MMK280 Brand Management T3 2019: Brand Audit and Strategic Development

This report provides a comprehensive brand audit of Mars Petcare, focusing on the Whiskas brand within the Australian market. It begins with a PESTEL analysis, examining the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors influencing the company's operations. The report identifies key competitors like The Great Australian Pet Food Company and Purina, and then delves into the brand inventory, defining brand elements such as logo, tagline, and product characteristics. A SWOT analysis is conducted to assess the brand's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and the report concludes with a discussion of the development of a brand mantra and survey questions. The report uses statistical data and references to support its findings, providing a detailed overview of the brand's market position and strategic recommendations for long-term brand development.

Running head: BRANDS
Brand Value of Products
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

1BRANDS
Market situation:
Analysis of the market of Australia (including statistics and micro-factors) (PESTEL):
The following is the PESTEL of the market of Australia:
Political:
Australia is a politically stable federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The Prime
Minister of Australia holds the virtual power while the Queen Elizabeth II is the nominal head of
the state represented by Governor General (Australia.gov.au. 2020). The polictal stability of the
country enables the government form laws and policies which drive business and commerce
(Austrade.gov.au. 2020).
The second political factor which impacts the business in Australia is the bilateral
relationships which the Government of Australia shares with other countries. The country has
strong relationships with countries like the US which is the home country of the company under
research namely, Mars Inc (Dfat.gov.au. 2020). This factor holds immense importance for Mars
since the company is based in the US and Australia is one of its strategically important markets.
This bilateral relationships between the two countries (US and Australia) enable the company to
move its resources internally between its offices in these two countries (Aus.mars.com. 2020).
Economic:
The first economic factor which impacts the business of companies in Australia is its high
gross domestic product. As shown below, the GDP of Australia is high which means the country
is facing increasing demands for goods (including pet food). Thus, high GDP boosts the
operations of companies like Mars in the country.

2BRANDS
Figure 1. Statistics showing GDP of Australia (USDbn)
(Source: Tradingeconomics.com. 2020)
The second economic factor which drives the business of American companies like Mars
based in Australia is currency exchange rates (like rates of USD against AUD) which are
extremely volatile. For example, Mars has to convert the incomes and expenses pertaining to its
Australian operations earned in AUD into USD while entering them into its books of accounts
(Mars.com. 2020). Thus, the internal operations of the company like, accounting comes heavily
under the impacts of international currency exchange rates (Bloomberg.com. 2020)

3BRANDS
Figure 2. Graph showing exchange rates of USD against AUD
(Source: Bloomberg.com. 2020)
Social:
The residents of the country have high disposable income which enable them to consume
premium confectionary items made by multinational companies like Mars and maintain pets.
(Hobbs and Shanoyan 2018). As per Australian Bureau of Statistics, a fifth of every household in
the country have pets as on 1994 (Abs.gov.au. 2020). This social condition in the country boost
the operations of pet food manufacturing firms like Mars.
Technological:
The country of Australia is technologically very strong which enable MNCs like Mars to
set up their manufacturing (internal operations) facilities in the country. However, the companies
face high data theft risks in the country (Patil 2018).

4BRANDS
Environmental:
Australia has very strong environmental laws which stand on Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Environment.gov.au. 2020). All the business
organisations including the foreign companies like Mars should comply with the environment
laws and operate in sustainable ways.
Legal:
The legal system of Australia operates with the High Court at its apex ( Ag.gov.au.
2020). The business organisations have to comply with the laws while operating in the country.
The country has a very low corruption rate which means that the companies should abstain from
indulging in corruptive practices (Abc.net.au. 2020)
Identification of the key competitors:
The key competitors of Mars Inc are resident Australian companies like The Great
Australian Pet Food Company (Kibble.com.au. 2020). The brand under consideration Whiskas
also faces stiff competition from global pet food brands like Purina, owned by Nestle
(Purina.com.au. 2020). The competition in the pet food market in Australia has been intensified
owing to entry of foreign pharmaceutical companies like Himalaya Pharmaceuticals which
manufacture plant based food for pets (Himalayawellness.in. 2020). This intense competition
from the resident and foreign companies necessitates the company namely, Mars Inc. to form
strong marketing strategies to retain its position in the country.

5BRANDS
Brand inventory:
Defining brand inventory:
Garvey et al. (2016) mention that brand inventory refers to the attributes which attribute a
particular brand the brand equity it enjoys in the market. The six elements which go on to form
the brand inventory of products are target audience, promise which brands make to customers to
create value to them, brand values, brand voice and brand positioning strategies which
companies undertake to position the brands strategically in the market to generate high profits.
For example, the brand value of Mars, the owner of Mars Inc was $bn 78 as in 2016 making the
company one of the American richest family owned businesses in the US (Forbes.com. 2020).
Discussion on the brand elements of Mars Incorporated:
The ten brands elements of multinational companies are brand name, logo, theme line,
shape of the products concerned, graphical elements, colour, sound, movement, smell and tastes.
As far as Mars Inc, the owner of the brand Whiskas is concerned, the company is one of the
largest confectionary manufacturers and marketers in the world (Statista.com. 2020). Moreover,
the brand value of Mars family remains to be high (Forbes.com. 2020). The second element
namely, logo of the brand contains a picture of a cat which clearly shows that the products are
meant for consumption by cats. As far as theme line of the brand under consideration namely,
Whiskas is concerned, the phrase ‘A savory feast for your cat’ is attractive and speaks strongly
about the product. The company makes use of graphics and appropriate colours in the logo of the
brand (Charlebois and Juhasz 2018). The company advertises the brand on the social media with
appropriate sound. The products marketed under the brand Whiskas are marketed in appropriate
packages which keep the smell and taste of the products intact. One can point out that the smell
and tastes are attribute which create strong impression about the brand among the cats and their

6BRANDS
owners. Thus, it can be established that the brand elements of the brand Mars Inc are extremely
strong.
Figure 3. Statistics showing net sales of global confectionary companies (USDmn)
(Source: Statista.com. 2020)
Development of the brand mantra:
The company must develop a strong brand mantra to retain its existing customers and
attract new customers. This would result in generation of high revenue in the company.
SWOT analysis of Mars Inc.:
Strengths:
1. Global company with presence in more
than a hundred countries.
Weaknesses:
1. Not a listed company.

7BRANDS
2. Strong brand value.
3. High quality of products.
4. Ecommerce presence.
2. Very expensive products
Opportunity:
1. More innovative products.
2. Diversification of product line
Threats:
1. Threats from new companies.
2. Changing customer preferences.
3. Environmental laws in Australia becoming
strict.
Survey questions:
1. Do you think Whiskas is a good brand?
2. Do you think the company should offer smaller packages?
3. Do you think the company should carry on more innovations?

8BRANDS
References:
Abc.net.au. 2020. Abc.net.au. [online] Available at:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-22/australia-slips-in-global-corruption-rank/9472114
[Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Abs.gov.au. 2020. Abs.gov.au. [online] Available at:
https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/2f762f95845417aeca25706c00834efa/
5ef8016f420622a3ca2570ec00753524!OpenDocument [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Ag.gov.au. 2020. Ag.gov.au. [online] Available at:
https://www.ag.gov.au/LegalSystem/Pages/default.aspx [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Aus.mars.com. 2020. Aus.mars.com. [online] Available at: https://aus.mars.com/ [Accessed 14
Jan. 2020].
Austrade.gov.au. 2020. Austrade.gov.au. [online] Available at:
https://www.austrade.gov.au/International/Invest/Why-Australia/Business [Accessed 14 Jan.
2020].
Australia.gov.au. 2020. Australia.gov.au. [online] Available at:
https://www.australia.gov.au/about-government/government-and-parliament [Accessed 14 Jan.
2020].
Bloomberg.com. 2020. Bloomberg.com. [online] Available at:
https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDAUD:CUR [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

9BRANDS
Charlebois, S. and Juhasz, M., 2018. Food Futures and 3D Printing: Strategic Market Foresight
and the Case of Structur3D. International Journal on Food System Dynamics, 9(2), pp.138-148.
Dfat.gov.au. 2020. Dfat.gov.au. [online] Available at:
https://dfat.gov.au/international-relations/Pages/international-relations.aspx [Accessed 14 Jan.
2020].
Environment.gov.au. 2020. Environment.gov.au. [online] Available at:
https://www.environment.gov.au/resource/local-government-and-australian-environment-law
[Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Forbes.com. 2020. Forbes.com. [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/profile/mars-1/#237a354ac8ed [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Garvey, O.M., Emmanuel, A., Boman, S.A. and Ikegwuiro, P.U., 2016. Assessing brand equity
and customer satisfaction as tools for profit optimization in Nigeria. Science Journal of Business
and management, 4(5), pp.165-171.
Himalayawellness.in. 2020. Himalayawellness.in. [online] Available at:
https://himalayawellness.in/products/healthy-pet-food-adult [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Hobbs, L. and Shanoyan, A., 2018. Analysis of Consumer Perception of Product Attributes in
Pet Food: Implications for Marketing and Brand Strategy.
Kibble.com.au. 2020. Kibble.com.au. [online] Available at: https://www.kibble.com.au/about/
[Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Mars.com. 2020. Mars.com. [online] Available at: https://www.mars.com/about/policies-and-
practices/farmer-income [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

10BRANDS
Patil, G.R.M.D.A., 2018. DATA BREACHES AS TOP SECURITY CONCERN IN CLOUD
COMPUTING. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 119(14), pp.19-28.
Purina.com.au. 2020. Purina.com.au. [online] Available at: https://www.purina.com.au/en
[Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Statista.com. 2020. Statista.com. [online] Available at:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/252097/net-sales-of-the-leading-10-confectionery-companies-
worldwide/ [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
Tradingeconomics.com. 2020. Tradingeconomics.com. [online] Available at:
https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/gdp [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].