Brand Management Report: Strategies, Portfolio, and Brand Value of H&M

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of H&M's brand management practices. It begins with an introduction to brand management, defining its role in enhancing product value and building customer loyalty, and sets the stage for an in-depth examination of H&M's strategies. The report then delves into Task 1, which covers the fundamentals of branding, including defining a brand, brand equity, and the stages of building a successful brand such as target customer determination, brand mission, competitive research, value proposition creation, brand guidelines, and market branding. The report also explores the role of the marketing department in creating brand equity, focusing on awareness, differentiation, and value. Task 2 analyzes H&M's brand portfolio management, brand hierarchy, and brand equity management. It explores different strategies for brand equity, brand extension, brand reinforcing, and brand revitalizing, including the Keller Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model. The report also examines various brand portfolio models. The report concludes with a summary of the importance of branding as a marketing tool for H&M and its impact on market position, market share, customer acquisition, and business expansion. References are included at the end.

Brand Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Introduction.................................................................................................................................3
Main Body...................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P3 Analyse different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity
management................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4 Evaluate how brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership both at a domestic
and global level...........................................................................................................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P5 Evaluate different types of techniques for measuring and managing brand value .............11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
.......................................................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Brand Management is define as a marketing function that is used to enhance the worth of
product or its brand over time (Kapferer, 2012). In order to manage effective brand management
a company need to develop strategic plan which will enable cost of goods to rise as well as will
develop loyal customers through positive brand associations. This report is based on H&M
company which is retail industry and deals in the products of fast fashion clothing of men,
women and children. It was founded by Erling Persson in the year 1947. Its headquarter is
situated in Stockholm, Sweden. Respective company serve their products as well as services
across the globe such as Hong Kong Melbourne and many more. H&M has approx 140000
employees in their organisation worldwide who perform their activities in order to achieve goals
and objective of firm. This report describes about benefits of branding which act a source of
marketing tool in business practice. There are various components of branding which lead in
successful organisation in terms of equity. Along with this, there are different strategies for
portfolio management, brand hierarchy as well as brand equity management. Therefore, it also
describes about several techniques that aid in measuring and managing brand value.
TASK 1
Introduction
Brand is define as product or service through which customer is able to differentiate it
with other companies. Having a strong brand image, it becomes easy for an organisation to
attract customers which help them to increaser their sales and profits. Along with this, it also
influence buying behaviour of customers.
Brand equity is define as value that an organisation build through their quality products
and services. In other words, it is refereed to the commercial worth that is derived from customer
preferences of a particular goods and services of a brand.
There are various stages that help in building a successful brand which are given as follows:
 Determine target customer:The first stage in order to make a successful brand,
Optimum Impression Limited have to target their potential customers by having effective
communication with them (6 Simple Steps For A Successful Brand Building Process,
2019). This will help the respective company to understand customer demand and needs
so that they can produce their goods and services as per their preferences.

 Brand Mission:Another stage to become a successful brand, respective company has to
determine about mission of their brand. It is because it will describe the purpose of
existence of business (Rosenbaum, Percy and Pervan, 2015). Along with this, Optimum
Impression Limited must make brand mission which will help them to set path for
communication.
 Research Competition:In this stage, respective organisation need to analyse the market
and also focus on the products that they are offering to their customers. This stage will
help respective company to make their brand successful by examining the gap determine
how their product is different from their competitors.
 Create Value Proposition:In order to make brand worthy as well as unique, Optimum
Impression Limited, company must set their value proposition that makes their business
different from the marketplace.
 Determine Brand Guidelines: Optimum Impression Limited must effectively explain
about guidelines of their brand which will aid them in maintaining consistency across
change so that customers can recognize their brand easily.
 Market Brand:This is the last stage where company formulate their marketing strategy
in order to market their brand. In respect of Optimum Impression Limited, company
adopted differentiation strategy which reflect their product different as well as unique
from their competitors.
Role of Marketing department in creating brand equity
Marketing department plays an important role in creating brand equity. With the help of
effective marketing, company is able make their customers aware about their products. In respect
of Optimum Impression Limited, its marketing department has important part in developing
brand equity which is explained as follows:
 Awareness:Marketing department of respective company apply various methods to
create brand awareness among their customers (Annie, 2012). This can be done by
promoting goods and services by making effective use of social media.
 Differentiation:Department of marketing of Optimum Impression Limited, must focus
on making their product contrary as well as unique so that customer can easily understand
which product is better and effective for them.

 Value: Marketing department of respective company plays important role in determining
goods and services. They have to set cost of their product according to the quality so that
customer can buy their product easily.
Main Body
Optimum Impression Limited make effective use of different strategies for brand equity,
extension, reinforcing, revitalising as well as by using model of Keller Customer Based Brand
Equity. Strategy for strengthen of brand equity is described below:
 Quality goods and services:In this strategy respective company provides quality
products and services to their customers in order to create brand equity in their minds
(Santos and et.al., 2013).
 Competitive analysis: Optimum Impression Limited, need to target their market
segment so that they can produce their goods and services as per the requirement. This
will help them to make strong brand image as well as it will also enhance their goodwill.
Keller Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model
This model is described in a pyramid format which consists of four elements. This model
is used by Optimum Impression Limited which is described as follows:
 Brand Identity:In the first step of CBBE model, explains about identity of brand through
which customers is able to differentiate its products with other companies (Keller’s Brand
equity Model – CBBE Model by Keller, 2019).
 Brand Meaning:In second step, it describes about performance as well as quality of
product of a brand in the mind of customers.
 Brand Response:At third step of CBBE model, respective company analyse the response
of customer towards their brand which aid them to increase their brand value.
 Brand Resonance:In the last stage of CBBE model, it states about building effective
relationship with customers which will help respective company to expand their business
worldwide.
Strategy for Brand Extension:
 Measure Potential Risk:Optimum Impression Limited measure potential risk through
which they are able to make positive and negative affect on their business. In addition to
this, by implementing brand extension, respective company determine failure which do
not exceed their marketing efficiencies.

 Leverage from business core competency:By applying this strategy respective
company should be aware of marketing operation which will aid them to gain
competitive advantage for their new product.
 Measure of brand equity:This strategy will help Optimum Impression Limited to track
their future impacts (Song, Hur and Kim, 2012).
Strategy for Brand Reinforcing:
Brand Reinforcing is define as a kind of activity whose main focus is on those customers
who are already aware about the brand and is repeat buyer along with acquiring new custoemrs.
The main motive is to growth and development of product life cycle. The strategy that Optimum
Impression Limited should adopt is discussed below:
 Brand image:By adopting this strategy, respective company will be able to enhance their
brand image. For this they have to provide quality products and services to their
customers as per their need and demands.
 Brand awareness:In this strategy, respective company need to create awareness about
their product among their potential customers. This will lead Optimum Impression
Limited to enhance their position at marketplace and give tough competition to their
competitors.
Strategy for Brand Revitalising:
Brand Revitalising is define as marketing strategy which is applied when goods reach at
a stage of maturity and there is decrease in profits of the company (Kavaratzis, Warnaby and
Ashworth, 2014). There are various strategies which is adopted by Optimum Impression
Limited for brand revitalising is as follows:
 Reach out of community:Respective company can adopt this strategy through which
they will able to target their potential customers which will help to improve their brand
image.
 Rename brand:It is one of the powerful strategy that Optimum Impression Limited
through which they can gain their brand image and survive at marketplace for long
duration.
In order to overcome brand crises, respective organisation can make effective planning,
take help of outsiders, aware customers about their brand and many more. By adopting such
remedies, Optimum Impression Limited will be able to solve their brand crises.

Conclusion
The importance of branding as a marketing tool for Optimum Impression Limited is
elaborated as follows:
 It will help the respective company to enhance their position at market place thriugh
which they will able to gain competitive advantage.
 It will also them in increasing their market share through which they will be able to
increase their sales and profits (Leventhal and et.al., 2014).
 In addition to this, having strong branding, respective company will be able to get
opportunity to expand its business worldwide.
 Along with this, branding will assist respective company to acquire new customers as
well as will be retain their existing customers by providing them quality products and
services as per their taste and preferences.
TASK 2
P3 Analyse different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity
management.
Organisation's Brand Portfolio Management
Brand portfolio management is define as a group of brand which is under organisation
control. This portfolio is used to comprehend all entities under one umbrella through which these
brand have their separate trademarks through which they operate them individually. In addition
to this, it delivers leverage, relevance, strength, synergy, clarity as well as differentiation. Along
with this, it also outlines various brands and components of branding in order to enhance
profitability ratio (Mosley, 2014). In respect of H&M, if company make effective use of brand
portfolio management, then they will able to focus on huge pictures, allocate resources in better
way. Along with this, it will also aid them in creating brand value and reduce irrelevant
overlapping.
Brand Hierarchy
It is also known as brand architecture which is define as branding strategy that presents
value as well as nature of similar and different brands across organisation goods. There are

various methods to define brand elements as well as level of hierarchy such as family brand,
individual brand and many more. Models of brand portfolio of H&M is described as follows:
 Branded House:It is define as a brand in which company is itself is a brand and its
goods and services are sub part of the brand (Garavan and et.al., 2012). The advantage of
brand house is that in this all products as well as services are shared under same budget,
customer and position of market. Under brand house, brand manager of a company make
use of single brand for every goods and categories. It aid in focus on full brands as well
as also maximises scale of products.
 House of Brands:In this respective company, categories brands under separate brand
name with different prices. The benefit of house of brands is that under this, different
brand fight their obstacle on its own terms. Along with this, brand are different from each
other and are independent. It is one of the strong brand portfolio. Therefore, there are
companies which have different brands under same category which is explained as
follows:
Basis Umbrella Brand Products
H&M It is a clothing retail industry
which deals in fast fashion of
clothing of various categories.
It deals in the products of men,
women, children as well as
teenagers.
Marks and Spencer It is an organisation which
have various kind of products.
It sell their quality products
such as clothing, accessories
and many more in order to
make their customer happy
and satisfied.
Brand equity management
There are various portfolio brand equity management strategies which is effectively used
by H&M organisation in order to manage brand equity which is elaborated as follows:
 Active Portfolio Management Strategy:It is define as a management strategy in which
manager of a company makes particular investment with the motive of generating
maximum worth of the portfolio (Nysveen, Pedersen and Skard, 2013). Along with this,
active portfolio management strategy also creates less volatility as compared to

benchmark index. In respect of H&M, if the company apply this strategy in appropriate
manner then they will able to achieve better and productive results. In addition to this,
respective organisation need to conduct market research in order to get better and
effective returns. Therefore, with the help of such strategy H&M will be able to give
tough competition to their rivals which will aid them in maintaining their position. In
addition to this, it will also assist in their growth and development.
 Passive Portfolio Management Strategy:It is also known as passive investment which
means that in this strategy which tracks weighted portfolio of marketplace (Gummerus
and et.al., 2012). It is reverse of active portfolio management strategy whose goals is beat
market with different strategies as well as decisions. This strategy focus on maximising
diversification with exceptional input. In terms of H&M, company is not willing to adopt
respective strategy because it does not lead them to earn higher profits.
From the above two strategies, it can be said that active portfolio management strategy is
more effective for H&M. It is because it will lead to earn higher profits which will help them to
grow and develop. Along with this, by adopting this strategy, respective organisation will get
better and productive return on their investment.
TASK 3
P4 Evaluate how brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership both at a domestic and
global level.
A brand is define as a identification symbol, logo or mark which distinguish goods and
services from each other (Arai, Ko and Ross, 2014). In order to create brand identity, mixture of
more than two elements is required. Brand expansion assist an organisation to build loyalty and
trust towards their new product. Along with this, it also helps in accomplishing brand
effectiveness as well as awareness among their potential customers about their goods and
services.
Difference between brand extension and line extension
Brand Extension:It is define as a kind of marketing strategy in which new goods are
launched under existing brand name. It is also known as brand stretching. With the help of brand
extension, company will be able to increase their market share which will help them to increase

their sales as well as profitability ratio. Along with this, existing brand name plays as an effective
and inexpensive marketing instrument for the new product.
Line Extension:It is refereed to establishment of brand name for new product under
same product class. The motive of line extension or product line extension is to take benefit of
distributed name recognition of original brand in order to satisfy needs of different customers
(Brooks and Anumudu, 2016). A company can gets an opportunity to expand its product line in
down market or up market stretch.
Product line extension occurs when a firm launches additional product under same product as
well as same brand name.
Difference between brand extension and line extension is that, brand extension is use
existing brand name in order to introduce new product. On the other hand, line extension is used
to enhance number of products in a same product category.
Strength of H&M
 Wide range of products:H&M has consist of wide range of goods that are offered to
their customers. The company provide products such as cosmetics, accessories and many
more. Along with this, it also has collection of goods such as blankets, candle holders and
many more.
 Unique identity:H&M has various brands such as COS, Weekday, Monki and so on
through which they are able to sell their products to their potential customers.
 Global expansion:H&M has provide their goods and services in different countries and
has stores in 60 countries and 6 continents (SWOT Analysis of H&M, 2019). Due to this
global presence company is able to target their potential customers through which they
are able to determine their need and preferences. Having global presence reduces
business risk for respective firm.
Weakness of H&M
 Dependent on third party:H&M has 800 independent supplier who have full control on
their production. Due to this, respective organisation face the problem of orders
commitment due to which they get bad customer experience which directly or indirectly
affect their brand image. In addition to this, dependency on third party for process of
production will also affect their customer base.

 Reasonable price affects quality:As H&M organisation, provides their quality products
at reasonable which sometimes affects their quality and other products of respective
organisation.
 Following after trends:Due to dependency on third party for production, sometimes
there are cases when H&M company is not able to provide products as per latest trends
which directly or indirectly affect their sales.
Suggestions to overcome weakness
 Market analysis:In order to overcome the weakness of following after trends, H&M can
conduct market analysis so that it will help them to determine customer taste as well as
preferences. This will aid them to produce their goods and services as per the
requirement.
 Customer feedback:H&M can also take customer feedback so that they can which
product they have to improve or modify. Along with this, it will also let them know about
taste of their customers so that further they can provide them goods as per their need.
 Price according product quality: In order to sell product as per the quality, H&M need
to set price of their product according to its quality so that respective company do not
incur loss.
Collaborative and partnership agreement
It is kind of agreement which is entered between two or more brands for the nature of
working relationship (Abimbola and et.al., 2012). This agreement consist of information and
research materials in order to improve target competency of respective firm.
 H&M group and International Labour Organisation (ILO) has announced their extended
partnership in order to improve working conditions of their textile as well as garment
industry.
TASK 4
P5 Evaluate different types of techniques for measuring and managing brand value
There are various types of techniques that is used for measuring and managing brand
value. It is describes a follows:
Brand Value