Brand Management Strategies for IO2 Solutions Limited

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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 4
LO1 – Building and managing a brand over time.............................................................5
Importance of branding as a marketing tool and the different stages of evolution of
marketing tool imaging in business practice [P1]..........................................................5
Analysis of the key components of a successful branding strategy for building and
managing brand equity [P2]..........................................................................................5
Successful management of brand over time using different models, theories and
concepts [M1]............................................................................................................... 6
Examples of brand management in an organization [M2].............................................7
LO2 – Analysis of different ways in which brands are organized in portfolios along with
the building and management of brand hierarchies.........................................................9
Analysis of different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand
equity management [P3]...............................................................................................9
Critical analysis of portfolio management, brand hierarchies and brand equity using
appropriate theories, models and frameworks [M3]....................................................10
LO3 – Evaluation of different ways using which brands are leveraged/extended over
time domestically and internationally..............................................................................11
Evaluation of different ways in which brands are managed collaboratively and in
partnership both at a domestic and global level [P4]..................................................11
Critical evaluation of the use of different techniques used to leverage and extend
brands [M4].................................................................................................................12
LO4 – Evaluation of different techniques for measuring and managing brand value over
time................................................................................................................................ 14
Evaluation of different types of techniques for measuring and managing brand value
according to some specific organizational practices [P5]............................................14
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Critical evaluation of the application of techniques for managing and measuring brand
value in relation to developing a strong and enduring brand [M5]..............................15
Critical evaluation supported by justified evidence demonstrating a comprehensive
understanding of brand within an organizational context [D1]....................................16
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 18
Reference List................................................................................................................ 19
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Introduction
Due to the increasing competition in almost every sector and domain of business, it has
become critically important for the competitor organizations to maintain the uniqueness
of their products and services along with their brands. There are different techniques of
branding that is used by the companies in order to keep their respective brands
highlighted among the customers and make it a preferable one for them. The following
study is about the details of branding and how it has helped several organizations to
retain their supremacy over the market since a long time. It has included the evolution of
branding and branding strategies along with details regarding brand equity
management, brand hierarchy, and portfolio management. The different techniques of
measuring and managing brand value at multiple levels including domestic and global
levels have also been discussed in this study.
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LO1 – Building and managing a brand over time
Importance of branding as a marketing tool and the different stages of evolution
of marketing tool imaging in business practice [P1]
The marketing practices that are conducted by different organizations in order to create
a unique identity in the market form a part of branding. This generally includes the
creation of a unique logo, name, symbol, and slogan. Branding is an important part of a
business because the people know a specific company by its brand features. It also
plays a significant role while conveying the message from an organization to its
customers about the services and products that it is offering to them. The people can
decide the reliability of any company including IO2 Solutions Limited by its brand
name and at works it has delivered over a period of time. The branding is a powerful
marketing tool because the companies can use creative techniques like videography
publishing on social media to display their level of expertise to their customers. The
branding practices have emerged in the field of marketing and business practices
gradually with the increase in competition. The significant rise in competition in every
level has resulted into the dilution of monopoly of any specific company in a field. As a
result of this, the customers had multiple options to choose from in order to purchase
any specific product due to which the brands have to be unique in order to go among
the customers and be chosen by them to sell their products (Salinas, 2016).
Analysis of the key components of a successful branding strategy for building
and managing brand equity [P2]
The brand equity is a value that has been created by the brand owner of the company
by making their products and services superior to a generic level. In order to who built
and manage brand equity, it is important that the people are able to recognize the
brands by their names and logos of symbols. The few primary components of
successful branding strategy include brand Positioning, Target audience, brand
perception, and brand values that are also followed by IO2 Solutions Limited. The
brand positioning is about the position that is held by a customer regarding any
particular brand. Similarly, the target audience factor also plays a crucial role in
ensuring that the right audience is targeted by the marketing department of the
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company as per the product’s usability. The brand perception is set in the customers’
minds by the previous performances of an organization with any product or service. The
brand value is about the decision-making system of an organization and how it follows
the thinking pattern of the company management (Boenigk and Becker, 2016).
Successful management of brand over time using different models, theories and
concepts [M1]
It is important that the brand is managed by the organization in a well-organized manner
so that maximum profit can be achieved from the brand. The Keller's brand equity
model is a very effective model that helps any brand establishes itself with a strong
foothold in the market and hence it is used by IO2 Solutions Limited. There are four
major steps in this theory model of brand management that can lead to a successful
brand establishment.
Step 1: Identity – In the first step, the brand needs to recognize its identity by deciding
the specific group of customers it is targeting. This can be done through a market
research and analysing the exact way the customers perceive the brand to be.
Step 2: Brand Meaning – The second step is about providing a specific definition to the
brand about what exactly it does. This might include the products and services that are
produced by that brand for the customers that are useful for the latter (Majerova and
Kliestik, 2015).
Step 3: Brand Response – In the third step, the brand needs to formulate a response
received from its customers and deciding about its areas of improvement. The company
must research about the exact perception people have after using the products from
their brands and how the credibility of the brand can be enhanced.
Step 4: Brand resonance – The final step in brand management includes establishing
a resonance your connection with the customer. This can be done by providing the best
products and services to the customers for a long duration so that they can form a
positive image about the brand regarding quality. Attitude attachment is necessary due
to which behavioural loyalty can be expected from the customers (Davcik et al. 2015).
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Figure 1: Keller's brand equity model
(Source: Majerova and Kliestik, 2015)
Examples of brand management in an organization [M2]
The organization selected is IO2 Solutions Limited that provides Consultancy Services
related Information Technology activities. In order to make itself recognize as a superior
brand in the competitive market of IT Solutions provider, it needs to advertise IT
services in a creative way. In the initial step, the company needs to find its primary
customers which will include the new start-up companies that are not capable of
maintaining their IT records properly. In the second step as per the Keller's brand equity
model, the company needs to describe its services and how it is going to benefit the
target customers. The third step will include collection of feedback from the customers
and how the services can be made more comfortable to their businesses for better
execution. In the final step, the organization needs to and ensure a long-term
partnership with its customers by providing necessary benefits and superior quality
services to the customers (Thomas et al. 2015).
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LO2 – Analysis of different ways in which brands are organized in portfolios
along with the building and management of brand hierarchies
Analysis of different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and
brand equity management [P3]
The overall set of activities includes decision making associated with company
investments for matching the objectives and also managing the asset allocations and
other necessary services. It is very important to manage the portfolios because the
managers and decision makers of IO2 Solutions Limited can reduce the overall cost of
operation by effectively managing the business portfolios. The two major strategies of
portfolio management include “Active Portfolio Management” and “Passive Portfolio
Management”. The Active Portfolio Management is about managing the active services
like buying and selling so that maximum benefits can be obtained with minimum cost of
operation. The Passive Portfolio Management services include the management of
some specific portfolio that is designed as per the situations of the market ( Fernández‐
Ferrín et al. 2017).
In case of Brand Equity Management, there are three major components that are
important to be managed in case of IO2 Solutions Limited. These are the
Communication, Awareness, and Reputation as the overall strategic system depends
on the above three activities. IO2 Solutions Limited needs to make its customers well
aware of the services and how it can lead to the much-needed benefits. Moreover,
communication establishment before and after providing of services is also very
important so that the feedback can be collected for future improvement of the products.
In addition to this, maintaining the reputation is equally important as the customers are
more like to buy more services and products if the reputation is high ( Molinillo et al.
2019).
The brand hierarchy needs to be managed properly so that the service reputation can
be held high. Majority of the companies follow the Masterbrand architecture where there
is a main brand under which the other brands function. The best example can be the
Google which is a main brand under which the other brands like Google Books, Google
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Videos, Google Scholar, and other similar things work. The other architecture is the
individual architecture where each product is sold with a different name but the
operational wing is controlled by its parent brand (Kaličanin et al. 2015).
Critical analysis of portfolio management, brand hierarchies and brand equity
using appropriate theories, models and frameworks [M3]
The IO2 Solutions being an IT consultancy services company working under the main
brand named IO2 needs to follow the Masterbrand architecture. The hierarchy needs to
be a simple form of an organizational structure. This is the linear architecture with a
matrix mesh where different departments are handled by different people. The equity
management needs to be done actively so that the total number of orders being
received by the companies from its clients is in accordance to the resources available
with them. Hence, active portfolio management is the best strategy that can be chosen
for the IO2 solutions. The Keller’s brand equity model is very reliable and helpful for the
company as it will be able to gain many customers and retain the same for a longer
duration (Sinclair and Keller, 2017).
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LO3 – Evaluation of different ways using which brands are leveraged/extended
over time domestically and internationally
Evaluation of different ways in which brands are managed collaboratively and in
partnership both at a domestic and global level [P4]
There are many organizations and brands that are operating all alone and those that
are operating in collaboration with other companies. Hence, it is important that the
brands that are working together in joint collaboration maintain a good partnership. The
overall activities and operations that are performed by a joint venture group are decided
collaboratively by the business partners. The involved brands must perform their
respective share of roles and responsibilities in a proper way so that the overall
outcome can be in profit for the companies as well as the customers. However, the
roles are effectively performed by IO2 Solutions Limited. Considering the local level
performance of an organization that deals with online retail services, it needs to
collaborate with a transportation company deliver the products to the people. Hence,
both the goods provider and the transporter must deliver the best possible service so
that the customers are happy with the product and the service. The quality of the
product matters as much as the timely delivery of the same in order to receive the best
feedback from the customers (Naidoo and Abratt, 2018).
Considering the scenario of a global context, the brands can be managed by performing
the distinctive roles in the best possible way. For example, a public sector defence
organization that has established a joint venture with a different organization for
manufacturing of some parts needs to ensure that the quality is superior regarding the
final product. This generally happens in case of products that need to have a customer
support service after the sale of the products. There are some automobile companies
that manufacture the main parts in a different country and then assemble them in a
different country where they are to be sold. Sometimes the main brand does both the
manufacturing and assembling whereas sometimes these two different tasks are done
by two different brands. Hence, in the second case, both the brands that are working
collaboratively at a global level must ensure the success of the product among their
customers by putting in their best efforts (Nguyen and Oyotode, 2015). This ultimately
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results into the enhancement of the brand reputation among the customers that further
influences customer loyalty.
Critical evaluation of the use of different techniques used to leverage and extend
brands [M4]
Brand leveraging is a very important and popular technique to reach out too many other
people with different products. The strategy of using the reputation and power of an
already existing brand to launch a different its product from the same organization or a
different company is known as brand leveraging. In case of launching a new product
from the same company, the management level authorities of IO2 Solutions Limited
can decide the launching of the same using proper research and development so that
the best product outcome can be ensured. However, in case the item of a different
brand is used during brand leveraging, the company management can hold discussions
and negotiations with the other organization so that the value of the product can be
decided followed by the decision-making activities on sharing the profit. It is also very
important that the already existing powerful brand performs a quality check on the new
product that is to be launched in the market under its brand name. This is important
because any compromise in the quality of the new product under its existing brand is
likely to backfire and the company might lose its customers and face a financial and
reputation loss in long-term business (Amaral and Torelli, 2018).
Brand extension is also an important and effective technique of extending the existing
performance of the brand. It is necessary that the company management decides about
the overall performance of the brand in the market in order to capture a huge market
share. An organization that is dealing with grocery retail services must also involve in
organic farming and extend its brand towards the same so that maximum profit can be
gained. In addition, extending the brand also ensures security to the organization up to
a certain extent during the market fluctuations. Considering the case of IO2 Solutions,
it can be said that the organization can easily launch its own software to support the
accounting related works of different companies. This can be done after establishing is
image and reputation in the market as an ideal supplier of Information technology
related consultancy services (Skalický, 2016).
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