Brand Management Strategies in Samsung and Facebook

This assignment explores brand management strategies using Samsung and Facebook as examples. It covers brand building, portfolio strategies, brand hierarchies, brand equity, extension techniques, and brand valuation.

Brand Management
Name of the Student:
Student ID:
Page | 1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Section 1..........................................................................................................................................4
LO1..............................................................................................................................................4
Section 2..........................................................................................................................................7
LO2..............................................................................................................................................7
LO3..............................................................................................................................................7
LO4..............................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference List................................................................................................................................15
Page | 2

Introduction
The concept of brand management is an aspect of marketing, which aims at creating a distinct
image in the minds of the customers so that the company can have a loyal base of customers. The
stages of brand management includes – identifying and establishing the brand values and
positioning, planning and implementing the brand marketing strategies, controlling and
interpreting the performance of the brand and growing and sustaining the brand equity. In this
assignment, the concepts associated with brand management would be discussed by taking the
example of two companies. The examples of the companies would be illustrating the brand
management strategies and theories.
Page | 3

Section 1
LO1: Demonstrate an understanding of how a brand is built and managed over time
Introduction
The report answers the questions asked by Adele when she visited the office of the marketing
firm regarding branding and its several aspects. She needs to create a brand value for herself so
that she has several followers and admirers for which the information provided below is
necessary.
What is a brand?
Brand is defined as the design, term, symbol, name or a combination of all, created for the
specific identification of the commodities produced by a particular seller for the purpose of
differentiation from the rivals (Maurya and Mishra, 2012). Brand even acts like a legal
instrument of ownership demarcating the products of one seller from another. The purpose of
establishing a brand is to position the company in the minds of the customers by giving it an
emotional appeal. For instance, over the years Pampers have managed to create an emotional
connect with the customers as a brand who loves babies.
Why is branding an important marketing tool?
In the modern marketing concepts, branding is considered an indispensable part of strategizing
due to its mass appeal and differentiation technique (Baker, 2014). The importance of branding
as a tool of marketing is as follows:
 Assists in seller identification in the market
 Simplifies the process of product handling
 Assists in organizing the accounting aspect
 It acts like a legal statement or tender of ownership
 Paves way for the possibility of premium pricing
 Provides a competitive advantage to the organization in the market
What does brand equity means?
Page | 4

Brand equity is defined as the measurable value initiated from the management and marketing
strategies towards creating a brand (Hollensen, 2015). It is the benefit associated with the brand,
which is a reflection of the consumer thoughts, feels and actions regarding the particular brand.
The brand equity enables the process of buying decisions and also helps in building a loyal base
of customers amidst intense competition. The customer-based brand equity model provided by
Keller explains the concept of brand equity in details with the help of a pyramid.
How a brand is differs from a product?
The brand and product though marketed simultaneously, have difference in their evolution and
concept. The experts of the marketing field believe that the brands offer an emotional quotient to
the customers, which infuses repeat purchases among them. On the other hand, the products
satiate the wants of the customers by performing their desired function.
Another point of differentiation is that the products or commodities offered by the company can
be imitated however; the brand cannot be copied since they have a distinct identity attached with
it. Therefore, the marketers need to understand the difference between the twob terms so that
they can strategize better.
What are the key elements of a strong brand?
The elements of a strong brand are as follows:
 Brand name: The name attributed should be unique, attractive and simple so that it
connects with the customers instantaneously. It should be relevant to the image that the
company wants to create in the market.
 Slogan: It means the tagline, which the company associates with the brand to make it
more attractive (Rageviciusa, 2014). For instance, the tagline of Phillips is “Innovation
and You”, which promotes the basic value of the company.
 Positioning: The organization needs to position the product well in the market after
analysing the needs of the target market.
 Design: This constitutes of logo, symbol, colour and other visual elements, which makes
the design visually attractive and appealing to the customers.
How to manage and develop a brand over time?
Page | 5

For developing, managing and sustaining a brand, a strong market research is required. The
organizations should gather complete information about the market, the company resources
based on which brand reinforcement, and revitalization strategies are made (Drummond et al.,
2010). The market research would provide knowledge on the changing customer tastes and
trends based on which the brand image and offerings would be changed to make it relevant to the
present times. Using tools like brand audit, revitalization, reinforcements, CBBE model and
portfolio strategy would help in brand sustainability.
What are the main challenges developing a brand?
The main challenges of developing a brand in the market are:
 Making the brand an asset for the company
 Creating a compelling and appealing vision for the company
 Creating a proper brand image and equity in the market
 Identifying the using the appropriate media and communication channels
 Planning a proper digital strategy
Conclusion
In this report, the understanding of building a brand has been discussed and also the process of
managing and sustaining the brand over the time has been mentioned. The concepts of brand
equity, brand management and brand development have been dealt in details.
Page | 6

Section 2
LO2: Analyze how brands are organized in portfolios and how brand hierarchies are built
and managed
LO3: Evaluate how brands are leveraged/ extended over time domestically and
internationally
LO4: Evaluate techniques for measuring and managing brand value over time.
Brand’s portfolio strategy
For forming a brand portfolio strategy, the
marketer needs to have complete and
furnished knowledge about the brand. It is
defined as the collection of various brands
controlled and managed by one parent
company (Brand portfolio management,
2018). This generally applies in the case of
large or multinational corporations who
have the resources and funds to invest in
several brands or products. The basic
principles of brand portfolio strategy are to
increase the market share by attracting all
the potential customers and to minimize the
overlapping of brands to ensure that the
same company is not competing against
their products.
The various types of brand portfolio strategy
adopted by the organizations are – house of
brands, branded house, endorsed brand and
sub-brands. Out of the four, the branded
house strategy is where the company
produces its products under a single brand
name representing the company. On the
other hand, house of brands strategy is
where a parent company owns several
independent brands under them (Aaker and
Joachimsthaler, 2012). The strategies
discussed are an extension of brand
architecture, which explains the structure
and rationale of the brand, product and
company. it provides a clear picture on the
use of brands at different levels of the
company.
For a clearer understanding of the strategy,
two companies have been chosen to
represent the strategies. Based on the Best
Global Brands 2017 rankings, Samsung has
been chosen to illustrate the branded house
strategy and Facebook has been used to
illustrate the house of brands strategy
(Interbrand, 2018).
Management hierarchy of the brands
Page | 7

It has been observed that the organizational
structure of Samsung is a mix of two types –
organic and mechanistic (How Samsung
Electronics’ Organizational Structure and
Culture Affect Its Innovation, 2018). The
mechanistic structure is formal in approach
with proper hierarchical layers laid out. On
the other hand, the organic structure is
informal in approach and consists of lateral
co-ordination and communication. The mix
of both the organizational structure allows
the company to carve out definite job roles
and responsibilities by maintaining
horizontal and vertical line of
communication and control. With the mix of
two hierarchical structures, allows close
supervision and establishment of proper
communication channels to ensure smooth
flow of information. The company has
divided their operations based on the market
activity – component department, consumer
electronic department and mobile
department. In relation to branding, they use
umbrella-branding strategy.
Figure 1: Organizational structure of
Samsung
(Source: How Samsung Electronics’
Organizational Structure and Culture Affect
Its Innovation, 2018)
The organizational structure of Facebook is
hybrid as it is a mix of divisional and
hierarchical structure. Under the
hierarchical structure, formal management
layers have been created, which the
employees have to follow and the multiple
levels of authority lead to the CEO. On the
other hand, based on the divisional structure,
the company is segregated based on the
products offered by them. The divisions
made in the company are – marketing and
communication, marketing and partnership,
corporate development, CIO and CFO.
Divisions have been made under these sub-
heads also. In relation to branding, the
Page | 8

company follows the method of endorsed
brands where several brands are owned by
one parent company.
Figure 2: Organizational structure of
Facebook
(Source: Dudovskiy, 2018)
Brand equity management
Kevin Keller proposed the customer-based
brand equity model to propose a clearer
understanding of the brand equity concept.
Through the introduction of the model,
Keller proposed the theory as a “branding
ladder”, which the companies could use to
understand the reactions, thoughts and
feelings of the customers during the
marketing campaign. The ladder has been
presented in the way of a pyramid, which
has been sub-divided into six different
blocks, namely – salience, performance,
imagery, judgements, feelings and
resonance.
Figure 3: CBBE Model
(Source: Aghaei et al., 2013)
The four main divisions in the pyramid
depicted above, answers the four most
important questions, helping the company to
enhance the value of their brand equity. The
four steps in consideration are as follows
(Christodoulides and De Chernatony, 2010):
 Brand identification of the brand
among the customers and also create
a distinct image of the brand in the
minds of the customers
 Establishing a brand meaning in the
minds of the consumers by attaching
intangible and tangible elements to
the brand
Page | 9

 Gain customer responses regarding
the brand meaning and identification
strategies
 Conversion of the brand response to
form loyal brand relationships with
the customers
Extension strategies and approaches
The extension strategies are an aspect of
brand leveraging strategy wherein the
goodwill of an existing brand is used to
introduce and promote a new product (Kahn,
2013). This strategy allows instant
recollection with the main brand leading to
increased popularity and trust in the new
product. Samsung uses the strategy of brand
extension to leverage their brand image and
promote the new products introduced by
them in the market (Batra et al., 2010). For
instance, Samsung sells and markets their
various goods like – mobile devices, smart
television, camera, laptops and desktops,
tablets and home appliances under the same
umbrella brand name so that they can make
use of the goodwill and reputation they have
in the market. This strategy has help
Samsung to reduce their promotional and
launching costs of new product as the
customers already identify with the brand.
On the other hand, Facebook uses multi-
brand strategy where different categories
are introduced with the aim of targeting the
entire market. The consumers are provided
wide range of options to choose from. For
instance, Facebook owns WhatsApp,
Instagram, Onavo, Moves, LiveRail and
others, which offers different types of
services to the customers and caters to
different audience. WhatsApp is used for
messaging whereas; Instagram is used for
sharing photos, media and other media
related information with the public. This
strategy has helped Facebook to have a
larger shelf life in the market and target a
wide range of customers, hence increasing
the customer base.
Brand reinforcement and revitalization
Brand revitalization is defined as the
process of identifying new sources of brand
equity and building up on the old sources
(Reddy et al., 2016). On the other hand,
brand reinforcement is the process of
making changes and innovations in the
branding strategy and product portfolio as
per the present market conditions. Both the
strategies help the companies to own their
position in the market and sustain the brand
image.
For instance, Samsung has adopted the
strategy of brand consistency and product
extension wherein, they have retained their
Page | 10

strengths of being technologically advanced
in their operations and product offerings
(Bengtsson et al., 2010). With the changing
market trends, the company is offering new
products and their upgraded versions. For
example, the company has several models in
their Galaxy Note mobile series and also in
the laptop range produced by them. On the
other hand, Facebook uses the strategy of
protection of sources of brand equity
wherein the company have secured all the
sources through which they can cater to
different consumers. For instance, Facebook
bought WhatsApp, an instant messaging
application to increase their product
portfolio and customer base. This added to
the source of brand equity as the company
already had a goodwill in the market.
Collaboration and Partnership
Partnerships among different brands
promote healthy work relations and in the
industry as it are beneficial to both the
parties. The corporate partnerships can be
either short or long-term in nature based on
the objectives set by the company for the
partnership deal (Austin and Seitanidi,
2012). For instance, Samsung has
collaborated with Marvel Entertainment, so
that they club the best features of both the
brands and highlight to the customers for
providing an excellent experience (Samsung
UK, 2018). As per the statement of the CEO
of Samsung, the collaboration helped the
company to provide leading mobile display
technology to the customers and satiate the
needs of watching outstanding media
content on their phones.
On the other hand, Facebook has
collaborated with IBM so that Facebook can
sell higher number of Facebook adverts to
the companies who are a part of IBM’s
roster (Business Insider, 2018). From this
deal, IBM would be able to market and sell
their cloud computing software services to
the companies. The partnership was
profitable for both the companies as it
enhanced their sales and helped them to
attract more companies. The companies to
whom the Facebook adverts were sold were
able to track their potential clients through
the social media application. This was
supported by the cloud computing
technology of the IBM.
Brand measurement techniques
Measuring the amount of brand awareness in
the market is the most important part of a
company’s marketing strategies as it helps in
understanding the perception of the
customers and brand goodwill. The brand
Page | 11

measurement techniques used by Samsung
and Facebook are as follows:
 Surveys: Both the companies send
survey forms to their customers and
potential audience so that they can
understand the level of brand
awareness persistent in the market.
The direct surveys help in company
in understanding their position in the
market and the customer perception.
 Website traffic: The companies can
gather data regarding their own
website traffic and Google search to
have numbers on the daily visitors of
their websites. This helps in
understanding the popularity and
awareness.
 Social media listening: With the
growth of internet, the social media
platforms are an indispensable part
of the daily life of the public. Hence,
gathering 9information on the buzz
created by the companies on the
social media platform is a method of
measuring brand awareness in the
market.
 Search volume: The companies
gather data regarding the search
volume from different search
engines. This helps in understanding
the awareness spread among the
customers regarding the brand and
its products.
Brand equity audit and tracking technique
The brand equity audit helps in
understanding the market position of the
brand in the intensely competitive industry.
The process of audit helps in understanding
the brand awareness level, consumers’
thoughts and feelings about the brand and
the brand advantage (Keller et al., 2011).
Samsung and Facebook both use
quantitative method of conducting brand
audit and tracking technique so that they can
understand the effect of the brand
management on consumers’ buying
behaviour. The methods used for brand
equity audit are:
 Market research is the most
important method as it allows direct
interaction with the market entities
and customers.
 Information and knowledge of the
market position and brand
management technique used by
competitors helps in evaluation of
the current techniques used by the
company
 Using the Keller’s model, the level
of brand awareness and loyalty
Page | 12

prevalent among the customers is
judged.
 The data regarding website
trafficking also helps in
understanding the brand awareness
level. If the number of people
visiting the website on an average is
high, it means that the company has
been able to create a strong brand
image and equity for themselves in
the market.
Approaches to valuing brand
Although brand is an intangible asset,
determining its valuation is important as it
would help the company to understand
whether the investment made by them in
building the brand was fruitful or not
(Kapferer, 2012). The methods of brand
valuation are:
 Cost approach: It values the brand
based on the initial cost the company
incurred in building the brand and
the extra costs incurred in
redeveloping it as per the market
trends and customer tastes.
 Market approach: The value is
determined based on the revenues
the brand would generate in an open
market. To determine the results
adjustments have to be made with
the values of the other rival brands.
This method is not feasible as it
provides arbitrary figures and the
adjustments made are also
fluctuating based on the rival brands
audit techniques.
 Income approach: It measures the
value, which the brand would
generate in the remaining economic
shelf life of its. It is the most used
approach as it deduces future
incomes after deducting the
necessary tax and tariff rates.
Page | 13

Conclusion
As the competition in all the spheres of the market are growing, brand management techniques
have become an essential part of the marketing strategies for the organizations. Creation of a
brand helps in carving a niche for themselves in the market by differentiating from the rival
products and bonding with the customers on an emotional level. In this assignment, the concept
of brand management and its techniques to create, maintain and sustain the brand in the market
over a long period of time have been discussed. The examples of two large companies –
Samsung and Facebook have been taken to explain the various branding strategies. The branding
techniques and strategies dealt in the assignment are – brand portfolio strategy, brand equity
management, reinforcement and revitalization, extension approaches, brand audit strategies and
brand leveraging.
Page | 14

Reference List
Aaker, D.A. and Joachimsthaler, E., 2012. Brand leadership. Simon and Schuster.
Aghaei, M., Mosavi, M., Vahedi, E. and Asadollahi, A., 2013. Developing Brand Equity Model
Based on CBBE Approach to Establish Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty in Tehran's chain
stores. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 3(7), pp.56-965.
Austin, J.E. and Seitanidi, M.M., 2012. Collaborative value creation: A review of partnering
between nonprofits and businesses. Part 2: Partnership processes and outcomes. Nonprofit and
Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(6), pp.929-968.
Baker, M.J., 2014. Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Batra, R., Lenk, P. and Wedel, M., 2010. Brand extension strategy planning: Empirical
estimation of brand–category personality fit and atypicality. Journal of marketing
research, 47(2), pp.335-347.
Bengtsson, A., Bardhi, F. and Venkatraman, M., 2010. How global brands travel with
consumers: An examination of the relationship between brand consistency and meaning across
national boundaries. International Marketing Review, 27(5), pp.519-540.
Brand portfolio management (2018). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online]
Oeconomica.uab.ro. Available at: http://www.oeconomica.uab.ro/upload/lucrari/920072/32.pdf
[Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].
Business Insider. (2018). IBM just launched another huge partnership: with Facebook. [online]
Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/IBM-just-launched-another-huge-partnership-with-
Facebook/articleshow/47179135.cms [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].
Christodoulides, G. and De Chernatony, L., 2010. Consumer-based brand equity
conceptualization and measurement: A literature review. International Journal of Market
Research, 52(1), pp.43-66.
Drummond, G., Ensor, J. and Ashford, R., 2010. Strategic marketing. Routledge.
Page | 15

Dudovskiy, J. (2018). Facebook Inc. Organizational Structure: Hybrid of Hierarchical and
Divisional Organizational Structures - Research Methodology. [online] Research Methodology.
Available at: https://research-methodology.net/facebook-organizational-structure-hybrid-of-
hierarchical-and-divisional-organizational-structures/ [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].
Hollensen, S., 2015. Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
How Samsung Electronics’ Organizational Structure and Culture Affect Its Innovation
(2018). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Ibpunion.files.wordpress.com. Available at:
https://ibpunion.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/ot-exam2.pdf [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].
Interbrand. (2018). Best Brands - Interbrand. [online] Available at: http://interbrand.com/best-
brands/best-global-brands/2017/ranking/ [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].
Kahn, B., 2013. Global brand power: Leveraging branding for long-term growth. Wharton
Digital Press.
Kapferer, J.N., 2012. The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic
thinking. Kogan page publishers.
Keller, K.L., Parameswaran, M.G. and Jacob, I., 2011. Strategic brand management: Building,
measuring, and managing brand equity. Pearson Education India.
Maurya, U.K. and Mishra, P., 2012. What is a brand? A Perspective on Brand
Meaning. European Journal of Business and Management, 4(3), pp.122-133.
Rageviciusa, D., 2014. Branding elements: A study of the largest Latvian companies.
Reddy, S.K., Reddy, U.M. and Venkatesulu, K., 2016. Brand revitalization. International journal
of science technology and management, 5(1), pp.321-326.
Samsung UK. (2018). Samsung and Marvel Entertainment Announce Global Brand Partnership
| SAMSUNG UK. [online] Available at: http://www.samsung.com/uk/news/local/samsung-and-
marvel-entertainment-announce-global-brand-partnership/ [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].
Page | 16

Page | 17