Brand Management: Importance, Strategy, and Equity

This document provides an in-depth analysis of brand management, including the importance of branding as a marketing tool, components of brand strategy for building and managing brand equity, different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy, and brand equity management. It also includes a case study on how Kitkat brand is managed collaboratively and in partnership at both domestic and global levels. The document offers insights into techniques for managing and measuring brand value using organizational examples. Overall, it provides a comprehensive understanding of brand management and its significance in the market.

Brand Management
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P 1 Importance of branding as a tool of marketing.....................................................................3
P 2 Components of brand strategy for building and managing brand equity..............................5
LO2..................................................................................................................................................6
P3 analyse the different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity
management.................................................................................................................................6
LO3..................................................................................................................................................9
P4 Describe that how kitkat brands managed collaboratively and in partnership both domestic
as well as global level..................................................................................................................9
LO4................................................................................................................................................10
P5 Describe the different type of technique for managing and measuring brand value by using
organizational example..............................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Brand management states that with the help of analysis and planning a brand is able to
perceive and position itself in the minds of the target audience. It uses the help of those strategies
and functions who helps them to increase awareness of the brand. In order to make a brand
valuable and effective companies focus on increasing the loyalty of the brand. Planning is done
strategically by the company so that value and equity of the brand is maintained across different
markets. Nestle is an multinational corporation who deals in the food and beverage industry. If
the company is measured in terms of sales and revenue then it is considered as one of the biggest
companies serving in this sector. Currently the country maintains their operations in 189
countries with 447 industries and employs more than 3,00,000 employees over the world. This
report includes topics such as importance of branding as a marketing tool. Components of
branding and its strategy to build equity of the brand. Brand hierarchy and management.
Techniques which help for managing the value of the brand.
LO 1
P 1 Importance of branding as a tool of marketing
Branding helps the company to grow in the market and leave a goodwill behind which is
the reason why it is considered as a crucial and important aspect for the company. With the help
of branding and its strategies company is able to create value in the eyes of the customers and
position in the right market. Also awareness of the product is also increased because of the image
of the brand in the market (Rahman, Rodríguez-Serrano and Lambkin, 2018).
Gain recognition-
Every company considers it as an important aspect as it helps them to increase their base
of customers by getting recognition in the market. Company must put a lot of thought before
launching the logo of the brand as it represents the face of the company and helps to spread
awareness about the attributes of the brand. Logo must have an appeal which attracts people and
people can be able to remember it easily. The most important aspect of the logo must be that it
must leave an impression in the mind of target audience which is positive for the brand (Paul,
2019).
Increases the value of the brand-
It is necessary for the company to establish their brand if they want to have a grasp at
future opportunities and expand the scale of their operations. Kitkat is a established brand in the
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market which is beneficial for the company as it represents that brand is successful to have more
value in comparison with its competitors. This way company gains advantage over their
competitors. When the brand is entering into new markets the possibility ratio of achieving
success is more as people already trust the brand.
Generate new customers-
Nestle has been successful to established their brand in the market and leave a positive
image in the mind of target audience. It is because of this reason they have been able to gain trust
of consumers in the market and is also able to get repeated sales from them. Kitkat has turned out
to be one of the most successful brands in the market and any sub category launched under its
name gains success easily with just a positive word of mouth.
Increases the level of satisfaction and pride for employees-
Employees who are working for the established brand generates a sense of pride and they
feel more satisfied working for a branded good than the opposite of it. This fulfills all of their
work requirements as they have an office which is given by the company and a sense of mutual
trust etc. There is a reason behind the satisfaction level of employees and that is because of the
ways and strategies that the company has come up with which has helped them to make the
brand successful in the market.
Creates and increases the level of trust-
Company has been successful in establishing the brand which has helped them to
maintain the level of trust with their customers and it keeps on increasing with time. Consumers
prefers those brands on which they can trust anytime in a professional way. Company creates
such a impression of them that the consumers feel that in that specific area or category no one is
better than them (Balmer and Chen, 2017).
Supports and improves Advertising-
In order to establish a brand advertising is considered as a key component for the brand.
Kitkat uses very unique strategies for advertising which helps them to create their own unique
place in the market. It also helps the brand to see the stages of growth according to their previous
performance and sales. By taking the help of these strategies the company is able to increase
awareness of the brand as advertising helps them to target a lot of people at one time because of
its reach. This way the company is able to achieve its set objectives and goals. When companies
who are established in this market and use this strategy as a promotion then it is known as
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outstanding branding. This strategy is considered as easy to make an appeal for the brand in the
target market (Melewar and Skinner, 2018).
P 2 Components of brand strategy for building and managing brand equity
Model of brand equity by Keller is also known as CBBE that is customer based brand equity
model. Marketing states and emphasis that a company must focus on its consumers. Every
company has an insight that till they are getting a good response from their customers and they
are satisfied then they will be able to survive in the market for a long period of time. They model
by Keller guides the company to build their brand so that they can deal with more customers.
Level 1 Brand Identity (Who you are)
Identity of the brand states that what attributes made them different from their
competitors and how the consumers of the brand perceive them in the market. This aspect is the
beginning point of this model and it begins when the consumers do not have any idea or
knowledge about the concerned brand. By focusing on their strategies companies make attempts
to spread awareness about the brand so that people buy their products. Company needs to keep in
mind that if they are not able to form this stage strongly then they won’t be able to go to the next
stage successfully (Ramírez, Veloutsou and Morgan-Thomas, 2019).
Level 2 Brand meaning (What are you)
When brand is successful enough to leave an image in the market it leads to their target
audience and their ability to obtain more knowledge about the brand (Ward, Yang-Romaniuk and
Beal, 2020). For instance quality of the product offered by this brand, reliability of the product,
quantity against its competition in the market, consuming it is safe or not in the long run. This
aspect is classified into 2 parts-
Brand Performance-
It states that when a brand performs better in the market they achieve success and gain
recognition. People judge a brand on the basis of the factors such as features, reliability,
engagement with customers, design and the price of the commodity (Lu, 2019).
Brand Imagery-
This factor is concerned with the image that the brand has in the minds of consumers.
People are concerned about the appeal of the brand that whether it is soft or rugged. For instance
Kitkat comes under the category of a soft brand because it deals in the industry of sweet goods
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(Ward, Yang-Romaniuk and Beal, 2020). With the help of positive word of mouth for the brand
and target marketing a company can form the image of the brand.
Level 3 Brand Response (what are the feelings towards the brand?)
The level of expectations of the customer increases after they have made a purchase. If
the commodity of the brand is able to satisfy it according to their level of expectation then they
will be satisfied with the brand. If the brand is able to exceed the level of their expectations then
they will be able to earn the benefit of word of mouth. This will make consumers of the brand as
their advocate. If they are not satisfied with the brand then they will judge it differently then
those who are satisfied (Liu and et.al., 2018).
Judgment- the brand failed to match the level of expectation
Feeling- the consumer was satisfied with the brand to an high extent which make them their
advocate.
Level 4 Brand Resonance-
This is the last stage of this model. Not every company is successful enough to reach this
stage. It states that brand is successful enough in making a connection with their clients socially
and psychologically. For example person who likes chocolate won’t prefer anything but Kitkat.
This way marketers of the company capitalizes their brand as they are able to understand what
the consumer wants from them. This maintains the level of satisfaction that is required by the
customer and the brand remains profitable (Liu and et.al., 2018)
Kitkat is successful in establishing itself and achieving the equity in the brand. Their
brand has earned value which is the reason why they have earned the resonance. For example
Nestle has many brand under its name such as Milky bar, heaven etc. apart from this company
offers a range of different varieties under that specific brand such as blackberry, lemon,
marmalade etc. this is done in order to increase their base of consumers (Ward, Yang-Romaniuk
and Beal, 2020).
Model of Aaker has the aspects of awareness of brand, brand loyalty, brand associations which
are joined together so that value of the brand is increased when it is offered in the market. For the
management and building a brand identity is required which is made by affiliations so that
desires can be created in minds of consumer for the brand. There are four elements of this model.
Brand as a product- scope of the product, its quality, attributes, value of the product, formed in
which country.
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Brand as organization- activities which are local and global, attributes of the organization.
Brand as person- contains personality of the brand and relationships of consumer brand.
Brand as symbol- symbols with metaphors, imagery and audio content which helps to build the
heritage of the brand.
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LO2
P3 analyse the different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity
management.
Brand Portfolio strategy is consider as crucial part of Kit-kit brand which always influenced by
brand identity, position. So as require to consider the brand equality which means that product
value is enhanced when it directly associated with name of enterprises (Lim, Jee and De Run,
2020). In order to identify the high cost benefit ration, attitude towards environmental concern
among others. Brand equity source which include existing customer awareness towards kit-Kat
brand purchase likelihood and strong. Initially, it is an important for creating the brand equity
that develop identity of business in order to achieve specific goal and objective.
3C’s of brand portfolio strategy
This type of strategy is based on the concept of business to customer. Which comprising
multiple brand and make portfolio adjustment by selling and buying. Kit-kit brand can be
represented as network that consists of set of various notes within portfolio. Under 3C’s strategy,
Kit-Kat should be evaluating that how it will implement strategy in the brand management
approach (Majerova and et.al., 2020). The organization is combined the strategy and overall
brand architecture which consider as main driver of brand equity. 3C’s brand portfolio strategy is
focused on three different concepts such as perception of customer price, competition with target
market and perception of customer towards quality.
Branded House and House of Brand
It is consider as main brand that is added more new product as well as service. It always
keep maintain the Kit-Kat brand name on global marketplace. For Example- Cadbury with its
sub brands such as roses, wispa and flake.
Kit Kat has categorized into different house of brand such as nestle. Kit-Kat has owned
by Nestle. In another way, it consists the group of collect of brand extension such as 4 finger, 2
finger and chunky range. All type of nestle item have the logon on the packaging to relationship
between each product and its value.
Brand Hierarchy
A brand hierarchy is a means of summarizing the brand strategy by displaying the nature
of common and distinctive brand elements across global world. In order to reveals the explicit
ordering of various kit-Kat brand elements (Iglesias, Landgraf and Koporcic, 2020). In another
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way, it is useful as a process for capturing potential branding rela among different products
which sold by Kit-Kat. Generally, brand hierarchy is based on realization that item can be
branded in different manner. Sometimes, it is depending on how existing or new brand element
used.
The corporate branding is mainly referred to the practice of making use of Kit-Kat name
as product brand. The primary aim is to use brand equity for purpose of recognition.
Brand equity building with brand hierarchy
The brand equity is linked with hierarchy, something that involves necessary steps for
building awareness, communicating the requirement of Kit-kat brand, reshaping how potential
consumer think and feed about Kit-kat brand. Afterwards, Brand equity building is mainly
carried out the purpose of corporation when they are mainly focused on the awareness and
communicating requirement of brand to customers (Chen, Zhou and Zhou, 2020). When it comes
to family branding which putting more efforts to target the children’s and also established the
good relationship with clients.
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Customers brand equity model
The model was developed by Kevin keller and concept behind it is quite simple. If a
strong brand kit-Kat to build and promoted in global marketplace. It is consider as important
model for Kit-Kat brand to shape how exactly customer think as well as feel about product. In
this way, it will be identified the experience of customer towards brand in order to enable client
to have positive, specific thoughts, perception as well as opinion (Azham and Ahmad, 2020).
When brand equity is stronger where it can easily attract more customer to purchase item. Once
customer is able to feel positive about product so that it automatically increased the demand in
global marketplace.
Figure 1
Source: customer Equity model. 2018
During brand decision-making, it should be following the different activities such as brainstorm,
pair work, assessing brand strategy in term of awareness, equity. These always support for Kit-
Kat brand to analyse the customer demands. It can be possible when doing market research on
the basis of brand equity whereas it can build the different level of brand hierarchy. So as require
to measure the brand through market research (Kliesti, kova and Kovacova, 2020). In order to
establish the positive relation to customers. Brainstorm is a technique to build the brand equity
that support for market research tool. Kit-Kat brand conducting the research on regular to
understand through business model. Afterwards, it is also build understanding towards customer
respond to multiple item and services that are launched in marketplace.
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LO3
P4 Describe that how kitkat brands managed collaboratively and in partnership both domestic as
well as global level.
Brand extension approaches and strategies
These are considered as marketing strategies as well as approach where Kit-Kat brand
that is involved in marketing of particular product and service. in order to use the same type of
brand name in multiple item categories. In fact, Kit-Kat brand has developed the new item
through processes which mainly referred as spin off. For Example- Jell-Gelatin has been created
the pudding Pops by using brand extensive strategy (Ward, Yang-Romaniuk and Beal, 2020). So
as it require for Kit-Kat brand to use extensive approach for maintaining brand position, develop
sponsorship.
These type of development is executed when after taking into consideration of business
strategy that is involved the building of brand and management activities.
Fit and Leverage in brand extension
A kit-Kat brand have a leverage when distinctive properties that mainly owned by brand.
It can be used for increasing the multiple categorises of customer on the basis their demand, need
and requirements. The brand extension is becoming superior for Kit- Kat brand because they
already launch the product and service in competitive environment. The issues are related to the
perception of existing consumer that are referred to as fit (Jung, Cho and Jin, 2020). In some
situation, Kit-Kat brand is not able to fit in particular categories so that they will not likely to
perform the task. It became difficult for establishing brand awareness and maintain position in
global marketplace.
Kit-Kat brand can be reinforced and revitalized in different ways:
The brand reinforcement and revitalization are essential thing that means for maintaining
brand equity. The owner of Kit-Kat always focused on the development and ensure that existing
consumer have a prior knowledge of structure, layout of business (Pedeliento, Andreini and
Veloutsou, 2020). In this way, it continue to increase the demand of business across the world.
Brand reinforcement and revitalization are carried out through marketing operations.
Such activities will be carried on the basis of brand meaning to identify customer perception
towards Kit-Kat brand awareness. In this way, it should be included the essential features of
strategies that include maintain overall brand consistency, protect the brand equity. Furthermore,
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the implementation of brand reinforcement activities always ensure that something that would be
maintained the consistency of extension time. It allows to change the features, policy and
procedure on the basis of demand.
 Brand collaborations and Partnership: It is considered as great value which help for
bringing together the current status of different brands. In order to identify the purpose of
advantage, benefits in term of reputation. Therefore, it is an essential for brand to enter
into partnership and collaboration with another brand (Nguyen and Grohmann, 2020). In
this way, it automatically increases brand value and target more existing consumers. The
latest ongoing collaboration between Kit-Kat and Google. Afterwards, Google begun the
version of android operating system which was named on Kit-Kat.
On the other hand, this type of collaboration is increasing the demand of brand of
company whereas many people curious to purchase the product as well as service. the
collaboration and partnership has developed the demand of business while achieving the
goal, objective.
 Global branding as well as positioning: It can be defined as process that require to be
multifaceted due to international character. This is something about the brand awareness
which carried out the brand to reach out the global audience (Pedeliento, Andreini and
Veloutsou, 2020). Kit-Kat brand’s selling the product and service in order to maintain the
position in global marketplace. In additional, it is necessary step that identify the overall
strength of brand in term of corporate value, preferences and need of audience.
LO4
P5 Describe the different type of technique for managing and measuring brand value by using
organizational example.
There are various technique or method that can useful for measuring and managing the brand
value. Initially, it will be used the survey for identifying the trends, demand of customers. It can
be done when marketing team interact with existing customer. It is quite easy to assess how Kit-
Kat brand product as well as service is doing in marketplace (Pedeliento, Andreini and
Veloutsou, 2020). Survey is the most common technique that is always support for identifying
specific data or information. Survey may constitutes a quantitative method in term of research.
As generated the accurate result or outcome by conducting survey. It is looking at web page
traffic and select large volume of data for branded item or service (Merlo and Perugini, 2020).
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Therefore, it can go a long way in which informing the people about how Kit-Kat brand provide
better services. In order to perform well in marketplace.
Web page and search engine are another concept that can used for purpose of analytics
which has a high for product. It is likely to be quite popular Kit-kat item among existing
consumers. On the other hand, social media is based on the platform that can turn into useful
way for performing different activities (Pedeliento, Andreini and Veloutsou, 2020). It also
becoming easier for measure current brand condition or situation. Social media tools are those
that widely used in the different areas. It can easily reveal the information of particular product
as well as service.
Brand tracking technique and equity audit
It is the most common method or technique that mainly used for brand measurement on
the continuous basis. There are different way to categories brand tracking technique so that it can
easily put in place by business. Sometimes, item brand tracking on the basis of family (Jung, Cho
and Jin, 2020). On the other hand, Brand equity audit is another concept which carried out to
identify overall performance and efficiency of Kit-Kit organization.
Initially, it is important to create framework such as finding determination of existing
target audience, drawing an effective marketing plan to reach their conclusion.
Second step is that when undertaken different question the client in regarding their own
perception, feeling about Kit-Kat brand. Therefore, it can easily identifying opinion, view point
of customer in proper manner.
Third step is to identify the brand equity audit which reviewed through web analytics
after use social media tool. It provide the better facilities to check the total sales data. At last, it
reviewed other competitors and how they will use strategy in business expansion (Jung, Cho and
Jin, 2020). It must be undertaken the necessary step to promote the brand all possible ways. As a
result, it can be finding the result through brand equity audit technique.
Relation between finance and branding
As improved own understanding towards the relationship between branding and finance.
It is an essential to change the attitude or brand which associated to stock return, accounting. The
Brand equity is related to Kit-Kat brand where establish the relationship with stock return. In
order to participate in brand extension for increasing overall brand attitude (Jung, Cho and Jin,
2020). The stock market is mainly responding to focus on high familiarity brands and extension
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that are characterized. On the other hand, it also identified that stock market response which are
favorably towards kit-Kat brands and maintain the position in marketplace.
Brand value, equity are considered as important concept which mainly referred as value
that is associated with renowned Kit-Kat brands. It should be consider the brand valuation which
help for successful manage the brand, it is carried out the business approach.
Measurement of consumer attitude
The change attitude has been considerations an important part of consumer research, it
help played an integral role in marketers. In order to influence the behavior of consumers.
Functional theory is basically representing the multiple approach in term of attitude while
concerned about the individual perception, behavior towards the attitudinal object but rather than
focus on the inspirational structure or pattern.
Value-expressive function is that when allows for individual to express her or his self-
concept. It is mainly served the value expressive function by attitude that can easily demonstrate
one self image to another. On the other hand, Ego-defensive function is basically holding the
attitude that always protect self-esteem which are justified the action that make feel guilty.
Qualitative method lean production is another important concept that mainly used by
manufacturing companies in global world. Generally, it has been gathered or collected the
information through different techniques such as observation, document as well as focus group
which always contribute towards development process.
CONCLUSION
From the above studies it has been concluded that how and why branding is an important
and necessary tool for the company. By using the right type of strategies company is able to
establish the brand in the market which leads to increase in base of customers and levels of
profits. Management of brand helps to position the brand irrespective of its nature that is tangible
or intangible. By rightly positioning the brand in the right market and to the right audience it can
easily attract a large no of audience into making a purchase. This reports also highlights the
measure of brand hierarchy and equality. It is applied across all the stages of the brand and it
shows how collaborations between two brands works for the benefit of the company as jointly
they can target a set of those consumers which prefers both the brands. If the company has been
able to earn the value of the brand and meets the needs of the consumer then they will remain
profitable in the market.
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Online
Customer Equity model. 2018 [Online] Available through: <
https://s3.amazonaws.com/qualtrics-www/assets/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CBBE-Model-
400x300.jpg>
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