Brand Management Techniques: Unilever Case Study Report

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BRAND MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
Discussion....................................................................................................................................2
Evaluate how brands are managed successfully over time using application of appropriate
theories, models and concepts.....................................................................................................6
Apply appropriate and validated examples within an organisational context.............................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................6
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
1. Analyse the organisation’s brand portfolio strategy................................................................7
2. Provide an illustration of the hierarchy management of brands within organisations portfolio
.....................................................................................................................................................8
3. Analyze strategies used for managing the equity of the brands within the organization’s
portfolio.......................................................................................................................................9
Critically analyse the portfolio management, brand hierarchies and brand equity using
appropriate theories, models, and framework............................................................................10
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................11
1. Critically evaluate the Strengths of the brand that can be leveraged.....................................11
2. Weaknesses that may need attention by providing some possible suggestions.....................11
3. Collaborative and partnership agreements.............................................................................12
Critically evaluate the use of different techniques used to leverage and extend brands...........12
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................13
Measuring and managing brand value.......................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Keller’s Brand Equity Model...........................................................................................3
Figure 2: Branded House or House of Brands.................................................................................7
Figure 3: Umbrella branding...........................................................................................................8

Introduction
The current topic has objective to develop an understanding of the brand management and a
range of tools and techniques that can be used to maximize brand value. The case study of the
Unilever will be discussed that is the consumer good organization and it has a range of products
include food and beverages, cleaning agents and beauty & personal care products. The topic will
discuss and develop an understanding that how the brand can be built and managed over time.
There will be also the discussion of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity
management. At the end, different components of measuring brand value will be presented in the
report in order to improve ones knowledge and understanding about brand management.
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Task 1
Introduction
The current is about presenting the importance of brand and to provide an understanding of how
a brand is created and managed over time. In the current scenario, as a manager, it is a
responsibility to write an article for the organization’ new marketing brochure with the headline
‘Brand is Power’. In the current task, the brand management will be discussed with the reference
to the Unilever that is the leading suppliers of consumer goods which includes food and
beverages, cleaning agents and beauty & personal care products.
Discussion
Brand and brand equity
A brand can be defined as the name, slogans, signs, designs and symbol that differentiate
particular brand products or services from other organization’s similar products or services. The
brand also helps the customers to easily identify products or services from other similar products
or services. The Unilever needs to manage the brand by conducting effective marketing
programmes and brand awareness in the market (Sasmita and Mohd, 2015). It is the
responsibility of the marketing department of the Unilever to effectively manage the brand
and brand equity by making changes in the current marketing programmes that will help in
identifying the brand easily in the market.
Building a successful brand
It is essential to building a brand that will be easily identified to customers and will successfully
differentiate products or services of the organization from other similar products or services.
Keller’s Brand Equity Model can be used that defined some stages for building a successful
brand. As per this model, the successful brand can be build by identifying the needs and
preferences of the customers and also customer satisfaction can be maximized by developing
several effective strategies. Keller’s Brand Equity Model includes some stages for building a
successful brand that are given below:
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Figure 1: Keller’s Brand Equity Model
(Source: edbullvsburn.wordpress.com, 2013)
Brand identity: In this stage, the brand identity is developed that will differentiate the brand
from other brands in the market. The brand awareness is spread and customers are aware of the
brand in the market. For instance, Nestle has been undertaken the marketing and advertising
activities by investing lots fund for spreading the brand identity among customers in the market
(Farjam and Hongyi, 2015). Therefore, it is essential for the Unilever to develop the importance
of brand among customers in the market that will help them to identify products from other
similar products of other brands.
Meaning of brand: This stage includes developing and defining the meaning of the brand that
will express products information related to the validity, utilization and reliability. If the brand is
defining the meaning easily then the customer will easily trust the brand and will show their
interest to buy products or services of that particular brand. If the brand is clearly expressing the
meaning then the products or services will be easily identified in the market from other similar
products. There are various brands such as Apple, Samsung, Nestle, etc. which are highly
popular and trusted by the customers in the market because of their good market image and
quality products or services.
Brand response: This defines the response of the brand which is received from the customers
who consume its products on the basis of marketing and advertising in the market at a large
scale. After purchase and consumption of products, consumers come to know about the actual
features and quality of the brand. Prices of the brand products also play an important role in
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getting a brand response from the customers (Çifci et.al, 2016). Therefore, it is important to
conduct effective marketing and advertising activities for getting positive band response.
Brand resonance: There are lots of well-established brands in the market that have a strong
connection with and popular among customers. It is important for the Unilever to make close
relationships with customers by investing more in the advertising and marketing programmes so
that customers will buy products of that brand with full expectations and trust.
Role of the marketing department in creating brand equity
It is the responsibility of the marketing department of the Unilever to create brand equity by
making proper marketing strategies and plan. It is essential for the organization to create brand
equity for increasing the brand value and image in the market. The marketing department in the
Unilever needs to develop effective strategies related to the product price, marketing and
distribution of the products through the appropriate channel. Effective pricing strategy will help
the brand to attract more customers or divert them from other competitors in the market (Huang
and Sarigöllü, 2014). Also, effective strategies for the distribution channel will deliver products
to customers in a fast and efficient manner and hence will enhance customer satisfaction. For
instance, an organization can choose the online platform to distribute brand products among
customers in a fast and efficient manner that will satisfy customer needs on time and hence will
develop brand equity in the market.
Strategies to strengthen brand equity
Brand equity can be defined as the value of the well-known brand name that is generated by the
organization by using unique ideas. The Unilever can strengthen its brand equity by developing
and using effective marketing strategies. The organization can retain its brand equity in the
market for a long duration by consistently developing brand image and creating and delivering
quality products or services to customers. There are given below some strategies that Unilever
can use to strengthen brand equity:
Maintain product or services quality: The organization like Unilever must focus toward
maintaining the product or service quality for satisfying needs of customers as per their
expectations. The organization needs to properly check and maintain the quality of the products
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or services before delivering them into the market for consumptions of the consumer (Pham and
Gammoh, 2015). Delivery of quality products or services to customers will satisfy their needs or
provide a positive response from them and hence will strengthen the brand equity.
Maintain consistent brand image: Organization needs to consistently focus towards maintaining
the brand image in the market by using effective marketing strategies and delivering quality
products or services to customers. It is important for the organization to build strong
relationships with customers by consistently communicating with them and meeting their
expectations. The organization can strengthen the brand equity and image by conducting proper
marketing through effective mediums such as internet and social media that reach at the global
level (Lin, 2015).
Strategies for the brand reinforcing, extension and revitalising
Brand reinforcement can be defined as the developing new customer base for new products or
services introduced under the same brand name. Brand extension can be defined as the
introducing different category of innovative products or services by using its leverages. Brand
revitalising is the marketing strategy used by the organization when the brand has reached its
maturity and profitability starts declining (Joshi and Yadav, 2016). For instance, Unilever has
extended its brand by launching a variety of food products under the original category of the
brand. Delivery of different category of products or services under the same brand name ensures
the success of new products or services into the market as a brand good image has already
established in the customer's mind. Different types of strategies can be developed such as brand
repositioning, market expansion and modification for reinforcing, extension and revitalising of
the brand.
Branding importance as the marketing tool
Branding can be defined as the process of developing a unique name and image of the product in
the customer's mind by using effective marketing and advertising strategies. Branding is very
important for the Unilever for differentiating its products or services from others brand and
attracting and retaining loyal customers. The marketing department of the organization can
develop effective marketing strategies to aware people about the brand and enhance the sales and
profitability of the organization (Ottman, 2017).
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Evaluate how brands are managed successfully over time using application of appropriate
theories, models and concepts
The branding theory can be used for effectively managing the brand over time as this theory has
provided some guidance on some typical components of the brand management that include:
a) The theory has suggested for designing of a specific and unique name to the brand that
will enhance brand value and business standard.
b) The marketing department of the organization needs to aware people about the brand of
the organization.
c) The organization needs to deliver products or services as per the needs and expectations
of the customers (Lilleker, 2015).
d) The organization needs to build strong relationships with the loyal customers and needs
to retain them by delivering quality products as per their needs.
e) The organization needs to reach at the top position by developing good brand image
without any making compromise in the function of brand management and brand quality.
Apply appropriate and validated examples within an organisational context
For example, Unilever can develop and use the appropriate marketing strategy for strengthening
its brand equity. The organization can consistently launch and deliver food and beverages,
cleaning and beauty & personal care products for building good brand equity and brand image in
the market. The marketing department of the Unilever can use effective marketing tools for
spreading awareness among people about the brand (Ottman, 2017). The marketing department
can use the internet, social media and another digital marketing platform for promoting the brand
at the global level. The organization can also execute the brand reinforcement strategy in which
it can develop a new customer base for new products or service that will provide a positive
experience of customers.
Conclusion
Branding helps the organization to differentiate its products or services from other brands in the
marketing and attracts and retains customers. Marketing tools play very important roles in
enhancing the brand equity and brand image in the market that ensure success and long term
growth of the brand in the market. Different strategies such as modification, market expansion
and brand repositioning for an extension, reinforcing and revitalising of the brand.
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Task 2
1. Analyse the organisation’s brand portfolio strategy
Brand Portfolio can be defined as the group of different brands under a single organization that
objective is to enhance customer satisfaction by developing and delivering quality products or
services to customers. It is important for the Unilever organization to have effective brand
portfolio strategies for earning high profitability by taking minimum risks. There are different
types of brand portfolio strategies that Unilever can use for promotion and expansion of the
brand:
Figure 2: Branded House or House of Brands
(Source: www.ideasbig.com, 2016)
Branded house: This strategy states that parent brand is the main brand and products or services
associated with the main brand are subsets. Under this strategy, the organization can use its main
brand name on its other products or services for easily identified in the market. This strategy is a
most appropriate strategy through which the organization can spread its brand awareness among
customers without investing more cost and efforts in the marketing and promotion of products o
services (Zenker and Braun, 2017). But this strategy involves the risks of mismanagement and
declining image or reputation of the organization.
House of brands: This brand portfolio strategy states that the organization must focus on the
branding of the subset brand instead of more banding of the main parent brand. As per this
strategy, the Unilever can make branding of its subset brands or others products or services
without encouraging branding of the main brand of the organization (Uggla, 2014).
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Therefore, the Unilever can use appropriate brand portfolio strategy from the above-mentioned
strategies for enhancing the customer base, sales, profitability and growth of the brand as well as
the organization.
2. Provide an illustration of the hierarchy management of brands within organisations portfolio
Hierarchy management of brands can be defined as the structural design of the brand under
which its products or services are different for each other. There are given below different levels
of hierarchical management of brands:
Product branding: In this type of brand structure, an organization can sell its products or
services by using the name of the sub-brand without any intervention of the main brand. There
are numbers of sub-brands of the Unilever such as Dove, Knorr, Axe, Lux, etc. and different
products are a sale under the name and control of sub-brands (Punyatoya et.al, 2014). All these
brands have a well identical image in the market which attracts large numbers of customers.
Umbrella branding: In this type of brand structure, an organization can sale its numbers of
products or services under the name and control of the main parent brand. This brand structure is
mainly used by those organizations that have large market share and reputed market image
(Pavlidis and Ellickson, 2014). This brand structure can majorly help the Unilever to build strong
relationships with customers, employees and stakeholders and hence will enhance the good
market image of the brand.
Figure 3: Umbrella branding
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(Source: (Source: Hitesh Bhasin, 2018)
)
Endorsed branding:
In this type of brand structure, sub-brands are created with their unique identities under the main
brand of the organization. This brand structure is just similar to the branded house structure in
which main handle and control the other sub-brands whereas, the importance of sub-brands are
highlighted and defined in the endorsed branding.
3. Analyze strategies used for managing the equity of the brands within the organization’s
portfolio.
Equity of the brand can be defined as the value of the well-known brand name on the basis of the
organization can generate more revenue and profitability. The Unilever organization needs to
spread its brand awareness among the customers by using effective marketing strategies and
tools for enhancing its brand equity. Good quality products or services will enhance customer
satisfaction and hence will enhance the market image and brand equity of the organization. It is
suggested that Unilever can develop more innovative products for attracting customers and
enhancing brand equity as well as long-term growth of the organization (Heding et.al, 2015). The
organization can effectively manage the brand equity by developing unique identify of the brand,
spreading brand awareness and attracting customer by using effective marketing and promotional
strategies.
The organization can also conduct market research for identifying customer expectations and the
current trend and technology in the market. Market research will majorly help the organization in
managing its brand in the market by developing and delivering products or services as per
customer expectations. Unilever also needs to deliver quality products that include food,
beverages and personal care products that will enhance the brand image and hence will
effectively manage equity of the brand.
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