Brand Management

Brand Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................3
LO 1............................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Importance of branding as a marketing tool and why and how it has emerged in business
practice...................................................................................................................................................3
P2 Key components of a successful brand strategy for building and managing brand equity...5
M1 Evaluate how brands are managed successfully over time using application of appropriate
models and concepts...........................................................................................................................7
M2 Apply appropriate and validated examples within an organizational context.........................7
LO 2............................................................................................................................................................7
P3 Analyze different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity
management..........................................................................................................................................7
M3 Critically analyze portfolio management, brand hierarchies and brand equity using
appropriate theories, models and frameworks..................................................................................9
LO 3............................................................................................................................................................9
P4 Evaluate how brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership both at a domestic
and global level.....................................................................................................................................9
M4 Critically evaluate the use of different techniques used to leverage and extend brands....12
LO 4..........................................................................................................................................................12
P5 Evaluate different types of techniques for measuring and managing brand value using
specific organizational examples......................................................................................................12
M5 Critically evaluate application of techniques for measuring and managing brand value in
relation to developing a strong and enduring brand.......................................................................13
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Brand Management can be defined a function of marketing which involves
various methods in order to increase a brand’s perceived value in the market. Effective
brand management helps in building loyalty among customers with the help of positive
images and associations (Abrahams, 2016). There are many advantages of practicing
brand management within an organization which include the company being able to
retain employees for a longer period of time, increase in employee engagement and
differentiation. Organization chosen for this report is Marks and Spencer which is a
multinational retailer of household, clothing, food and beverage products. The company
was founded in the year 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. It is
headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom. The company has many brands
under it some of them being Autograph, Rosie, Limited, M&S Collection etc. The report
explains how a brand is built and then managed overtime and also analyzes how
different brands are organized into various portfolios. Apart from this, an explanation of
how brands are extended both domestically as well as internationally over the years is
also provided.
LO 1
P1 Importance of branding as a marketing tool and why and how it has emerged in
business practice
A marketing practice wherein an organization creates a name, logo, or design
that can be easily recognized or identified as a belonging to it by the customers is
referred to as branding. It helps the company in differentiating itself from other products
as well as services available in the market (Gao and Feng, 2016). Branding is an
important practice because it can leave a lasting impression on the minds of customers.
One of the most important reasons why branding is important for a business is as
because of it a company can stand out in the market and differentiate itself from other
brands. Also, customers can recognize the brand easily through its logo as it serves as
the face of the company. Branding also helps in addressing the competition which is
posed by new entrants in the market. It also adds to the business value of the company

and provide an increased leverage in the respective industry (What Is Branding And
Why Is It Important For Your Business?, 2020).
Brand:
Brand denotes as the name, term, design or symbol that proved identical for
people while buying products and services of the specified organization.
Marks and Spencer is one of the oldest brands in the world that still continues to
have operations in different parts and is successful. The founders, Michael Marks and
Thomas Spencer were devoted to convincing their customers that the brand is worth
paying more for. For its branding, the company has always made use of its logo to
demonstrate that although the core idea of its values remains same, the company has
made various efforts to re-assess the meaning of value (Grubor and Milovanov, 2017).
This has led the company to newer segments of customers in different parts of the
world and also contributed to the overall profitability. The process of branding also helps
in improving employee satisfaction because when an employee works for a company
that is highly branded company, he/she is more satisfied with their job. And as a result,
they put in their best efforts in their jobs and also take pride in their work.
The concept of branding has evolved tremendously over the years and become
more important in the recent times. This is also because the level of competition has
also increased and there is a need for brands to set themselves aside from each other.
Branding has majorly evolved with the outbreak and extensive use of mass media. In
earlier times, brands had to invest a lot of time as well as money and mainly relied on
television commercials, print ads in magazines and newspapers etc. Due to this, small
businesses found it more difficult to brand themselves. But with the emergence of social
and digital media, it has become easier for the brands to reach global audience and
also have access to every possible situation to market themselves. This has in turn led
to an increase in their overall profitability as well as performance in the market. Brands
as well as customers can connect each other easily through different platforms of social
media like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

The practice of branding has emerged in business practices because companies
want to expand their business operations in different parts of the world and thus grow
(Hsu, Fournier and Srinivasan, 2016). Also, in order to stay relevant within the industry,
it is important for the brands to come out of the traditional ways of branding. Companies
can now interact with their employees in real time and address their concerns in a much
more effective manner. Also, the cost and time involved re very less. Therefore, it can
be said branding holds an important place within an organization as it helps in
generating new customers and also creates trust among the customers in the market. If
a company carries out its branding process effectively, it can make a unique place in the
minds of people and convince them to pay premium for its products.
Brand pyramid and its application: brand pyramid is one of most important kind of tool
that aims to bind consumers by ensuring that they can choose the same product with
the same brand up to next time. In context of M&S they by choosing the bonding,
advantage, performance, relevance and performance proved beneficial for organization
in getting desirable outcomes.
P2 Key components of a successful brand strategy for building and managing brand
equity
Band strategy can be defined as a long-term plan developed for the success of a
brand and also enable it to attain goals and objectives (Ko, Phau and Aiello, 2016). A
strategy that is well developed can influence all aspects of an organization and also
helps in satisfying the needs of customers. Having an effective brand strategy is
important because a brand can set itself out from other brands in the market. As a
result, the brand gains the loyalty and trust of customers thereby creating a stronger
relationship with them. And when this happens, all the marketing activities of the firm
become ore powerful. Brand equity, on the other hand can be defined as the worth that
is perceived by the customers. In simple terms, it describes the value of a brand which
is determined by analyzing how customers perceive the brand and their past
experiences with it. The key components of a successful brand strategy that can help in
building and managing brand equity are explained below-

Target Audience –Target audience are the people who are most likely to buy a
company’s products. Marks and Spencer targets people in the age groups of 25-45
years of age. The company puts in a lot of efforts and develops strategies that have
helped it in gaining the trust of its audience (Liu and Chou, 2016). Thus, it is important
to build a strategy that not only attracts new customers in the market but also helps in
retaining the existing ones. And in order to do this, a close check should be kept on the
buying behavior of customers and what are the factors that influence them to purchase
certain products. Therefore, target audience is one of the most crucial components of
brand strategy that can influence the same significantly.
Digital Marketing – It is a component of marketing that involves making use of
the internet as well as various online based technologies like mobile phones and other
digital media platforms to promote products and services of a company. Digital
marketing can be used by a company to enhance its brand strategy and overall
productivity as well (Key Elements of a Successful Brand Strategy, 2020). Marks and
Spencer has got a digital presence across various platforms of social media like
Instagram, Facebook and Twitter wherein regular updates are posted regarding any
new launch or offers/discounts. This helps in keeping the customers engaged with the
brand and also impacts the way they perceive its products and services.
Social Media – Recent developments and advancements in the digital industry
has leveraged the use of social media to the extent that it has now become one of the
most important components for any organization (Liu and et. al., 2016). It can not only
be used as a valuable tool for promoting products and services but also to share ideas
and engage with other content creators. This should be a part of the brand strategy and
when a business incorporates the same in its system, the main focus should be laid on
the most important channels and build a strong presence. Once this is done, the
company can then further expand to other platforms.
Public Relations – Last but not the least, PR or Public Relations can affect the
reputation of a brand significantly. In order to build an effective public relations strategy,
an organization should have a clear understanding of its audience. Once this is in place,
they should be properly segmented and it should be kept in mind that the strategy which

is developed should be as per the customers’ interests. Therefore, it can be said that
both public relations as well as brand strategy go hand in hand and are linked to each
other (Nyadzayo, Matanda and Ewing, 2016). And various methods can be used to
generate interest among public about the products and services of a brand.
M1 Evaluate how brands are managed successfully over time using application of
appropriate models and concepts
A brand acts as the face of an organization and should be managed in the most
efficient way possible. One of the many ways to manage a brand overtime is to
strengthen its overall brand equity which can be done by developing various programs
to market the products. This helps in expressing the brand knowledge in a consistent
manner so that the customers do not get confused. The brand is defined clearly and
consistent efforts are made to differentiate it in the market. Marks and Spencer rewards
and empowers those customers who have been loyal to the brand from the very start.
Lastly, it is important that the marketing tactics are in line with the overall strategy and
the effectiveness is measured regularly.
M2 Apply appropriate and validated examples within an organizational context
A successful brand strategy significantly contributes to the overall performance
as well as productivity of not only the brand, but organization on the whole. There are
many components of a successful brand strategy, for example social media is one such
component that has recently become very important. Marks and Spencer has a
presence on all major platforms of social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
wherein regular updates regarding any offers or new launch is posted. Other
components of brand strategy include digital marketing, public relations and target
audience. For example – Marks and Spencer targets its audience by carefully analyzing
their needs and expectations.

LO 2
P3 Analyze different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand
equity management
Portfolio Management can be defined as the process of making decisions about
investments and policies. The different strategies of portfolio management are
explained below –
Passive Management –This particular strategy is for the investors who are
willing to accept returns in the market. Passive management tracks a portfolio in the
market. This strategy can be used by Marks and Spencer as it involves imitating the
performance of an external index. The main purpose behind this strategy is to generate
a return that is similar to the index that is chosen.
Active Management –In this kind of strategy, the investor makes attempts to
meet the objectives through the process of asset allocation investing (Investment
Portfolio Management Basics: Risk, Asset Allocation, & Investing Strategies, 2020).
Investors who are a part of active management, follow different trends in the market as
well as shifts in the economy and any other kind of factors that may affect particular
companies. The main purpose of this strategy is to generate better results than those of
passive management.
Value Investment – It is a kind of investment strategy that involves picking up of
stocks that appear to have been trading for less than their actual book
value(Steenkamp, 2017). Value investors generally pick out stocks that they think are
being underestimated in the market. And for this, they use financial analysis and are
thus, long term investors of good companies.
Brand hierarchy can be defined as a means that is used to summarize the overall
branding strategy by showcasing the number of different brand elements across the
various products of a company. The different strategies of the same are explained
below-
Corporate Branding –It is a strategy in which the brand name of a company is
promoted in the market. This strategy helps a brand in targeting the most relevant and

appropriate segments for offering products. It also helps the customers of a brand to
associate with it. Marks and Spencer follows this strategy for its products and services.
Individual Branding –It is also known as individual product branding wherein
the products of a brand are given names that are new and are not associated with any
of its previous or existing brands that are offered (Theurer and et. al., 2018). This
strategy helps the products to develop their individual marketing strategies and also
allows the brand to cater to the needs of customers in different ways.
Brand Extension –It is a strategy in which a brand that markets a product that
has a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a separate category of
products. Brand Extension is an important strategy as it helps in evaluating various
opportunities for a product category. Also, it helps in increasing the brand image of the
products along with a reduction in the risk perceived by the customers.
Brand equity management can be defined as a system that comprises of various
research procedures that are designated in order to provide information that is accurate
and timely to marketers so that they can make effective decisions. Strategies of the
same are communication, awareness, reputation, collaboration and so on (8 Strategies
for Maximizing Brand Equity, 2019). all these strategies help n maximizing the brand
equity of a firm by attracting new potential customers and thus increasing the overall
profitability.
M3 Critically analyze portfolio management, brand hierarchies and brand equity using
appropriate theories, models and frameworks
Portfolio Management is the process which ensures that an organization spends
its resources on projects or work that are most valuable. Portfolio management involves
understanding the investment objectives of the clients, matching different investment
options with the objectives and accordingly recommending the most appropriate
investment policy (Portfolio Management. 2020). Whereas a brand hierarchy means
summarizing the overall branding strategy of an organization by displaying the number
of common elements of the brand across the different products of the company. Lastly,
brand equity is a term that makes a brand either superior or inferior to another brand. In
simple words, brand equity describes the perceive value of a brand by the customers.

LO 3
P4 Evaluate how brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership both at a
domestic and global level.
Brand extension and leveraging:
Brand extension refers to the strategy of corporate in which organization expand
their products and services into the wider marketplace. in context of M&S they are very
much dedicated for developing the system in which organization can prosper their
presence in the wider market place. On other hand brand leveraging refers to the
organisational strategy to use the organisational name to enter into the new market for
gaining desirable outcomes. by using it organization can be able to build the distinctive
brand image in the market to gain the large market share in order to remain competitive
and sustainability in positive manner. in context of M&S they by using respective
strategies collaborate in large places and with the variety of products that is symbol of
their success in potential manner.
Brand extension: definition and difference
Brand extension is the marketing strategy that helps to an organization to expand
their existing products and services into the wider marketplace. in context of M &S they
are pioneer in their field as the conduct continuous research and development to remain
competitive in the market place (Theurer and et. al., 2018)..
For collect better understanding it is very much potential for an organization to
understand the difference in between the brand extension and leverage that are as
follows:
Brand extension is the broad term that signifies the bring new and innovative ideas for
enhancing the level of consumer experience. On other hand brand leveraging related
with the using the existing brand name to reach at large no. of consumers in potential
manner.
The another difference is brand extension related with the enhancement in
products and services by different manner such as product extension, lifestyle
extension, red carpet extension and many more (Machado and et.al., 2019). On other

hand in context of leveraging it is positioning of brand in mind of consumers for
influencing their decisions.
Brand extension: Approaches and strategies
It is very much potential for an organization to plan about the brand extension by
collecting the important knowledge and information in potential manner. here are the
various kinds of strategies and tactics that proved beneficial for enlarge business
opportunities:
Repositioning the same product in differ form: In respective brand extension strategy
consist of the position the product and services in different manner for different
consumers for enlarge market base. In context of M&S they position the product for
differ class of people to enhance their consumers in potential manner.
New distributor, franchise or relationship: another important kind of way to extend the
brand is using new distributor, franchise or build positive relationship with others.
Respective attribute helps to save cost and time to deliver ultimate products and
services to the end users.
Brand reinforcement and revitalization:
Brand reinforcement refers to the maintaining the brand equity in the market
place by continuing connected with the needs and wants of consumers (Machado and
et.al., 2019). In context of M&S by brining innovation in their current products
organization can be able to capture distinctive position in market in potential manner.
On other hand brand revitalization refers to the revive organisational fortune by
capturing their roots again in order to grab again the lost sources of equity. Respective
strategy adopted by organization due to falling reason emergence of new technology or
competitors and change in consumer taste and preferences.
Brand leveraging:
Brand leveraging refers to the organisational strategy to avail the power of the
existing name of the organization to get support while entering into the new market in
the related product category by communicating regarding valuable information with

consumer (Bairrada, Coelho and Lizanets, 2019). In context of M&S by using respective
attribute organization can be able to communicate the valuable attributes from the
consumers that influence their purchasing decisions.
Collaborative and partnership agreements:
Collaborative agreement states about the agreement in which two or more
researchers entered into the research project to acknowledge the nature of working
relationship. Respective tool specifies the intent for sharing the data and information,
material of research and facilities for collecting potential information. In context of M&S
to remain always competitive respective organization collaborate with the other firms
that work with them to gain desirable outcomes.
M4 Critically evaluate the use of different techniques used to leverage and extend
brands
There are many techniques that an organization can adopt in order to leverage
and extend its brands. One of the them is brand extension, which involves the use of a
well-established brand in relatively new categories of products. As per the viewpoint of
Susan Gunelius, line extension is one of the easiest ways to extend a brand. This is
because the brand has already gained recognition in a particular product line (4 Ways
to Extend Your Brand and Grow Your Business, 2020). Market extension is another
technique that can be used to leverage a brand and this involves introducing a brand in
a completely different market. Some other ways of leveraging and extending brands
include geographic extensions and category extension.
LO 4
P5 Evaluate different types of techniques for measuring and managing brand value
using specific organizational examples.
For an organization it is very much potential to use various kinds of sources or
tools to measure and manage the brand value in order to improve the results. Here are
some tools that contributes in measuring the outputs:
Brand value measurement:

Brand value measurement is very much important for organization to determine
the premium that pay by people in against the organisational products and services. it is
very much difficult for an organization to separate the value from their products (Kim
and Song, 2019). by measuring the value organization can suitable outcomes while sold
the organization and its products that known its tangible assets. In context of M&S by
using the brand value surveys organization acknowledge positioning of product into the
market.
Techniques for measuring brand value: there are no. of ways or techniques that used by
organization to measure the brand value that are acknowledge about brand awareness,
preference metrics, financial metrics, output metric and local market perception metrics
proved very much beneficial for organsiation to evaluate their brand value in the
market (Iyer, P., and et.al, 2020). In context of M&S they by using the various kinds of
metrics such as preference metrics, financial metrics and any other tools proved
beneficial in collecting potential data and information in taking appropriate kind of
decision. S
Approaches to measuring brand value:
For measuring the value it is very potential to avail various kinds of approaches
in order to collect potential knowledge and information. In context of measuring brand
value, the various approaches are cost, market, economic, consumer and formula play
very much important role. By using combination of respective approaches organization
can be able to reach at valid kind of conclusion. In context of M&S they by using all
approaches that is mixture of gaining desirable outcomes collect brand value.
Brand tracking techniques/ auditing:
It is very important for an organization to collect necessary resources to
acknowledge about consumer preferences (San Martín, Herrero and García de los
Salmones, 2019). There are number of techniques to audit consumer taste and
preferences that are acknowledge about external marketing materials, review business
website, review social media tools, conduct survey from the consumers and many more.
By using respective tools organization can be able to collect necessary information from

each side in order to take constant and potential decision. In context of M&S they by
collecting knowledge from their consumers and reviewing the sites to gain potential
outcome.
M5 Critically evaluate application of techniques for measuring and managing brand
value in relation to developing a strong and enduring brand
Value of a particular brand can be measured in different ways that include brand
equity, brand valuation etc. As per the view point of Kevin Keohane, brand equity is on e
of the most effective techniques to measure and manage brand value (6 Ways To
Measure The Value Of Brands, 2020). Respective company can use this technique to
measure the overall value of the brand. If a brand of the company has a high brand
equity, this means that it is a strong and enduring brand.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that for an organization brand value
plays very much important role to remain always sustainable and profitable. To enhance
the consumer experience it is very much potential for organization to focus on their
brand equity and measurement to improve the level of performance in potential manner.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
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value: how leveraging, separating, and distancing the corporate brand affects risk
and returns. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 44(2). pp.261-280.
Iyer, P., and et.al, 2020. Market orientation, brand management processes and brand
performance. Journal of Product & Brand Management.
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distance toward the brand? The effect of brand experience on consumers’
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experiences: Contributions to theory and practice. Journal of Business Research.
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Machado, J.C and et.al., 2019. Brand gender and consumer-based brand equity on
Facebook: The mediating role of consumer-brand engagement and brand
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Nyadzayo, M.W., Matanda, M.J. and Ewing, M.T., 2016. Franchisee-based brand
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