Impact of Branding on Sales: A Case study of Volkswagen Company

Running head: Branding and Sales 1
Impact of Branding on Sales: A Case study of Volkswagen Company
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Branding and Sales 2
Table of Contents
SECTION I.................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................3
PROBLEM STATEMENT....................................................................................................4
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES/QUESTIONS...........................................................................5
PROJECT JUSTIFICATION.................................................................................................5
EXPECTED RESEARCH OUTCOME.................................................................................6
SECTION II...............................................................................................................................7
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS..................................7
METHODOLOGY...............................................................................................................10
SECTION III............................................................................................................................13
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY..................................................................................13
GANTT CHART..................................................................................................................13
PROJECT BUDGET AND BUDGET JUSTIFICATION...................................................14
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................16

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SECTION I
INTRODUCTION
A brand is a product, service, or idea that is noticeably differentiated from the rest of other
commodities, services, or ideas to make it lucrative and cost-worthy without much effort.
Consumers associate with a given lucrative impression or appearance of a given merchandize
or service through ascertaining the name, logo, mantra or design of the firm behind the brand.
A business can offer superior products in its sector, in addition to excellent service delivery
and overall best quality. Nonetheless, if the potential customers are not aware of the brand,
then all these are of no value and less profitable.
Globalization, technological advancement among other factors have led to a competitive
business environment where it is not just enough to create awareness but to fulfil the
customer demands. Such a situation has made customer satisfaction and branding to become
a central issue. Consequently, the process of developing a reputed brand image and attracting
new consumers is still a challenging work for the marketers in any company. Kumar (2010)
observes that organizations should focus on customer retention with profitable long-term
associations. But the degree of customer retention is dependent on the degree of customer
satisfaction derived from the products and services alongside value. This is because contented
consumers are most likely to become loyal. A reputable brand with increased customer
loyalty will result in a higher market share (Buil, De Chernatony, & Martínez, 2013).
The automotive industry in Australia has been growing in the last decades. Moreover, the
market environment has continually undergone transformations posing challenges to the
players. The changes vary from consumer needs, legislation, competitiveness and
technological changes. Due to competitiveness good branding has been associated with the
quality thus affecting customer satisfaction and sales. This study aims to undertake a
comprehensive research proposal on the impact of branding on sales in the Australian

Branding and Sales 4
automotive industry with Volkswagen as a case study, so as to emphasize on the need for
organizations concentrate on branding to increase sales.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
There have been noticeable transformations in the general market such as advancement in
technology, saturated local market, stiff competition, and very demanding customers.
Watchravesringkan et al. (2010) argue that these changes call for companies to revamp their
current marketing strategies. The development and protection of a brand are one of the best
strategies because a reputable brand creates customer confidence leading to re-purchases
(Egan-Wyer et al., 2014).
Competition among primary dealers in the Australian automotive industry such as BMW,
Holden, and Volkswagen among others is very stiff. As a result, the companies are
implementing different strategies to acquire a high market share, improve customer
satisfaction, customer loyalty through branding. Even though the issue of brand image is
becoming the focus of most of the players in the automotive industry, few studies have been
conducted. Chi, Yeh, and Yang (2009) found out that customer satisfaction is affected by the
perceived quality and brand image.
Additionally, several studies have associated organizational performance with brand equity
and brand loyalty (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014; Amboko & Namusonge, 2015; Malik et al.,
2013). As already shown, studies have attempted to deal with the subject of branding,
customer satisfaction and increase in sales, the same has not been viewed from the
perspective of the Australian automotive industry. Therefore it is on this basis that this
research is to analyse the impact of branding on sales using Volkswagen, Australia as the
case study.