Brand Management Introduction: Optimum Impressions Ltd. Case Study

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Brand Management

Introduction
In this research, we are going to discuss about the brand marketing and
management. Further, we are going to discuss about how the brand is managed and
role of marketing in brand management. Chose organization is “Optimum
Impressions ltd.” situated in UK.
LO1: Demonstrate an understanding of how a brand is built and managed over
time
P1: Role of Marketing in Brand Building
A brand is the product which is manufactured by a particular company. The product
is manufactured under a particular name. These brands promote their products and
sell them in the market (Tizazu, 2019). Example of such brands are- Nykaa, Lakme,
MAC, Nike, Adidas, ZARA, Dior, GAP and much more. From beauty, clothing, home
care to bathroom tiles and furnishing, every product is manufactured under a
particular brand. Thus, a brand can be simply defined as the logo, symbol or mark
which is used to identify a particular product from others in the market. The sign of
half-bitten apple on the back of the cellphone is enough to indicate the person is
having an IPhone. This is what defines brand. Every logo of a brand has a meaning.
Some brands have created their logos in order to convey a message to the crowd.
Like for example, if you have ever noticed the logo of Amazon. It has an arrow which
starts from alphabet ‘A’ and ends at the ‘Z’ of it. This says that Amazon is providing
everything from A-Z which is there in the market.
Brand equity is defined as the value; a company produces from the sales of the
product, under a particular brand name. Brand equities are created by a company in
order to make them famous and recognizable. Positive brand equity gains maximum
customers. If a brand has positive equity then, customers will pay high price for the
products. The companies which fall under the same industry or sector compete upon
the brand equity (Tizazu, 2019). There are three segments of brand equity:
 Consumer perception- it is defined as the experience and awareness that a
consumer has about the brand and product. It also helps in building the brand
equity.

 Negative or positive effect- these effects are directly proportional to the
perception of the consumer. If the experience is positive, the effect is positive.
Negative perception results in negative effect. Positive effect increases the
value of the product. This results in increased sales and profits. Negative
effect results in the downfall of the product (Tizazu, 2019).
 Resulting value- it is defined as the value generated by a company at the
end. Resulting Value is the market value of the product. This value is obtained
after observing the consumer perception, negative and positive effect of the
product.
P2: Stages for building a successful brand
For a company to successfully set an image of the brand in the market, there is a
process which we need to follow. Let’s discuss about the process involved in brand
building process. Branding process should be planned. This will help in increasing
the sales and revenue of the company. The stages for a successful brand
building are:-
Determine the target audience- to make your brand successful, know your target
audience. Create a brand which is relevant with the target audience. If your target
audience likes beauty products and your brand is for home care, then this is not
going to work (Karmokar, 2014).
Communicate with the audience and try to know what their likes and dislikes are.
Create a product which meets the needs and demands of the target audience.
Create mission and vision- tell the target audience your mission and vision. Your
mission and vision will help the target audience know your existence. Define who
you are? What are your goals? What are you dealing with? What your target
audience is?
Identify Competitors- don’t forget your competition. If want to make a successful
brand, you need to research about your competition. See what services they are
offering. Be aware about their marketing tactics and strategies and their USPs
(Karmokar, 2014).

You need to convince your audience what is the best about your company and why?
Differentiate your brand from others.
Value proportions- set your value proportions different from others. Make sure that
your brand is different from others. Your value proportions define your positions in
the market.
Guidelines for the brand- Guidelines will help you stick to your goal. It keeps your
business recognizable and successful. These guidelines will also contain the
information like templates and logo which will shape your brand (Karmokar, 2014).
Market your brand- Promote your brand in the market. Plan a strategy you are
going to use. Use social media sites like e-mail, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. for
the promotion.
Role of marketing in building brand equity
Now-a-days everything is dependent on the marketing strategy. A company can be
successful if it uses the correct marketing strategies. Marketing plays a major role in
the promotion of the brand. Strong marketing will make you brand famous and
successful. It will also help you in gaining maximum customers. Strong marketing will
also create an unforgettable and long-lasting impact of the brand on the people.
Marketing is totally dependent on the type of the target audience. There are some
points that an organization should keep in mind (Managementstudyguide, 2019).
Technological driven- communication with the people is necessary in order to
promote the brand. New technological gadgets should be used. The customers are
now techno savvy and want to know everything sitting at home. Therefore, with the
help of mass media instruments, company communicates with the audience. The
instruments can be Television, Radio, Advertisements, etc.
For promoting the marketers need to understand the present scenario of the
brand in the consumer’s mind (Managementstudyguide, 2019). It is important
because a marketer will only be able to help the company if they know the current
image of the brand.

Marketers should use the marketing mix strategies in order to promote a particular
brand. For the overall success of the brand, these strategies should be planned
accordingly. The promotion can be done by the use of logos and appeals. If the
product is new, the sales will be less. But if the product is manufactured and is sold
in the market using renowned logo, then the sales will increase. People trust the
brand and the love they have for the brand determines the sales and profits
(Ajanthan, 2017).
P2: Key components of successful brand strategy for building and managing
brand equity
As we all now know, brand is a logo, symbol or special mark which, a particular
company uses and sell their product under that brand. There are lots and lots of
brands; therefore it is difficult to maintain the customers in the market. A brand
owner has to plan for everything. The brands which are now famous had a long-term
planned and organized strategy.
Brand strategy is important because your brand will only work, if it is loved by the
consumer. Brand strategy helps us in knowing the likes and dislikes of the customer.
A company should work according to the likes of the customer. If the customer likes
your brand, the outcome will be positive. If the customer does not like it, the outcome
will be negative. After knowing the behavior of the customer towards your brand, you
can easily plan the strategy for the same.
There are five basic components of brand equity:
Awareness- It means the popularity; a brand is having in the minds of the people.
Awareness helps you to know what the customers think about your brand. It is
important to build a visible image in the minds of the people. This is known as the
building brand awareness.
Brand Link- Brand link generally describes the brand association. Consumers relate
it with through advertisements, popularity among his people, interaction with the
employees of the company, etc. If the consumers hear positive result, he will buy the
product.

Quality- sometimes the brand is famous for the quality they serve. Quality and price
of the product tells the mark in the market. The brand generates their value knowing
the behavior of the consumer.
Loyalty- a brand has to develop its loyalty among the consumers. Loyalty means a
certain amount of consumer or we can say trusted consumers buy the stuff of your
brand.
LO2: Analyse how brands are organised in portfolios; how brand hierarchies
are built and managed
P3 Analyse different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand
equity management.
Optimum Impressions Ltd. is an active company situated in Leeds, West Yorkshire,
UK. It was incorporated in 6th August, 2003. They are basically in the joinery
installation business. Joinery installation refers to the woodworking, frame and panel
installation. Optimum Impressions is headed by 2 active directors and a secretary.
The directors of Optimum Impressions are – Mr Carl Alan Hinchliffe and Mr Aaron
Carl Jolly. The name of the secretary working at Optimum Impressions is - Mrs
Rachel Hinchliffe (Endole, 2019).
Brand portfolio is defined as the management of multiple brands which are
manufactured by the same company. Examples of brand portfolio are- PepsiCo,
which is famous for its soft drink Pepsi, but they are also managing other brands like
Frito lay, Quaker and Tropicana. The advantage of using a brand portfolio is to
manage each and every product which is being produced. The company will be able
to plan resources and efforts they have to install according to the popularity
(Robertson, 2019).
Optimum Impressions is a company which deals in the joinery installation work which
includes woodworking and framing (Endole, 2019). There are many different portfolio
strategies used by Optimum Impressions. Woodworking is not an easy task. There
are so many options available for a person to choose. Therefore, they have some

special team of interior experts, designers and labour. The main focus of Optimum
Impressions is to provide the best services they can.
The experts and designers take pictures of your house and design your room
accordingly. Suggestions are also given to the owner for better outcome. For
managing the brand to be successful, there are some strategies which are need to
be followed:
The strategy Optimum Impression uses for building their brand portfolio are:
Efficient market theory- the information which affects the market is conveyed to the
investors. This way, Optimum Impressions keep a track on the strategies applied by
their competitors. Planning is done accordingly (Sushant, 2019).
Top-down approach- This strategy is used where the managers of a company
observes the whole market, it behaviour and then plan for their profit. The managers
observe which companies are expected to perform in the market. According to that,
stocks and materials are launched by the company (Sushant, 2019).
In Optimum Impressions, the managers are keeping an eye on the market behaviour
and the companies. After observing, they launch their stocks and products in order to
gain profit.
Hierarchy of brand
Optimum Impressions has a hierarchy of operations. Like every other company,
Optimum Impression too follows and works according to the hierarchy. Their
hierarchy has a Director, Secretary, Marketing Manager, Finance Manager,
Marketing Supervisor, Operations Supervisor, Marketing Consultant, Finance
Consultant and Operations Employee (Endole, 2019).
Before lanching the brand in the market, the product is reviwed by the head
authorituy. The markeitng of the product is managed by the marketing manager and
its team. If any one has a doubt regarding the product, it is resolved by the marketing
consultant (Endole, 2019).

Finances and operations are handled by the Finanace and Operations Department.
The Finance manager sees the amount that a product has earned. Sales, discounts
and offers available on the producut are also managed by the same department.
Brand equity management
Brand equity management is defined as the actions and procedures which are
inherited for on-time delivery of the products. Brand equity management helps in
planning in some unexpected situation. This also helps in defining the strategies a
company can use for increasing sales and revenue (Chand, 2019).
Steps for brand equity management
LO3: Evaluate how brands are leveraged/extended over time domestically and
internationally
P4: Evaluate how brands are leveraged/extended over time domestically and
internationally
Global Brand Management is defined as the management of brand at a global level.
A product is launched at a global level after analysing the target audience, their likes
and dislikes, trends and the popularity of the brand. If a company wants to attain a
position worldwide, they have to introduce themselves to the international market as
well. Planning, production and distribution is done according to the trends the market
follows. Global Brand Management requires co-operation from different countries as
well. While presenting your brand globally, the organization should be ready for
every situation. The managers and the working of the organization changes while
presenting your product globally. The managers should be properly trained as they
have to deal with the international market people (Roll, 2015).
These are the key points which the brand managers should keep in mind:-
Training- A brand manager should be properly trained. He should have good and
effective communication skills. He should be aware of the business tactics and
strategies in the market. Also, he should be smart enough to present the brand in
front of the global marketing people. He should be able to convince the people to
gain as many as customers as possible (Herbst, 2012).

Continuing Education- learning never stops. A brand manager should learn and
develop new skills and tactics. This will help his organization to gain a mark in the
market. These skills are professional skills, social skills and methodological
expertise.
Professional skills means the skills related to the job he is doing. He should have a
smooth communication with the employees. He should know how to lead and
encourage the employees (Herbst, 2012).
Social skills mean that the brand manager is able to use the social media platform
properly in order to make his product successful. Social media platforms are twitter,
LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and many more. Also he is able to communicate
smoothly with the internal and external environment of the organization (Herbst,
2012).
Methodological expertise means the manager should be multi-tasking and active
observer. He should be able to plan quickly during emergency. He should be able to
plan strategies and tactics for promoting the brand (Herbst, 2012).
Let’s discuss how the brand management is done internationally and domestically.
Globalization has provided many new opportunities to the business people and to
the common people. Many new businesses are introduced in other countries. People
are also getting choices and also introduction with the new brands.
When a company has established itself in a global market, the management and
working of the organization also change. The company is managed in two ways-
Domestic and International.
Domestic Brand management means managing the brand in one’s own country.
The likes and dislikes of the consumers are studied and researched. Managing a
brand domestically is not difficult. As the target audience and the behaviour of the
audiences are known, the company clearly evaluates what are the customer’s
expectations and what they are wanting. As the audiences are known, the company
use those tactics and strategies which would direct attack the mind of the consumer.
This will result in the profit and more sales of the product.

International brand management means managing the brand globally. It is also
known as the Global Brand Management. Once your brand is globally introduce,
the whole working scenario changes. While managing your brand globally, you need
to see what the international consumers want. You need to research your
international consumers and their trends and likes. These are some points which you
need to observe:
Manage brand over time- Manage the internal as well as the external factors which
will affect the brand. Keep looking the outside environment. Outside environment
means the consumer’s changing likes and dislikes. Also keep an eye on the
competitors as well. Globally marked brand will have a tough competition (Roll,
2015).
Be adaptive and flexible- make your brand adaptable and flexible. When marking
globally, you need to be ready for some situation. It is not guaranteed that your
brand will be successful globally. You need to be ready for all ups and downs,
extensions and variations.
Leverage technology- a company registering itself globally has to be techno-savvy.
The company should be able to manage the technical operations. Also, the company
should know to promote themselves on the social media platforms. Stronger the
promotion, more strong is the image of the company (Roll, 2015).
Be proactive- the use of technology and social media platforms has made it easier
for the company to promote themselves in the global market. With the help of
technical instruments and social media sites, it is easier for the brand managers to
communicate with the customers. These social media platforms have made it easy
for the people to communicate with the company. This way a company can know
what are the likes and dislikes of the customer (Roll, 2015).
Align the structure- always align your organizational structure and work
accordingly. Make a suitable hierarchy in the company. Organize each and every
department and assign them the tasks. Segregate the work for smooth working.
Make departments and their heads. These heads will communicate with the brand
manager. They will act as a mediator for the employees and the manager (Roll,
2015).

P5: Evaluate different types of techniques for measuring and managing brand
value using specific organisational examples.
Brand valuation and brand equity are two different things. Although, brand valuation
is considered as the same thing but it is different from brand equity. Brand valuation
is the process to calculate the amount a company is offering on the product. This is a
company-based outlook whereas brand equity is the consumer-based perspective.
There are some approaches which are used by the company in order or create the
final financial value of the product (Sharma, 2016).
Cost based approach
Cost-based approach is the approach which mainly calculates the amount in making
and changing the brand (Sharma, 2016). There are some more methods which are
used under the cost based approach:-
Replacement Cost method- this method is used when the company finalizes the
amount of the product considering the expenses and the investments. This approach
does not show the success of the organization. This approach can be easily
calculated.
Market-based approach- this approach is calculated according to the price paid by
the buyer and the “Willing price” he was ready to pay for the product. This approach
is beneficial when a person wants to sell all their goods and services (Sharma,
2016).
Income-based approach- as the name suggests, the amount of the product is
decided according to the salaries of the buyers. Cost of the product is low, if the
salary of the common buyers is low. Same happens with those who have higher
incomes. They will surely purchase goods of high prices (Sharma, 2016).

Conclusion
Branding is known as the manufacturing and selling a particular product under a
particular brand. Special symbols, signs and logos are used for the brand so that
people can identify them in the market. Branding is done to identify the product from
the others already there in the market. Apple and ZARA are big examples of
branding. Some brand logos also have some special hidden meanings like Amazon,
where the arrow from A to Z defines that they have everything available on their
store. For a brand to be successful, proper marketing should be done. Marketing
crew is responsible for the promotion of the brand. But sometimes, the brand itself
can be used as a marketing tool (Smithson, 2015). There are some probable
reasons why branding can be used as a marketing tool-
Branding gets popularity
With the help of branding, a company gets popularity and recognition. Also, the
company is recognised by the people as well. Therefore, the logo of the company is
designed in a unique format which allows the people to recognize and differentiate
from the other brands in the market (Smithson, 2015).
Increment in the business value
As the branding is known to the people, there is probable chance that the brand will
increase the business value as well. Branding will also help in creating more
investment opportunities, thus increasing the business value. It will also help in
creating a more successful brand in the eyes of the people (Smithson, 2015).
New Consumers
Branding will also help in generating new customers. As the promotion of a particular
brand is done, there is a probable chance that the customer will also increase. New
people will come to know about your product. It is human nature that after so much
promotion, the person will buy the product (Smithson, 2015).