Icon College, Unit 41 Brand Management Report: Strategies & Analysis

This report analyzes brand management strategies, focusing on Optimum Impression Ltd., an advertising organization. It covers brand equity, the role of marketing, and the components of a successful brand strategy. The report discusses strategies for brand extension, reinforcement, and revitalization, including Keller's brand equity model. It explores portfolio management strategies, brand hierarchy, and the importance of branding as a marketing tool. The analysis includes techniques for managing and measuring brand value and emphasizes the significance of brand identity and loyalty for organizational success. The report provides insights into strategies to overcome brand crisis and build positive brand association for high revenues and profits.

Brand Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Overview of brand, brand equity and stages of becoming successful brand along with role of
marketing team in developing brand equity................................................................................1
Strategies to strengthen brand extension, brand equity, brand reinforcement and revitalization
or overcoming brand crisis...........................................................................................................2
Importance of branding as a marketing tool ...............................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
Various strategies associated with portfolio management and brand hierarchy..........................5
Mention strategies to manage equity of brands in portfolio of organisation...............................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
Strengths of brand leveraged and weakness requiring attention also mention partnership &
collaborative agreements.............................................................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
Different kind of technique to manage and measure brand by using organisational example....9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Brand management is referred as a set of techniques and actions so that perceived value
of a specific service or product can be enhanced in a considerable manner. Managing brand in an
effective manner benefits an organisation in building loyal consumers due to positive brand
association so that high revenues and profits can be earned (Balmer, 2012). This assignment
report is prepared in context with Optimum impression Ltd. which is an well known advertising
organisation with major objective is to reach at large no. of consumers. This assignment is going
to cover about value of branding as tool of marketing and components of successful brand
strategy. Various strategies associated with brand hierarchy, equity and portfolio management
are discussed. Aspects of managing brand in partnership and collaboration are mentioned. At
last, different kind of techniques of managing and measuring brand value are discussed briefly.
TASK 1
Overview of brand, brand equity and stages of becoming successful brand along with role of
marketing team in developing brand equity
BRAND IS POWER
Introduction:
Brand is defined as a concept, name, logo, mark, sentence or a word which is used by an
organisation to differentiate their services and products from other businesses. In case of M&S,
brand is considered as their most valuable concept as it represent face of organisation. Brand
equity is referred to a marketing term which specifies the value of a brand. This value is
acknowledged through experience and perception of customers towards a particular brand
(Bhushan, 2012).
There are different stages which are linked with building a successful brand which are stated
below:
 While building a successful brand, determining target audience is very important so that
right product can be given to right customers.
 Establishment of brand mission statement and research about other brands within
industry niche.
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 Formulation of value propositions and identification of brand guidelines.
 Marketing about brand so that maximum number of people can acknowledge about
products or services of company.
Role of marketing department in formulating brand equity
Marketing department of a company plays an important role in developing high brand
equity. Role of marketing department in M&S is mentioned below:
 Due to advertisements and promotions, marketing department in M&S help company in
popularizing their products or service along with their unique characteristics and
features. This benefits in gaining customer's attention more effectively due to which
customer values a product more and a strong brand equity is created for a particular
product or ranges of product (Chinomona, 2016).
 Marketing team in M&S benefits in creating positive image of company and their
products in the mind of population due to their promotional activities. Due to this,
potential and existing buyers of company are converted into loyal customers.
Main body:
Strategies to strengthen brand extension, brand equity, brand reinforcement and revitalization or
overcoming brand crisis
Successful strategy to strengthen brand equity
Brand strategy is referred as an aspect which defines long term goal of a company attained by
becoming a successful brand (M&S’s shake-up suggests its ‘one brand’ marketing strategy
didn’t work 2019). in context of M&S they faces some problems that arise problems in catching
the right kind of consumers that is they spent few time to bring advertisement of the two
businesses that are clothing and home with food that create the major reshuffle and shift the
strategy in dramatically manner. Brand equity is defined as a value of brand within market and
in the mind of customers. Brand equity is of two kinds i.e. positive and negative. If consumers
thinks positive about the offerings of company, it is referred as positive brand equity whereas if
people believe negative about the service or product of a firm, it is referred as negative brand
equity.
In case of strengthening brand equity, manager in M&S can use Keller's brand equity
model which is also known as CBBE model. This model includes six building blocks that helps
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in developing a successful brand. Aspects of this model are stated beneath:
Step 1: Brand identity: In this stage, target of manager in M&S is to develop brand
awareness or salience so that consumers can easily recognize it. High brand identity will help
M&S in ensuring that perception about brands is correct in minds of customers.
Step 2: Brand meaning: Under this stage, goal of manager in M&S is to determine and
communicate the meaning of brand. This stage posses two building blocks i.e. imagery and
performance. Performance will help M&S in acknowledging if their products meet demands of
customers or not. Imagery depicts if a brand is fulfilling needs of consumers at psychological
and social level or not.
Step 3: Brand response: This stage involves two categories which are feelings and
judgments of people about brand and products of M&S. Judgments is based on aspects like
credibility, superiority, consideration and quality of product which is offered to customers
(Kapferer, 2012).
Step 4: Brand resonance: This aspects is placed at top of pyramid model as this level is
most desirable and difficult to reach. In order to achieve this stage, manager in M&S is required
to create a psychological and deep bond of customers with brand of organization. In this stage,
steps will be taken so that loyalty of customers toward brand can be enhanced.
Strategy to strengthen brand extension
Brand extension is depicted as an umbrella term for different strategies which emphasize
on maximizing brand reach. There are different strategies which will benefits M&S in brand
extension. These strategies are stated beneath:
 Line extension: It is the simplest brand extension strategy in which a product or service
is launched in a new manner. This strategy of brand extension is safest as people already
have interest in product. For example, M&S can offer a range of cloth types in men or
women segment so that different needs of people can be catered properly.
 Product extension: In this strategy, a new product is introduced into market so that
more profits and revenues can be earned while maintaining consistency in existing
offerings of company. Product extension will help M&S in increasing their customer
base and sales due to increased product line (Keller, Parameswaran and Jacob, 2011).
Strategy for reinforcing and revitalizing brands
 Brand revitalization: It is a marketing strategy which is adopted when a product
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reaches its maturity stage and profits associated with that product falls drastically.
Strategies to revitalize brand that can be adopted by M&S are continuously advertising
unique features of their existing products, occupying untapped market, entering new
market, re-positioning of brand etc.
 Brand reinforcement: It is a brand management activity which emphasize on
maintaining brand equity by popularizing existing products among new and existing
customers. It includes brand image and brand awareness. M&S can perform brand
reinforcement through strategies like exhibition, promotion, advertisements, event and
sponsorship, showroom layout etc. by this products of M&S will became popular among
potential and existing customers so that high sales can be attained (Kelley, Sheehan and
Jugenheimer, 2015).
Importance of branding as a marketing tool
Branding is referred as a marketing practice where an organization formulates a design,
symbol or name by which customers can identify their products in an easier way. Value of
branding as a marketing tool in context with M&S is stated below:
 Builds trust in marketplace: Multiple choices for a single product create confusion in
the minds of customers. Due to branding, M&S has became a popular brand among
people. This assists the people in feeling secure and satisfied while using products of
company.
 Enhanced profits and revenue: In case of business expansion, branding plays an
important role. This enables M&S to earn high profits and revenues so that tough
competition to rival companies can be given (Leitch and Merlot, 2018).
In context of M&S they use various kinds of strategies to overcome from the problem as
organization split or bifurcate the roles and responsibilities for the marketing department in the
two strands that seems like a step backward in retail sector to build a strong brand that creates
problem to move faster that matters a lot for consumers. So, proper planning and distribution of
roles and responsibilities are very much crucial for an organization to build positive image in
market.
Conclusion: From the above discussion it has been summarized that in an organization each
and every department contributes towards building a positive brand identity by contributing
their best in organizational development and enhancement to remain always competitive in the
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marketplace. Brand identity and loyalty are very much important for an organization to remain
always competitive in the marketplace.
TASK 2
Various strategies associated with portfolio management and brand hierarchy
Portfolio is referred as an aggregation and collection of various tools associated with
investment such as stocks, shares, mutual funds, bonds, cash etc. Portfolio management is stated
as a way of selecting appropriate investment policy which assists in getting minimum risks and
maximum returns for M&S. Portfolio management is linked with managing money of a company
under supervision of manager.
Portfolio management strategies: There are different kind of strategies which can be
adopted by a company so that their portfolio can be managed through efficient means. This will
help M&S in achieving high returns under risky conditions. This will results in gaining
competitive advantage over rival companies. Two strategies linked with portfolio management
are stated below:
 Active portfolio management: This strategy is dependent upon factors which specify
that single management style, can help a company in achieving high competitive
advantage. For instance, Company using this portfolio management style invests in
products as per demand of customers so that high advantage can be gained (Liberatore
and Miller, 2016).
 Passive portfolio management: It specifies that market is an effective place where best
results can be achieved through less investment of cost. Manager of companies adopting this
portfolio style believe that less cost investment is needed for a longer time span to attain desired
results.
In case of M&S, out of these two portfolio management strategy, company can opt
Active portfolio strategy in which a particular style of management assists in achieving expected
outcomes. For example, M&S can decrease their manufacturing cost by buying good quality raw
material from places where they can get them in less rates.
Brand Hierarchy management
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Brand hierarchy is referred as summarizing of brand strategy by determining the nature
and number of common or distinctive brand elements across product line of company (Muchina
and Okello, 2016). It is defined as a combination of brand elements associated with an
organization. Types of brand hierarchy are listed below:
 Corporate branding : This is the manner of marketing product or brand which has same
name as company. Main objective of using this method is to leverage image of brand so
that high profits can be earned in future. For example, M&S offers different products
under same name like female wear, men wear, kids wear etc.
 Family branding : It is the way in which name and image of the brand is used for
multiple products. Adopting this aspect benefits the company in marketing their products
in a simple and easier way. For ex, M&S has various products under a single brand name
like basic jeans, sports wear, Linen shirts etc.
Merits of brand hierarchy to M&S
 It aligns brand in a proper manner due to which future planing and strategies do not get
interrupted.
 Brand hierarchy will help the company in training employees in accordance with the
product whose supervision is given to them.
Mention strategies to manage equity of brands in portfolio of organisation
There are several strategies which can be used by M&S to manage the equity of their
brands in a proper manner. With the help of this strategy high value for the products of company
can be achieved. Some of these strategies are listed below:
Strategies to manage equity of brands
 Continuous differentiation: In order to manage brand equity by gaining high value of
products, a company is required to offer unique and differentiated products to their
customers. For example, M&S can offer new products to their customers so that their
interest in the offerings of company can be sustained for a longer time period.
 Maintaining brand image: For managing brand equity in a proper manner, manager in a
company is needed to manage brand image over large time span. Positive brand image of
M&S will results in positive perception about their products or service due to which
brand equity will be managed in a positive manner (Rosenbaum-Elliott, Percy and
Pervan, 2015).
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TASK 3
Strengths of brand leveraged and weakness requiring attention also mention partnership &
collaborative agreements
Brand leveraging is referred as the way to support brand name and entry of organisation
into a new but associated product. In relation to this, Per Una brand of M&S is very popular but
further brand leveraging will make it more popularise due to which company will earn high
revenues and profits (Schott and et. al., 2017). The major strength of the M&S that they always
focus on the innovation that helps them to remain always competitive in the marketplace. In
order to they plan for the acceleration of the digital transformation plans and their
implementation after evaluation that their financial results reveals 62% drop in pre tax profits. As
per the reports they rely on the modernalisation of their business by accelerated kind of changes
that cater towards the increasing their shopping experience on online mode.
This concept is going to help the manager in M&S to formulate strong brand leveraging
by sustaining the product quality. Strengths of Per Una can be leveraged are stated below:
Basis Line extension Brand extension
Meaning It is defined as a concept where a
firm introduces new product
under same category of brand. It
can involve new colours,
packaging, flavours, sizes etc. so
that customers can show their
high interest
It is depicted as extending brand in
new territories and market. This
will allow the customers to buy
new products. It is also called as
brand stretching where image of a
brand is developed.
Benefits It is helpful for M&S in
advertising their offerings by
spreading awareness. This
results in increment of high
profits along with enhanced
customer base (Shah, 2015).
It is helpful for an organisation as
it assists the manufactures in
entering into a new market so that
high sales and profits can be
earned in a desired manner.
Examples In context of M&S, firm is
popular for their food items and
Popular brand of M&S like Per
Una also offers outer brands along
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home products but now company
has expanded their Per Una
brand in traditional section of
men, kids and women.
with domestic products which
results in brand extension for
company.
Weakness associated with Per Una Brand
 Negative publicity as non-trendy store: People in UK and other regions may considers
clothes offered by this brand as old fashioned and out of trend. They believe that
wearable offered by company are suitable for old ladies not teenagers and adults. To
overcome this problem, company can go for line extensions where clothes with modern
concepts can be offered to customers. By this, perception of customers can be changed
(Wider, von Wallpach and Mühlbacher, 2018).
 Manual work enhances cost: Industries and factories where products of Per Una brand
are manufactured have old machines. Due to this, workers have to do manual work more.
This may results in extra time and efforts due to which costs of products increases. Other
brands offer same products in less amount. This impacts sales of Per Unit in negative
manner. To avoid this problem, company can update their production and manufacturing
machines so that products can be produced in less amount.
In context with business, there are some other ways to leverage brand. These ways are
partnership agreements and collaboration agreements which are mentioned below:
Collaboration agreements: It is defined as a procedure where two or more than two
people works together so that common objectives and goals can be attained in a proper manner.
In case of M&S, manager prefers to work with employees under a team so that goals can be
attained in a timely manner. This benefits the company in achieving high sales and revenues due
to which advantage against rival companies can be gained in a desired manner. Collaboration
agreements are of different kinds where main types are contextual collaboration and cloud
collaboration which are stated below:
 Cloud collaboration: This allows the employees in an organisation to work commonly
on inside and outside firewall of the organisation. In this process of M&S, two or more
employees will work together on common tasks or projects.
 Contextual collaboration: It involve applications like shared calenders, word
processors, instant messaging etc. These applications will helps the employees in
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communicating with one another so that information can be shared easily. Main purpose
behind this collaboration method is to work online which benefits them in working with
people who are working at other places (Wirtz and et. al., 2018).
Partnership agreements: This is depicted as a method where organisations in
partnership use various marketing strategies so that multiple associated brands can be developed.
Within partnership agreements, business partners share their profits and cost according to their
presence in business. For example, M&S has partnership with TCS to acknowledge and share
information with market or customers about their preference in a proper manner. Main
technology partner of M&S is TCS which is a consultancy based firm. Here, M&S and TCS both
work in partnership agreement.
TASK 4
Different kind of technique to manage and measure brand by using organisational example
To gain high competitive advantage within marketplace, an organisation is needed to
measure and manage its brand value in a proper manner. This will allow M&S in identifying
their market position in respect with position of rival. In relation to this, below are mentioned
various techniques that can be adopted by the manager in M&S to manage brand properly:
Brand value: It is defined as financial worth of a brand. It is an amount of specific assets
that is attained by an organisation due to their wide recognition of services or products within
market place. To measure the brand value, manager in M&S can use cost based approach.
 Cost based approach: This method can be used by M&S where all the money involving
investment and expenditure is required so that a brand can be replaced into a new one.
For example, organisations like M&S, H&M if total cost of investment and expenditure
is around 5 billion pounds then evaluation of company in market area will be 5 billion
pounds. But this method do not involve impact liked with currency fluctuation and
inflation rate. This is the reason big firms such as M&S and Apple do not use it
(Zarantonello and Pauwels-Delassus, 2015).
Market share: Under this way of managing brand, Comparable approach is used. This
allows M&S to determine the value of an organisation. The technique which can be used
measure market share is key performance indicator.
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 Key performance indicator: This method allows to collect actionable information as all
the data gathered through this technique is measurable and quantifiable. Because of this,
retail firm such as Zara and M&S is able to monitor market opportunities properly so that
market shares can also managed effectively. But main problem associated with this
technique is improper adjustment of performance targets.
Brand awareness: This is a way by which consumers of a brand or company are made
aware about their services or offerings. Through this, manager of company can early manage
their brands. In this context, organisations like M&S additionally set several battle projects so
that people can became more conscious about brand. Technique that can be used to measure
brand awareness is stated below:
 Social media engagement: This is the best way by which business firms such as M&S
acknowledge their brand awareness. More number of likes on the post and pictures of
products offered by M&S defines the extent up to which people are satisfied. For posts
posted by M&S will not gain likes and appreciation, this means people are not happy
with their services and products (M&S invests 20% of media spend in social media as it
ups focus on storytelling 2019). In context of M&S there all kinds of communication start
with their core idea related with the consumer touch points that are stores, online and
mobile, social media and print media that helps them to remain always relevant into
market by delivering right kind of value to the ultimate consumer base.
Consumer attitude: Under this technique, perception of customers towards the products
of company is acknowledged. To manage brand effectively, positive attitude of consumer
towards products of company is required. To measure consumer attitude in a proper manner,
manager in M&S can use customer survey.
 Customer survey: This will benefits in identifying the satisfactory level of people for
offerings which are given Tesco with help of it consumers are able to give their major
feedback to the ultimate user (Tesco suppliers say retailer worst at following grocery
code of practice, 2019). In context of Tesco there many cases executed in the
organization in which customer survey play a major role to know the areas in which
reforms are must.
Purchasing intent: It is referred to the willingness of customers for buying a particular
service or product. High purchasing intent of customers will benefit M&S in gaining large sales
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and revenues. Specific technique that can be adopted by M&S to measure purchasing intent is
depicted below:
 The funnel model: This model has focus on identifying purchasing pattern of consumers
for determining whether a relation exist in price of product and purchasing intent of
customers. In this context, manager in M&S can ask consumers to select their favorite
brand to buy products beside name mentioning of M&S (Hanna and Rowley, 2013).
CONCLUSION
From above mentioned report, it is concluded that to gain high results and outcomes, it is
vital for an organisation to manage their brands in a proper manner. Best marketing tool to
advertise a brand is branding due to which high profits and revenues can be earned. There are
some strategies associated with brand hierarchy, brand equity and portfolio management due to
which an organisation can gain high returns. Brand leveraging at domestic and global level
benefits a company in increasing their sales. Different technique of managing and measuring
brand like purchasing intent, brand value, brand awareness helps in acknowledging the position
of brand in marketplace.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Balmer, J. M., 2012. Corporate brand management imperatives: Custodianship, credibility, and
calibration. California Management Review. 54(3). pp.6-33.
Bhushan, S., 2012. System dynamics integrative modeling and simulation for mobile telephony
innovation diffusion: A study of emerging Indian telecom market. International Journal
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Chinomona, R., 2016. Brand communication, brand image and brand trust as antecedents of
brand loyalty in Gauteng Province of South Africa. African Journal of Economic and
Management Studies. 7(1). pp.124-139.
Hanna, S. and Rowley, J., 2013. A practitioner-led strategic place brand-management model.
Journal of Marketing Management. 29(15-16). pp.1782-1815.
Kapferer, J. N., 2012. The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic
thinking. Kogan page publishers.
Keller, K. L., Parameswaran, M. G. and Jacob, I., 2011. Strategic brand management: Building,
measuring, and managing brand equity. Pearson Education India
Kelley, L., Sheehan, K. and Jugenheimer, D. W., 2015. Advertising media planning: a brand
management approach. Routledge.
Leitch, S. and Merlot, E., 2018. Power relations within brand management: the challenge of
social media. Journal of Brand Management. 25(2). pp.85-92.
Liberatore, J. and Miller, T., 2016. Outbound Logistics Performance and Profitability:
Taxonomy of Manufacturing and Service Organizations. Business and Economics
Journal.7.
Muchina, C. M. and Okello, B., 2016. Influence of personal selling on brand performance of
retail shoe companies in Nairobi Central business district. International Journal of
Academic Research and in Business and Social Sciences. 6(5).
Riley, F. D. O., Singh, J. and Blankson, C. eds., 2016. The Routledge companion to
contemporary brand management. Routledge.
Rosenbaum-Elliott, R., Percy, L. and Pervan, S., 2015. Strategic brand management. Oxford
University Press, USA.
Schott, P. and et. al., 2017. Making IoT Run: Opportunities and Challenges for Manufacturing
Companies. International Journal of Hyperconnectivity and the Internet of Things
(IJHIoT). 1(2). pp.26-44.
Shah, P., 2015. Kill it or keep it?: The weak brand retain-or-discard decision in brand portfolio
management. Journal of Brand Management. 22(2). pp.154-172.
Wider, S., von Wallpach, S. and Mühlbacher, H., 2018. Brand management: Unveiling the
delusion of control. European Management Journal. 36(3). pp.301-305.
Wirtz, J. and et. al., 2018. Brave new world: service robots in the frontline. Journal of Service
Management. 29(5). pp.907-931.
Zarantonello, L. and Pauwels-Delassus, V., 2015. The handbook of brand management scales.
Routledge.
Online:
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M&S’s shake-up suggests its ‘one brand’ marketing strategy didn’t work 2019 [Online]
Available through. <https://www.marketingweek.com/marks-spencer-one-brand-
marketing-strategy/>.
M&S invests 20% of media spend in social media as it ups focus on storytelling 2019 [Online]
Available through. <https://www.marketingweek.com/ms-invests-20-of-media-spend-
in-social-media-as-it-ups-focus-on-storytelling/>.
Tesco suppliers say retailer worst at following grocery code of practice 2019 [Online] Available
through .<https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/22/tesco-suppliers-say-
retailer-worst-at-following-grocery-code-of-practice>.
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