Comparative Brand Analysis: Costco vs. Sam's Club in Mexico

This report provides an in-depth analysis of two competing brands, Costco Wholesale Corporation and Sam's Club, operating in Mexico. It begins with a brief overview of each company's brand portfolio, highlighting key components such as Kirkland Signature for Costco and Artisan Fresh for Sam's Club. The core of the analysis focuses on the brand architecture approaches employed by each organization, identifying segmentation strategies as the primary method used to organize their diverse product offerings. The report then explores how these brand architecture strategies have contributed to the companies' success, emphasizing the ability to cater to various consumer segments, increase revenues, and enhance customer satisfaction. The report references academic sources to support the analysis and provide context for the brand management strategies of the two companies.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF TWO COMPETING BRANDS IN MEXICO
ANALYSIS OF TWO COMPETING BRANDS IN MEXICO
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1ANALYSIS OF TWO COMPETING BRANDS IN MEXICO
Brief description of the brand portfolios of two organizations
Costco Wholesale Corporation that operates as Costco is a international corporation of
American origin that controls a chain of warehouse clubs that are based on the memberships of
customers. Costco has become the second biggest retailer in the world with respect to the
products that are provoded by the organization including organic foods, rotisserie chicken and
prime beef as well. The brand portfolio of Costco Wholesale Corporation include different
organizations that are a part of its operations. The companies operating under the parent
organization include Kirkland Signature, E-commerce, ancillary businesses, co-branded credit
cards (Costco.com 2020).
Sam’s West Inc. or Sam’s Club is an American chain of the retail warehouse based club
that operates on a membership basis. The organization is mainly operated by Walmart Inc. that
was established in the year 1983 and has been named under the founder Sam Walton. Sam’s
Club has gained second position in the industry with respect to the sales volumes that have been
gained by warehouse clubs. The Private brands that are offered by Sam’s Club to the consumers
are considered to be an important part of the brand portfolio of the organization. The products of
Sam’s Club have been branded under different sections that include Artisan Fresh, Simply Right,
baked goods brand, Daily Chef and pet care products (Samsclub.com 2020).
Outlining and explaining the approaches implemented to brand architecture
The brand architecture of Costco Wholesale Corporation is based on offering different
products that are able to satisfy the needs and demands of the consumers. Groceries and different
packaged food items that are provided as a part of the brand portfolio. The traditional
segmentation approach of brand architecture has been implemented by the organization in order

2ANALYSIS OF TWO COMPETING BRANDS IN MEXICO
to operate the multiple brands that are a part of its portfolio. The organization is able to cater to
the needs of multiple number of segments with the help of different products that are a part of its
brands (Anesbury, Winchester and Kennedy 2017).
The approach of brand architecture that has been implemented by Sam’s Club is also
termed as segmentation. The segmentation strategy is based on proper division of the products
under multiple brands of the organization. The brands of Sam’s Club mainly include Artisan
Fresh, baked goods, Simply Right and many more. The segmentation approach related to
development of brand architecture has been able to play a major role in supporting the
organization to fulfil demands and needs of the consumers. The Private brands of the
organization have been rolled out to greater than 600 stores in different parts of the country
(Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2000).
Ways by which brand architecture has contributed to success of the companies
Brand architecture approach that has been implemented by Costco Wholesale has
provided major levels of contribution to the success that of the organization. The success of an
organization is mainly based on the ways by which it is able to fulfil the demands of consumers.
The different segments of Costco Wholesale provide various types of products that are able to
satisfy different types of needs of the consumers. Proper implementation of brand architecture of
Costco Wholesale is considered to be a major reason behind the revenues that have been gained
by the organization. Profitability levels of the firm are totally dependent on the variety of
products that are offered by Costco Wholesale to the consumers (Vriens, Alves and Chen 2017).
Sam’s Club has implemented the segmentation based brand architecture approach in
order to divide the products into various segments. The different segments of the brand have

3ANALYSIS OF TWO COMPETING BRANDS IN MEXICO
been able to influence the consumers in a huge manner and the products are also able to attract
the consumers. The approach based on brand architecture has supported the growth of Sam’s
Club in the industry since the start of its operations. Different products that are offered by Sam’s
Club to the customers have an impact on the proper satisfaction of demands of the consumers.
The revenues of Sam’s Club are totally based on the proper segmentation of the products that are
a part of different brands of the organization. The sales of Sam’s Club will also be influenced in
a positive manner by the brand architecture based approach of the firm (Koh 2019).

4ANALYSIS OF TWO COMPETING BRANDS IN MEXICO
References
Aaker, D.A. and Joachimsthaler, E., 2000. The brand relationship spectrum: The key to the brand
architecture challenge. California management review, 42(4), pp.8-23.
Anesbury, Z., Winchester, M. and Kennedy, R., 2017. Brand user profiles seldom change and
seldom differ. Marketing Letters, 28(4), pp.523-535.
Costco.com 2020. [online] Available at: https://www.costco.com/ [Accessed 23 Feb. 2020].
Koh, Y., 2019. Dynamics between brand diversification and segment diversification on firm
value. Tourism Economics, 25(5), pp.819-826.
Samsclub.com 2020. [online] Samsclub.com. Available at: https://www.samsclub.com/
[Accessed 23 Feb. 2020].
Vriens, M., Alves, A.M. and Chen, S., 2017. Brand segmentation using implicit brand
measures. Applied Marketing Analytics, 3(2), pp.172-182.