The company has a website that communicates the necessary information on the products and values. The company has also social media platforms in Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The company has also enhanced search through the search engine optimization functionality. As part of communicating about the brand while still meeting the goals of the business, the company has published articles with its logo and made videos still show casing it as a brand.

Brand Loyalty

This relates to the customer perception over a certain brand and thus consistent buying of the brand. With brand loyalty comes better choices and experiences. According to Morris (2020), brand loyalty is an evolving concept and this involves creating a competitive advantage over others by meeting the customer needs and thus making them adopt the brand. Brand royalty also is a cost cutting mechanism and helps save on time and costs. The increasing number of subscriptions for the Atlantic Company shows brand loyalty.

Brand Equity

This refers to the added value beyond the benefits that the product. Brand equity ensures competitive advantage and communication of what extra a company can gain from the business. Brand equity is a consideration in the subscription strategy of the company. For the Atlantic company, ease of access and thus no availability of reasons provides the desired brand equity. Customers have been tapping into these benefits and thus brand equity.

Conclusively, branding strategies depend with the plan to develop a certain plan with an aim to achieve special goals. Both the Atlantic and Salon Media Group companies have a mixed branding strategy. The elements of the branding strategies discussed in this section include brand personality, brand image, brand identity, brand differentiation, brand positioning, brand communication, brand loyalty and brand equity sub headings for both companies. Both companies are working towards making the brand more known, easier to interact with and identify with. The companies are tapping into technological solutions to increase their brand awareness. This strengthens the growth of the brand under the various categories. The extra benefit that the company gives is under brand equity. This implies that growing the equity benefits all the stakeholders.

References

Essamri, A., McKechnie, S., & Winklhofer, H. (2019). Co-creating corporate brand identity with online brand communities: A managerial perspective. Journal of Business Research, 96, 366-375.

Feldshuh, H. (2018). Gender, media, and myth-making: constructing China’s leftover women. Asian Journal of Communication, 28(1), 38-54.

Grashuis, J. (2019). The impact of brand equity on the financial performance of marketing cooperatives. Agribusiness, 35(2), 234-248.