Vocus Group Brand Health Tracking: Prioritizing Image/Brand Decisions

This report provides an analysis of Vocus Group, an Australian telecommunications company, focusing on brand health tracking and image prioritization. It examines business and research objectives, emphasizing the importance of brand recognition and market penetration. The report details essential information required for brand health research, including integrated marketing communication, brand recognition, usage, satisfaction, and market penetration. It adopts the Brand Iceberg Model to illustrate various branding levels, such as Iconic, Financial, Emotional, and Human Capital. The research design involves qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of Vocus Group's brand strategies. The document highlights the significance of brand health tracking in strategic decision-making and overall business development.

Assignment 3 – Information for prioritising image/brand
decisions
Student Name:
Student ID:
Date:
Word Count: 2714
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Business and Research Objective................................................................................................4
Information required for the research..........................................................................................5
Describe the research design in relation to your chosen approach..............................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference.......................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
There are various ways of generating income, one of which is establishing a business. There are
various businesses operating in the business environment of Australia. It is essential that from
time to time, the valuation of the business or the brand created over the year by the officers or the
management of the organisation is required to be done. This assignment focuses on the decision
making related to various aspects which are to be considered for the success of the business. This
is a research-based assignment the focal point of which is Brand Health Tracking and the
recognition of the brand in the market of Australia. For explaining the significance of the
branding and its evaluation, Vocus Group has been selected. All the parts of the assignment will
be done as taking into consideration the decisions made by the organisation mentioned above.
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Business and Research Objective
In Australia, Vocus Group i.e. previously known as Vocus Communication is a
telecommunications company which have established effective and efficient platform all over
New Zealand and Australia (Vocus Group, 2018). This company has it’s headquarter in the
North Sydney of Australia.
Business Objectives:
The objectives of the company i.e. Vocus Group are as follows:
 To provide reliable and secure connectivity to the customers in Australia.
 The company wants to expand its business as in the recent times, it has been seen that the
company is acquiring other companies such as Nextgen Networks was acquired by the
company amounting to $861 Million.
 To provide better and quick redressal of issues or the grievances of the customers.
 To offer better connectivity and other services to the customers at affordable prices and to
have an advantage over its competitors.
 To make effective decisions in regards to the brand evaluation and its recognition in the
market.
Research Objectives:
As the assignment is based on the Brand Health Tracking, research is conducted having various
objectives which are as follows:
 To examine the snapshot of the brand’s health and to learn about its movement from time
to time or the within a stipulated period of time.
 To understand the significance of the decision making in relation to the image of the
brands.
 To describe brand and it’s positioning on the basis of qualitative techniques.
 To adopt quantitative approaches which focus on the brand health tracking.
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Information required for the research
As the research is based on the brand health tracking it is essential that this concept must be
understood properly. It is a concept which is adopted by various organisations for explaining the
health of the brand. It is adapted to identify the factors to provide the difference between the
behavior at the time of making a purchase and the brand choice of the consumers (Boyd, 2017).
It is a tool which helps in developing and enhancing the brand by making an appropriate decision
regarding strategies for marketing.
(Source: Dimensions, 2018)
There are various factors which are to be considered while conducting a research which ensures
the conduction of adequate research which satisfies its objectives and is as follows:
Integrated Marketing Communication: While conducting a research, various researchers take
this factor into consideration. Assessment of the return on investment is made under this as it
highly oriented on the communication. In case of the increase in competition and transfer of
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power in the marketplace which includes the changes in choices of the consumers, transferring
power to retailer from producer, enhancement of technology. The objective of integrated
marketing communication is to ensure that whether the effective channels of communication is
established between all the departments which are related to the marketing of the products of the
companies like Vocus Group. The objectives of the research can be fulfilled by making use of
this approach as it doesn’t affect the perception of the consumers about the product and its value
but it aims at changing the behavior of the customers towards the products by providing
information about the product through strategic communication approach (Keller, et., al., 2011).
For successful branding, the approach of “one voice” for all the communication related to the
marketing of the company’s product. It is expected that this approach will provide an advantage
over the competitor of the company through a clear, consistent and strategically planned
communication channel.
Recognition of the Brand in the Market: This factor must also be considered for conducting a
research on the health of the brand. The recognition of the brand can be understood that how
much popular is the specified brand such as in 2016, Vocus Group has become a fourth largest
company in the telecommunications industry with over 471,000 subscribers. This helps in
providing an overview that what is the impact of the brand on the economy as well as the society
of the nation. The recognition of the brand can be improved by way of promotion of the products
or the goods or the services provided by the companies like Vocus Group. It is essential that all
the marketing decision must be made properly as it affects the recognition of the product to the
customers.
Usage of Brand: While conducting a research for the brand health tracking, the usage of the
brand must also be considered. This includes the awareness of the product to the consumer or
having the opinion of the consumers for the products. This factor also includes how often the
goods or the services of the brand are used by the consumers (Rosenbaum-Elliott, et. al., 2015).
As the assignment is related to the Australian Telecommunication Industry and the chosen
organisation is Vocus Group, people or the consumer making use of the services are on daily
basis. All the information regarding the use of the products or the services of the brand is
necessary for the development or enhancement of the brand and having a potential growth.
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Brand Satisfaction: This research must also provide the satisfaction level of the consumer in
regards to the services or the products of the brand i.e. Vocus Group. For surviving in this
aggressive market conditions, it is essential that the brand ensures that the customers or its users
are satisfied by the products and services of the company. This also includes the services
provided by the company in resolving the issues or the problems faced by the customers and time
taken in resolving such issues.
Penetration in the Market: It is a concept which is adopted by the companies in the aggressive
situations which help the company to expand its shares in the market in which it is operating its
business. This includes the strategies such as providing goods at a lower rate in comparison with
the current market value of the products or services. This also includes the holding the goods and
the services for a specified period of time which gives rise to the demand for the goods and
services of the brand (Heding, et al., 2015). This ultimately leads to the generation of more profit
for the company. This allows having the place of advantage in the market and reducing major
competition of the company.
There are various models which can be adopted for making an effective track of the health of the
brand. But for this research, the researcher has adopted Brand Iceberg Model which is explained
below:
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(Source: SIASHAMSAI, 2018).
Most of the people think that the branding of the product or the services is done by focusing on
the name of the product, its logo, it’s packaging. It is stated that the branding includes focusing
on the factors like Financial Capital i.e. the creating value for the brand, Emotional Capital i.e.
creating consumer value, Human Capital i.e. creating internal cultural value for the company.
Iconic Capital
Under this head, the most organisation focuses on this branding level. The main focal point in
this capital is that what is perceived by the customers about the products or the services or what
they want such product to be. This also includes focusing on the name, quote, logo, and identity
of the brand, it's packaging, and presence of the brand in the society. However, it is considered
that such aspects or the factors contribute only towards the surface of the branding.
Financial Capital
This head focuses on the overarching tactical plan for the brand. It also includes the position of
the goods or items against the competition of the company and how the image of the brand will
be presented by the owner of the brand and business culture (Nhedzi, 2015). The structure of the
management plays a crucial role in the determining the plan as the commercial approach for the
brand, its sales, marketing and the investor relationship will be decided as per the type of
management.
Emotional Capital
This head focuses on the relationship developed between the brand and its customers. It is related
to the loyalty of the customers and their engagement towards the brand. Marketing by way of
social media is an essential approach which is adopted by various brands that help the company
to make a connection with the customers, solving their issues. Various programs like loyalty
program are introduced which provided benefits to the customers and helps in development or
enhancement of the brand. Customer Relationship Management System is an example of this
capital.
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Human Capital
The human capital of the brand oversees the internal affairs of the company by determining the
level of commitment of the staff of the company and the funds invested in the brand of the
company. It is just opposite to the Emotional capital as this focuses on the personnel related to
the promotion, development of the brand and its marketing. It is also stated that brands or
organisations having high human capital, it will also have good retention of the current staff and
more and more new applicants will apply for the job in such organisation.
Describe the research design in relation to your chosen approach
The concept of Brand Health Tracking holds a crucial place in the development of the brand and
is adopted by one of the largest company in telecommunication sector of Australia i.e. Vocus
Group. This concept is adopted by companies for adequately tracking the brands and for
ensuring that proper plans are made or developed by the company covering more customer base
(Punch, 2013). For conducting an appropriate and effective research in regards with Brand
Health Tracking will be made by adopting an effective approach as the designing of the research
is also dependent on it.
It is essential that the data and the information must be collected properly as it makes sure about
conducting an effective research. It is required that effective method for gathering information
and data must be adopted and adoption of the method is dependent on what objects are to be
fulfilled. Under this research, the selection of the method is affected by various resources for
evaluation of the brand (O’Brien, et. al., 2014, pp. 1245-1251). The reliability and the
authenticity of the sources must also be considered while collecting the data and the information
which will be used in the research for making it effective.
Usually, the data and information are collected by way of different methods which are qualitative
and the quantitative methods. Data and information gathered by the method of qualitative nature
are gathered in the form of words. However, it is also stated that the aims of this method are to
get to know about the origin of the data and the information such as “why such data is required
or how such data will be used, etc”. Questions made under this method is open-ended i.e.
questions are asked directly without offering any options to the answer. The information and data
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collected or gathered under this method are gathered through group discussions, conducting or
organising interviews, participation and related observation. The data and information gathered
under this method provided an insight of the recent trends in the market, lifestyle, and demand of
the customers, etc. Such data is authentic and reliable as it is obtained directly from the
consumers or customers of the brand.
Whereas Quantitative method can be described as the method in which the data or the
information is collected and presented in the form of statistical, numerical data. This method
focuses on the providing an answer i.e. “what will be the use of such data collected for
conduction of research.” On the basis of data collected or gathered under this method, various
plans and strategies are made for making sure that the objective or the aims of the research is
accomplished (Hewson & Stewart, 2016). Such method makes use of standardised approach and
for the collection of data and the information methods like survey are adopted.
While conduction this research, qualitative methods are adopted by the researcher and the
information and the data is gathered by way of the secondary method. For conduction of an
effective research, both of the methods that are used have both, benefits and drawbacks. As per
unintended results and the effect of the program, a Qualitative method is considered as a best
suitable option. However, such methods require a lot of time as the data is collected by the
researcher itself. Moreover, making use of this method requires sound funding for proper
implementation of this method (Thomas, et. al., 2015). This must also include that the data
generated under this cannot be utilised outside the scope of the research or the events.
At the time of conducting the survey which is related to the brand tracking, there is two crucial
criterion which is considered i.e. tracking of what type of metrics and how it will be done
continuously. The selected metrics are tracked as they are the indicators in relation to the
strength of the company’s brand and are also considered as main elements of the funnel of brand-
awareness, usage, consideration, etc. While tracking of the brand, various statements and the
words of the audience i.e. the customers will also be considered as it will help in development or
enhancement of the brand of the company. There is a never-ending race between the perception
of the consumers towards the brand and the company.
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The research conducted in relation to brand tracking of Vocus Group is done by way of samples.
For this, the certain segment is selected which includes the customer base of the company and
general public. It helps in understanding the perception of the potential customers along with the
perception of existing customers of the brand. It has been made sure that for conducting this
research, the sample is taken by considering a huge number of customers and the general public
as it depict the reality and the authenticity of the research. While conducting the research, the
researcher may face issues if the market is of business to customers as the total number of the
audience may increase.
The sample collected while conducting the research provides an overview of the market, the
position of the company in the market and the recognition of the company in the market. This
also helps to develop various plans or tactics for making sure the development and enhancement
of the brand. Revenues model and the brand funnel will provide an insight to the company
regarding what measures must be taken by the company which will be based on the nature of the
business of the company.
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Conclusion
As per conduction of research, it is concluded that brand evaluation and the brand health tracking
is essential for maintaining the quality of the goods and services by the company. It is necessary
that the health of the brand must be tracked from time to time as it provides information
regarding the product such as the recognition of the brand in the market, customer base of the
brand, perception of the customers towards the brand, communication between the departments
responsible for the promotion or the marketing of the brand, etc. Vocus Group is considered as
one of the largest company in the telecommunication sector of Australia. This research will help
the company to provide the overview of the market, current trends of the market, the demand of
the customers to be fulfilled, etc. Through this, the organisation will be formulating effective
plans for brand enhancement and for having an advantage over its competitors.
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