Assignment

On

Strategic Brand Management

Submitted to:

Mr. Sujan R Shrestha

Faculty
Ace Institute of Management

Submitted by:

Mr. Bishal Gauli

MBAe, V Term
Ace Institute of Management

January 2011
What do brands mean to you? What are your favorite brands and why? Check to see
how your perceptions of brands might differ from those of others.

Brand is an identifying symbol, word, or mark that distinguishes a product/service or a company

from its competitors. As a general consumer, brand for me is an association of an individual
with a specific product, service or a company. This association can be due to the overwhelming
response received from a particular product/service, or due to an emotional attachment to a
company or the field of industry, or it may be due to an experience.

My favorite brand in our local market would be ‘QFX’. It is a brand name of Quest
Entertainment Company, a chain of deluxe cinema halls in Kathmandu. There are two reasons
why I like this brand, one is because I really loved the field of Movie industry and other is
because of facility, service and ambiance of the company.

My favorite brand in an international market is ‘iPhone’. It is a brand of a mobile phone of an

US company called ‘Apple’. I particularly like this brand because of it cutting edge technology,
design, features and performance.

A perception definitely matter a lot while preferring a brand from the other similar brand. As
compared to other national brands such as ‘Gopi Krishna Movies’, ‘Guna Cinema’, I perceive
QFX as a brand that associated with latest technology and exclusive facility and experience of
cinema. Similarly, I perceive iPhone as special smart phone for IT Professional like me which can
help to do job more easily and stay connected with family and friends anywhere.
Can you think of anything that cannot be branded? Pick an example of a branded
product in each of the categories viz. physical good, services, retailers and distributors,
person, and organization, place, and idea? And describe how it is a brand.

No, I don’t think of anything that cannot be branded. In this global market of completion,
virtually anything can be branded. From product, services to events, places and person can be
branded to make it superior than others in the similar category. To be a strong brand in any
category, it has to be backed by rigorous and wise promotion to make it recognizable and
acceptable. Some of the brand in various categories can be explained as below:

Physical Good: ‘Coca-cola’, the biggest brand in the world is a brand of a cola product. This
product is branded in such a way that it is now preferable cola drink for any events, activities,
families or individual. This brand has positioned itself as number one cola drink in the world for
everybody and everywhere.

Service: ‘Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL)’, one of the biggest banks in Nepal is the brand
of banking service. This banking service is branded as one of the top bank of Nepal that
provides banking services to all of the Nepalese.

Retailer: ‘Bhat-Bhateni Super Market’, one of the top retail store chain in Nepal is the biggest
brand in the Nepalese retailer market. This product has been branded as a retail store that
provides international standard products (from food, apparels to furniture) for every Nepalese
individual and family.

Distributor: ‘Morang Auto Works’, one of the top distributors of motor-bikes in Nepal is most
recognizable brand in the distribution of motor-bikes market in Nepal. This product is branded
as the only distributor of ‘Hero-Honda’ bikes in Nepal.

Person: ‘Anil Shah’, one of the top bankers of Nepal is most appreciated and talked of band in
Nepalese banking market. He has branded himself as a very successful banker after the huge
success of a bank called ‘Nabil Bank’ led by him for years.

Organization: ‘Chaudhary Group (CG)’, one of the largest organizations of Nepal is the most
recognizable brand in the Nepalese FMCG and electronics market. They have branded
themselves as the one of the oldest organization in Nepal that provides its services form FMCG,
electronics to education and medical sectors.

Place: ‘Malaysia (Truly Asia)’, is the country that is branded as one of the best tourist
destination in Asia. They have branded themselves as the one stop destination for the tourist to
experience the whole Asia in one country.

Can you think of yourself as a brand? What do you do to “brand” yourself?

Yes, I can think of myself as a brand of IT Professional in Nepalese market. Since I have got the
graduation in IT and experience of more than 6 years in the field of IT, I have the basic
ingredient to be a product in ‘IT’ sector.

I would do following things to brand myself as a reliable and dependable IT professional:

- I would promote myself as an IT professional wherever I go.

- I would try my level best to meet the expectation of everybody (organization or
individual) those who have the need that I can satisfy.
- I would rather focus on the relationship than outcome.
- I would always act ethical.
- I would always try to meet deadlines and be specific with the choice.
- I would share my experience with whenever I get the chance, so that people would
know what I am and what I do.
Pick a brand. Attempt to identify its sources of brand equity. Assess its level of brand
awareness and the strength, favorability, and uniqueness of its associations.

Coca-Cola: A biggest brand of cola-drink in the world

Sources of Brand Equity:

 History of 100 years of successful operation

 Strong branding campaigns throughout the world
 Loyalty of many consumers throughout the world

Brand Awareness Level and its strength:

 Very high level of brand awareness

 Strong brand reputation

Favorability:

 Strongly favored cola-brand among any other cola drink

Uniqueness of its associations:

 Unique cola formula

 Unique brand symbol
 Easy and catching symbol and text
Which brands resonate with you? Why?

The basic premise of the (CBBE) model is that the brand image of a particular organization
resides in the minds of consumers based on their experiences, knowledge and inactions with
the brand. Strong consumer-brand affinity occurs as customers move up the pyramid as shown
in the image below:

According to the model, the first step occurs when the consumer begins to relate the brand
name to a particular product category or customer need. The second layer is about the
consumer’s brand understanding, understanding the specific performance characteristics of the
product/service and the extrinsic properties or imagery associated with the brand. The third
layer is all about brand judgments, whether the consumer thinks the brand is credible, superior,
has a particular quality level, or worth consideration and whether the consumer feels any
degree of warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval and/or self-respect in relation to
the brand.

Finally, the top layer is about customer resonance; whether the customer feels like they are
personally ‘in sync’ with the brand.

Some of the brands that resonate with me are followings:

QFX: This is the brand name of Multiplex cinema hall chain of Nepal. This brand resonates with
me because of the satisfaction it provides for my cinema watching need and because of its
exclusive facility and features. I can totally depend on this brand for excellent cinema
experience in the town.

iPhone: This is the brand name of a mobile phone. This brand resonates with me because of its
superior performance and cutting-edge design. I feel fun, excited having this brand associated
with me and therefore it resonates with me.
Can every brand achieve resonance with its customers? Why or why not?

No, every brand cannot achieve resonance with its customers. Every individual is different due
to the difference in values, attitudes, perception, life style, experience etc. Therefore a single
brand (product, service, place, organization etc) may not satisfy the needs of each individual
and thus may not create a strong relationship with the brand.

It also depends on the availability of substitutes and strength of those substitutes. If there are
any, then the brand may not always get the loyal response from the consumer and thus a less
chance of achieving resonance with most of the consumer.

Furthermore brand loyalty is the consumer's commitment to repurchase the products of a

specific brand and the brand equity refers to the marketing effects which a product results
because of the brand name attached with it. This means that people will always show more
brand loyalty to a specific brand and has a higher chance of resonating with a brand if the brand
equity of the product is higher.

Therefore it’s not necessary that every brand can achieve resonance with its customer. But if
brand management is done properly then there will be a high for the customer to resonate with
any brand.