Brand Management and Strategy Analysis: Waitrose Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Waitrose's brand management strategies. It begins by defining brand management and its importance as a marketing tool, specifically within the context of the Waitrose retail company. The report delves into key components of a successful brand strategy, including brand identity, brand promise, and brand equity. It examines how Waitrose builds its brand through various marketing techniques, target audience identification, and value proposition development. The report further explores different portfolio management strategies, such as branded house and hybrid approaches, and analyzes brand equity management using models like Aaker's. It also addresses how brands are managed collaboratively on both domestic and global levels, and how to overcome brand crises. The report concludes by discussing strategies for strengthening brand equity, including brand extension, reinforcement, and revitalization, offering a detailed overview of Waitrose's approach to brand management within the competitive UK retail market.

BRAND
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1...................................................................................................................................................................3
P1: Explain the importance of branding as a marketing tool and why and how it has emerged in business
practice...............................................................................................................................................................3
TASK......................................................................................................................................................................6
P2: Analyse the key components of a successful brand strategy for building and managing brand equality....6
TASK 3...................................................................................................................................................................9
P3: Analyse different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity management....9
TASK 4.................................................................................................................................................................10
P4: Determine the ways in which brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership at global &
domestic level...................................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Brand management is defined as the function of marketing which uses various techniques just for the
purpose of achieving positive results from the current market. It is necessary because it helps to create better
relationship between consumer and suppliers which helps to enhance the overall profit of the company
Balmer, 2012). The assignment is to be conduct on the basis of Waitrose company which is one of the retail
sector company. It is the third biggest company of UK which have millions of customers within United
Kingdom. The main focus in this file will be on branding of the company with its major key components of a
successful brand strategy. Even this file will include various types of strategy for portfolio management. Also,
there will be evaluation of of brand that how they are managed collaboratively in domestic and global level. In
the end, this file will discuss about different types of techniques for measuring and managing brand value.
TASK 1
P1: Explain the importance of branding as a marketing tool and why and how it has emerged in business
practice
Branding:
Branding is explained as the tactics of the market that helps any of the association to design their plan
and policies which are related with name and status of the company through which consumer can easily known
them. It helps to compete in front of those organisation which belongs to the similar market (Wirtz and et. al.,
2018). In context of Waitrose, they uses various strategies through which they can take the competitive
advantage from the market. They mainly focus in the field of advertisement, logo of the organisation and
customer satisfaction to show their brand image in the market.
Brand identity
: It refer to the message derived by customer regarding product which forms its recognition value (Barrow and
Mosley, 2011). Herein, Waitrose company basically design its messages, colour, logos and packaging that
enhances the image of company and attract the customer due to its brand identity company has gained huge
market share.
Brand promise: It is the statement given by company like what advantage or benefit customer will get
after experiencing product. It can be either in form of tangible or intangible form. In context to Waitrose
company prepares the advertisement regarding the discount company offers to its customer as well as quality
product customer will receive from the retail store.
Brand Equity: Brand equity means the brand value of product, so if company has high brand equity
then customer can even pay high prices for product instead of switching to the customer. In term of tangible
aspect that is revenue generation the brand equity of Waitrose is approximately £5,200.4 million.

Stage of building a successful brand
:
Determine target audience: At first stage market segmentation is done based on the target customer
further campaigns are run accordingly to deliver vital message to the targetted audience. Selected company
target to all those group who are keen to purchase day to day necessity items to run their livelihood.
Define brand mission: Company determine their vision or mission of existence like the vision of
Wairose company is to set high brand equity as well as recognition value so that they can expand their market
share by overpowering their competitors.
Research competition: While drafting the strategy company analysis the the move of their existing
rivalries. Like, Waitrose focuses on the strategy of Tesco and its Special discounted store like Aldi and Jack
store and adopted cost leadership price strategy.
Determine value proposition: Waitrose at this stage focuses on how the unique value of brand that is
used to create differentiation value. This helps the company to leave less substitute for its product.
Market the brand of company: To increase the visible of product branding is done by selected
company through social media, print media, traditional media as well as through packing or labelling of
product.
The role of marketing in branding
:
Marketing techniques help to acquire the knowledge about market and target the audience effectively.
Initially, Waitrose created the mission and identify the strategy of competitor effectively. Moreover, with the
assistance of marketing department selected company attracted the customers with brand value of their
products. In the end, it is necessary for the Waitrose that must try to do the marketing of their product where
vital role is required to be played by marketing department. Even it will tell that what are essential requirement
of customers and it will also help to take feedback through which it will be easy job to increase the quality of
there product.
The importance of branding as a marketing tool
 Building trust within the market place: When there are multiple option available in the market, it is
always difficult task for consumer that which one should be adopted. When this types of confusion
come across the mind of individual then then the best option which is available for them is to prefer
branded products (Hosaini, Rooshani and Fathi, 2012). In context of Waitrose, their main focus is to
deliver the best service in the market through which they can satisfy their customers.
 Increase market share and revenue: In every market, percentage of share in the market plays the vital
role to generate additional revenue. While talking about Waitrose, they are one of the creditworthy

company due to which they are able to earn more amount of profits and which is helping them to
generate revenue.
The components of a successful brand strategy
Customer Advocacy: It can be easily said that if any of the organisation wants to promote there
products then it requires its the helps of reviews which are given by the customers of organisation. In context of
Waitrose, they can try to take the review of those person whoa are loyal to the company have positive point of
view for the company.
Developing a clear identity: It is important for Waitrose to develop clear and identical policies through
which they can attract the customers of the market. If they will be able to do this then they can easily get the
attention of their customers.
Strategy for Strengthening brand Equity
Brand Extension
: Within brand extension new company uses the name of established brand to increase the sales of product. It
gives the advantage to the company that any new product dio nbot have to make effort to establish its image in
public.
Brand Reinforcement
: It majorly emphasizes to maintain the brand equity amongst existing as well as new customer by conveying
the message through repetitive advertisement. In term of Waitrose company apply this strategy to remind the
customer regarding their services as well as benefit associated with buying such as reasonable price of
premium quality product.
Brand Revitalization
: Each product has its life cycle like introduction, growth, maturity and decline, at maturity stage the growth as
well as profit of company starts declining which lead to lose of customer. So in order to expand as well as
maintain existing market share of company run innovative programmes like Every day low pricing to appeal
the interest of customer.
Aker’s brand Equity model:
This model was given by David Aaker that defined the brand equity is the summation of brand
awareness, loyalty as well as association. Thus, the combination of all these factors help in deriving value from
the product as well as services. There are five component of brand equity which are defined below (Iglesias,
Singh and Batista-Foguet, 2011):
Brand loyalty: It refer to the behaviour of customer regarding purchase of product from the same brand.
If the customer is loyal towards the product then they will purchase the product from that company only
among the various alternatives.

Brand awareness: It state the extend by which public are familiar with the brand. For instance, if the
brand awarenesses value of Waitrose company is high then customer will consider it only amongst its
competitor such as Tesco.
Perceived quality: The extend customer perceive the quality of respective product like if the customer
find Waitrose offer desirable quality then they will prefer it over others.
Brand association: The extend to which promotional tool helps in creating brand differentiation
(Kapferer, 2012).
Other proprietary: It include intellectual property right that gives the selected brand competitive
advantage over others.
Overcoming a brand crisis
: In order to deal with crises company must analyse the whole situation through research and development
department. Then the manager of company must respond regarding the issue. For instance, if the worker of
Waitrose feels gender discrimination then company must change its policies as per the requirement of
customer.
TASK
P2: Analyse the key components of a successful brand strategy for building and managing brand equality
Brand Portfolio Strategies
:
Branded House
: An organisation has sub brand as well as co brand that fall under the umbrella of parent company. So the role
of company is to manage all its product or services effectively and operate independently(Kelle, Parameswaran
and Jacob, 2011). Although selected company serve various brand under their roof so they make sure the
product are fresh and of high quality. Further, company sell wide range of consistent product that appeal the
interest of customer.
Hybrid
: It refer to the mixture or combination of more than two brand architecture which is the result of merger and
acquisition. Company usually adopt this strategy to expand market share and customer base. For instance, if
Wairtrose company wants to gain competitive edge over their competitors then they can form strategic alliance
with other similar type of industry.
Brand Portfolio Strategy:
It is the business strategy which can be applied through which portfolio of an organisation can be
organised in the appropriate manner. It being the maximum level of output where chances of risk are very rear
in dangerous condition. In context of Waitrose, if they want to generate extra revenue for taking the additional

benefits compared to competitors company then this strategy will be helpful. There are tow different strategy
which are associated with portfolio management that are explained below.
Active Portfolio Management Strategy: This is based up on those factors which says that specific
management style helps to generate the profit in those situation where chances are rare which provides
additional advantage in the market. Here, Waitrose is required to use bottom up and top down approaches.
Advantage
 Company set the efficient strategy based on the economic cycle as well as current market trend which
does not hamper its performance.
 Company utilises it strength or financial statement to evaluate the strength of product.
Disadvantage
 It emphasize that strong or large company perform in more efficient manner in comparison to other
companies (Liberatore and Miller, 2016).
Passive Portfolio Management Strategies: It is the situation where market is effectual through which
suitable results can be obtained where organisation will required to invest very minimum amount of money. If
Waitrose uses this management strategy then they will not be able to sustain the market for longer period of
time.
Advantage
 It focuses on the best return which are derived from making long term as well as low cost investment.
 All the vital information regarding business are accessed by investor for the welfare of company
Disadvantage
 High risk is associated with the paid growth of company
Therefore, Waitrose company can choose positive approach for portfolio management as in retail
industry within UK there is huge competition so application of such strategy helps the organisation to expand
as well as sustain for longer duration.
Brand Hierarchy
It is the mixture of brand strategy by focusing on the nature and number of brand elements of an
organisation.
Corporate Branding: It is the way of selling products in the market where name of product is similar
with organisation. It is helpful because it provide more flexibility in the brand image of association (Iglesias,
Singh and Batista-Foguet, 2011). While talking about Waitrose, it is helpful for them because there are various
products which they sale on the name of firms. If organisation will have high market image then it will have the
positive impact upon Waitrose.
Family Brand: It is the technique where organisation uses the images and name on multiple number of
good (Muchina and Okello, 2016). It is helpful to for doing marketing where cost of advertising requires very

minimum amount of money. Here, Waitrose have number of products which are manufactured on the name of
their company.
Individual Branding: It is one of the marketing strategy which is beneficial in improving the brand
image within the market where company deals on daily basis. In context of Waitrose, they will be benefited
under this strategy where they can easily advertise there product in different way.
CBBE ( Customer based brand equity) model:
It refer to Aaker's Brand equity model which include the asset or liability associated with the brand that
helps to add and subtract the brand value of product as well as services. It include following stages to build and
manage brand equity:
Brand identity: This is the stage which identifies that in which clients are shifting from one brand to
another. As, Waitrose try to work in the basis of positive brand identify which is helping them to gain the
attraction of customers. In this initial stage, company is required to target any specific area which will help to
bring positive result for the company.
Brand meaning: This level discusses that there must be interaction between consumer and organisation
where company should ask the there clients that what are there basis requirement from association
Brand response: This is the stage where organisation is required to understand the feeling and
judgement of customers which they give on the product of company. Every individual who is connected with
Waitrose is required to judge on the quality and credibility of the products.
Brand relationship: This is the most complex nature level of model where consumers develops the
strong physiological bond for the products and services that are offered by Waitrose.
TASK 3
P3: Analyse different strategies of portfolio management, brand hierarchy and brand equity management
Brand Extension versus line extension
Basis Line Extension Brand Extension
Meaning When the founder of the company
introduces different types of the
same products to cover the same
When the founder of company introduces
variety of products with the same brand
name to have an edge while entering into

segment to a large scale is known as
Line Extension.
new segments is known as Brand
Extension.
Benefits The benefits available to Waitrose
here is that they will be able to
influence more people of the same
segment to increase their market
share (Hosaini, Rooshani and Fathi,
2012).
The benefits available to Waitrose here is
that they will be able to target plenty of
segments here and achieve it through the
brand image created by them over these
years.
Risk The risk in this segment is lower as
if a type of product will fail then it
will not hamper the overall growth
of the original product that much.
The risk is higher in the brand extension
as if any new product fails in the market,
then, it will create a negative impact on
the name of brand.
Examples The variety of tea sold by Waitrose
like brew tea, green tea, newby, etc.
The variety of products sole by the name
Waitrose include Tea, Coffee, Milk, etc.
The strengths and weaknesses of the brand. Analyze and suggest improvements.
Strength
Increase in profit generation: It has been effective for Waitrose where it has played the role of
supporting through which profit of organisation has increased in the significant manner.
Enhanced brand Loyalty: The modern approaches which are being used by Waitrose is providing the
additional benefits to the organisation. Even it helps to build healthy relation between company and their
customers.
Weaknesses
Negative impact on whole product line: If business fails to fulfil its promise then it will impact the
sales of whole product line that can deteriorate the brand value of product (Pfisterer, 2017).
Therefore, brands are large units whose operations cannot be managed by single person it needs
collaboration of many people, units, team and organisation. Taking the case of Waitrose, it can enhance or
improve its brand image as it works in plenty of countries and have shops in many parts of the country and
because of that it needs strategic alliance of various supporters. The efficient operations of Waitrose is possible
because of partnership with major brand like John Lewis. It helped Waitrose in building and managing the
brand effectively.
Brand leveraging:
Brand leveraging refers to supporting and introducing a brand alongside an existing brand to support the
company in entering into new segments by introducing customers with the product and providing necessary

information about it. It allows the renown firm like Waitrose to have strong brand leveraging by encouraging
better quality of goods.
TASK 4
P4: Determine the ways in which brands are managed collaboratively and in partnership at global & domestic
level
It is very much essential for the various organisations to properly manage its brand value to achieve the
desirable position in the market. As this will help Waitrose in achieving a desirable position as compared to its
competitors. The various strategies and techniques which can be used by the manager of Waitrose are discussed
below-
Techniques for brand value
Brand value- It is the amount which can be collected by Waitrose from its market in which it is
operating its business. The amount will be generated on the basis of its brand image in the mind of customers
and market (Hanna and Rowley, 2013). To evaluate the the brand value manager of Waitrose generally uses
cost based approach. In this method the expenditure and investment of the organisation will be used for making
better strategies for the brand value. But in this the manager will not consider inflation and fluctuations in the
currency of the organisation. So this method is not effective and suitable for the organisation.
Market share- This aims at identify the exact value of the organisation in the market. As in this the
revenue and sale of Waitrose will be compared with its competitors in the systematic and coordinated manner.
The main motive behind this to know the ability of the customer regarding its paying capacity. The manager of
Waitrose uses Key Performance Indicator for gathering relevant and appropriate information from the market.
As with the help of this the manager of Waitrose will be able to know the various opportunities and threats
available in the market. This will be done to improve overall performance in the market.
Brand awareness- This is related with the popularity of the brand in the market. The manager of
Waitrose must know that the customers are aware about the brand or not. Organisation is continuously making
efforts for improving the brand awareness in the market and among the customers. To make better plans and
strategies regarding this the management uses social media engagement tool. This means company is trying to
connect with the customers from various social networking sites. By using the management can increase the
sale of the company as more customers will know about the products and services of the organisation.
Customer Attitude- It is also very necessary for Waitrose to know the mentality and mind set of the
customers regarding the products and services of the organisation. As by knowing this the management will
know what steps must be taken to improve and enhance the attitude and behaviour of the customers (Bhushan,
2012). It the attitude of the customer is known than the market share of the organisation will be increased.
Manager of Waitrose can use customer survey method. This method will be used to know the satisfaction level
of the customers and views and ideas which can be implemented to improve the business of the organisation.

Purchasing intent- This is concerned with the intention and willingness of the potential customers
related to a specific product. The management of the organisation can use funnel model for knowing the
purchasing intent of the customers. This model will help in understanding the behaviour of the customers and
their paying capacity. Manager of Waitrose must know the preferences of the customers to planning the future
strategies.
CONCLUSION
From the above file it can be concluded that brand marketing is very essential for any of the
organisation through which company can easily take additional advantages from the market. Brand marketing
helps to target customers with the help of modern approaches. Brand values says that how any of the
organisation should work through which they can create the health relation with customers. Also, various kinds
of marketing techniques helps to find the actual position of the company.

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