BRAND AUDIT

 Introduction 

1.   Objectives of Brand Audit

To assess the health of metro, uncover sources of equity & suggest ways to improve and
leverage equity.

2.  Scope of Brand Audit

The scope is limited to Karachi based Metro only.

3.  Approach used for Brand Audit

It is the current company/customers based information that has been used to analyze
different aspects of Metro.

 Brand

1. Brand (self-analysis)

Metro is one of the few Cash and Carries in Pakistan that is growing and stands
for one of the great success stories in modern commerce. The unique wholesale
business-to-business model of METRO is focused only towards professional
customers such as hotels, restaurant, and caterers as well as small and mid-
sized retailers. METRO Cash & Carry offers this target group a greater efficiency
than the multilayered supply chain thus helping them to improve their business:
By offering them a one-stop solution for their purchases, by helping them to
improve their assortment, by offering them high quality products at reasonable
and transparent prices and by offering them a consistent supply source.

2.  Industry Review

There are now two major players in the Cash and carry in Karachi- Namely Metro
and Makro. The population of Karachi has risen to 1.5 million and there is a huge
market for retailers/Cash and carry businesses to occupy.

   Consumer Analyses

1.  Needs & Wants

In Karachi there are retail stores/Kiryana stores present around every

corner of a street. But the demand is ever growing and customers have to
form queues and wait for their time to come and are not sure whether they
would find their desired product on the store or not and even if they can
the question mark about the quality/quantity & price is always there.
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Similarly for bulk buyers, they are interested in frills free, economical and
fast shopping so as to save time, money and resources to find and
purchase their desired product with confidence in product integrity.

2.  Segmentation & Targeting

Though the market is quite huge but Metro has maintained its B2B
business model. They have segmented and selected their target market in
their mission statement that says “Metro is a Cash & Carry wholesaler for
businesses and professionals." In this segment Hotels, Restaurants,
Cafeterias, Caterers also known as HoReCa are present with
small/medium retailers.

 Brand Inventory

1. Brand Elements

Name & Logo:

2.  Core Brand Values

• Focus on professional customers

• One-stop shopping

• Efficient store concept designed for professional needs

• Advanced customer service

• Enhanced customers’ competitiveness

• Excellence in supply chain and quality management

• Strengthening of local suppliers

• Development of national infrastructures

• Career opportunities

• Internationally transferable concept

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3.  Brand portfolio analysis

Currently there are no sub-products or co-products offered by Metro in

Karachi. But METRO group consists of

Metro Cash & Carry

Metro Cash & Carry is the world’s market leader in cash & carry. Under the
brands of Metro and Makro, our biggest and most international sales division
does business in 29 countries. Its assortment is aimed exclusively at
commercial and wholesale customers.

Real

Real is the market leader for hypermarkets in Germany and Poland. With
chain stores in Germany, Poland, Romania, Russia and Turkey, Real employs
a large-scale hypermarket concept.

Media Marketing and Saturn

Europe’s No. 1 in consumer electronics centres: the sales brands of Media

Markt and Saturn succeed with innovative, powerful and large-scale sales and
marketing concepts. For years, both have been generating dynamic growth
and rigorously

Galeria Kaufhof

Galeria Kaufhof is the concept and system leader in Germany’s department

store segment and the market leader in Belgium. The sales division’s
department stores enrich shopping areas and downtown Centre with a high-
quality assortment – emotionally presented.

4.  POPs, PODs

POP’s

1. One stop shop

2. Free Parking

3. Extensive hours

4. Comprehensive billing system

POD’s

1. Lowest possible prices

2. Only for professional/business buyers

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3. More Variety of products

5.  Branding Strategies (Extensions (Line extension, Category

extension)

Line Extension has been used in Pakistan as now they have 5 stores 2 in
LHR, 1 in Faisalabad, 1 in Islamabad and one in KHI.

   Brand Exploratory

1.  Brand Associations

Easy, Fast, Economical and Reliable.

2.  Consumer perceptions analysis

People think that metro is a good addition to the Cash & Carry stores.
Metro has got a wider variety of products and has a relatively large
covered area as compared to Makro. However in terms of prices both are
almost same, but metro is a little cheaper in consumer perception.

3.  Brand Positioning

Metro has positioned itself as the wholesale departmental store with the
lowest prices, high quality and all time availability of products.

   Brand Equity

1.  Identity

Wholesale departmental store offering almost everything

2.  Meaning

Big, Cheaper, Reliable (Imagery)

Quality, fast, availability (Performance)

3.  Response

Cost effective, product Integrity (Judgments)

Trust, Safe, Healthy, Caring (Feelings)

4.  Relationship

Repeat Transactions conversion into Loyal Customers

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    Recommendations

Target Market:

Although we cannot challenge the basic concept of Metro but keeping in mind
the mega city of Karachi and dispersed retail stores/Hotels/Restaurants all
over the Karachi and the hiking prices of fuel, I would recommend that Metro
should allow individual customers to come and buy along with Professional
Customers because this is where Makro is doing well.

Advertising:

To make customers aware of the savings and benefits they can get from
Metro Cash and Carry, Metro needs to launch a promotional campaign
through Social websites, Newspapers, Billboards and Cable ads.

Reason being that due to inflation in Karachi there is a vast majority that
purchases grocery on weekly basis from Sunday Bazar like the one that is
organized every week opposite to Metro itself. So to educate people would be
a good idea to boost sales.