Course: Integrated Marketing Communication

Group Assignment - 3

REVERB Brand Details and Creative Brief

1. BRAND DETAILS

Before we explore our creative brief, we needed to address some key elements in regards to our
branding, logo, and overall brand positioning.

1.1. Brand Name

Firstly, we have opted to go with a conceptual name ‘Reverb’ with the emphasis being on
reflection of sounds as per the environment our users are in. Through the brand name ‘Reverb’,
we are trying to imply the essence of immersive auditory experience, that acoustically
illuminates and reflects the environment behind every call, song, or connection. At Reverb, we
aim to engineer your personal sound.

As per our survey, we found that the brand name ‘Reverb’ generated confusion among most of
our respondents. Some associated ‘Reverb’ with a branded ‘shoe’, while some mentioned
‘Reverb’ felt like it represented ‘something opposite of the other’. However, majority felt like the
company was somewhat related with technology. The biggest learning from the current exercise
was the fact that as many respondents were confused on the meaning of the brand; our first
priority will be developing brand awareness while also highlighting a key differentiating factor
in our communication message.

1.2. Brand Logo

Secondly, based on our research, we found that regardless of the activity involved, connection to
either a loved one, music band, or music track; was the most important to users. Users want to
‘immerse’ themselves in the journey they undertake; which we as a brand, want to communicate.
We want to provide users with a reliable connection no matter the occasion, no matter the

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distance. Moreover, we want to provide them with the opportunity to pursue their passion,
immerse themselves, or never lose connection with that special someone.

As per our survey, we created the following logo prototype to test with our potential customers:

EVE B EVE B
EVE B R V RB
R V RB RE ERB
RE ERB RE ERB
RE ERB

Our survey for the brand logo did not generate any logo as the anonymous winner, picked by our
respondents. However, after further iterations and review, we were able to limit our choices for
two designs:

As we have
received similar positive response for both of the designs, we are planning to extend their use as
two different variant concepts for our brand. Similarly, we choose the color teal to represent
revitalization and rejuvenation factor. Moreover, the earbuds represent the connection we wanted
to portray with our product.

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2. BACKGROUND

Earphones/Headphones have been one of the most trending gadgets for a long time. Just in 2018
alone as high as one million headphones were sold per day. Interestingly, global Earphones and
Headphones market is projected to reach $36 billion by 2024.  Our product was conceptualized
looking at the hassles people faced using conventional earphones and headphones. Nepalese
market, as we found is no different than the rest of the world in music listening habits. We
interviewed several college students and young working professionals from Kathmandu to get an
idea about their music listening habits and found that their major complaints regarding the
earphones/headphones were the following:

 Un-ergonomic design, wire entanglement and portability issues.

 Complete noise cancellation thus requiring frequent removal to communicate with people
and difficulty in usage while daily commuting.
 Easily damaged by dust and water and not built for active lifestyle especially for gym
goers and regular joggers.
 Do not create high engagement while playing computer games and are not responsive to
the user.
 Provide low value for the price charged and durability issues.

Listening to the people and also carefully observing how the youths in Kathmandu have been
using their music related gadgets we found a significant level of dissatisfaction among youths
regarding the current earphones and headphones that they own. Considering all their
dissatisfactions and complaints and their needs we decided to design a brand new earbud suitable
to Nepalese market. Our respondents were mostly fitness lovers who preferred active lifestyle
and wanted their music gadget to suit fitness life. We also found that they were willing to pay a
premium price for such device and decided to keep ‘acoustic quality, durability, ergonomic
design and user Interactivity’ at the top of our product pyramid as price for our target customers
was not a major concern. 

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Hence, we came up with a new brand of earbuds promoted as “Reverb” which is ergonomic,
super portable (50 gm), IPX5 dustproof and waterproof suitable for cities like Kathmandu, is
responsive to the user Via smart touch control, has as high as 50 hours of battery life for
continuous users, and its Smart Ambient Sound mode reduces Background Noise, amplifies
speech and enhances communications. Our product is not absolutely unique as other well-known
brands like Apple, Google, Bose, Sony all have launched their own versions of this trendy
product. However, we believe that our highly engineered earbud will be a part of people’s lives
and especially for tech enthusiasts and fitness lovers.

3. CURRENT BRAND POSITIONING

Our Brand “Reverb” is positioned as a smart yet easy to use gadget which provides much more
value than top and global earbuds brand at a much competitive price. The customers can perceive
our brand as smart, convenient and comfortable. We have highly differentiated our product in
terms of highly engineered ergonomic design, very high battery life, easy touch controls and
Smart ambient mode (letting in ambient sound if desired without having to take off the
earphones). We want our product to communicate reliability and premium-ness with our brand
mantra being “Immersive and smart auditory experience”. Thus by providing best in class
features excellent value for money we want to create trust with our target audience so that they
are assured and delightful each time they use our product.  

4. CURRENT ADS AND WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE

Currently, we are planning to have our advertisement portray both the cognitive as well as the
affect aspects. Unlike our competitors, we are planning to have a more organic and realistic
approach to the daily life of busy professionals who strive to make things better for themselves
and their family. Our advertisement will focus on elements of ‘convenience’, elimination of

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‘redundancies’, and also on the important ‘connections’ that active professionals need to
maintain in their life.

5. COMPETITORS’ BRAND(S) / PRODUCT(S) POSITIONING

Looking after the consumer’s preference and buying pattern, we have identified that the leading
brands that are able to capture our Nepalese markets and those can be called as our true
competitors are: 
 Apple  Sony
 Samsung  JBL
 Beats 

 Apple Airpods: It dominates the market. Factors like: disruptive pricing, brand
resonance, audio quality have attributed its success. Apple’s success makes the barrier of
entry higher for competing brands. Apple products are usually expensive and so are Airpods.
There are still a lot of cons, Airpods technically are not water- or sweat-resistant and there’s
no equalizer or ambient-listening mode. 

 Samsung Galaxy Buds: Galaxy Buds actually has been introduced to compete and to
rival with Apple's Airpods. Has come up with smaller in size as compared to the company's
previous wireless earbuds.
The brand has positioned their product galaxy buds as an earbud charging wirelessly from
Galaxy S10+ mobile set.

 Beats by Dre / Powerbeats Pro: It's also wireless earbuds positioning themselves as a
product that is a best compatible earbud for the sports athletics with sweat and water resistant
and secure ear hooks which other company’s earbuds doesn't have. And the advertisement
they have made had featured athletics practicing freely even after using the earbuds.

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 Sony WF-1000XM3: The brand has focused more on the sound quality feature and better
noise cancellation system rather than anything else. So they were able to position themselves
as an 'industry-leading noise cancellation' with the tagline Only music. Nothing else.

 JBL: A very old brand with many product variants on wireless earbuds itself is now
positioning their brand being light in nature and is specially designed for the sports athletics
with a tagline 'dare to listen'.

6. CURRENT COMPETITORS’ ADS

6.1. Apple:

Airpods advertisement entitled bounce shows how wireless gadget can make life more easy and
fun. It has successfully reached people through its creativity, shows an Airpods wearer springing
through the streets. It's intended to show off the unencumbered, wireless freedom of the iconic
earbuds. (Including the new Airpods' wireless charging capabilities.). The ad is set to the track “I
learnt some jazz today”. They are good and memorable commercials. 
(Reference Video: www.iclarified.com/71429/apple-posts-new-airpods-ad-bounce-video)

6.2. Samsung:

Samsung Galaxy Buds official introduction video shows buds should not be only about great
listening. Samsung’s Buds shows that they are as slimmed down and discreet as any earphones
of this kind. It's very simple and informative commercial that gives viewers a clear picture about
what Samsung buds offers. Unlike, advertisement of Airpods it is not a classy and a flashy one. It
is basically an informative introduction video rather than an attractive commercial
advertisement. 
(Reference Video: https://youtu.be/uzt2PchQAI4)

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6.3. Beats by Dre:

The commercials with pro athletes wearing the Powerbeats Pro true wireless earbuds as they
train featuring Serena Williams, LeBron James, Simone Biles, Odell Beckham Jr is a mere 60
seconds long plus features an additional 13 high-profile athletes working out while wearing the
earphones with their signature earhook design, to the energetic soundtrack of a brand-new track
from Beck, called “Saw Lightning.”. It portrays a very strong and energetic image of the product.
The spot’s simple concept of keeping the camera centered on the brand’s Powerbeats Pro
wireless earphones enables the spot to accomplish two goals rarely achieved at the same time: to
feature a star roster of celebs while also keeping attention focused on the product. 
(Reference Video: https://youtu.be/kPwFhpczdOg)

6.4. Sony:

The commercial entitled “Only music nothing else” is a simple video where it shows how
listening to a Sony noise cancelling earbuds can make you feel deeper into the music and makes
you forget about the outer world. The video is just about its noise cancellation feature. The
commercial is not that catchy. 
(Reference Video: https://youtu.be/Vu36eoC50i0)

6.5. JBL:

JBL commercial entitled “True Wireless” takes place with Antetokounmpo working out in a
gym, and as he listens to music through his JBL True Wireless headphones, his environment
transforms into a recording studio with hip-hop recording artist Swoope. It is a short and strong
commercial that features known celebrities who are influencer as well, helped JBL to attract their
target group.
(Reference Video: https://youtu.be/kXKUOzxr3LQ)

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7. WHO IS OUR CONSUMER

Before the start of our research, we had identified our consumers as being individuals with an
active and busy lifestyle; with the following characteristics:

Geographic i. Tier 1 cities (Kathmandu, Chitwan, Biratnagar).

Demographic i. Age group (25 - 35) years old.
ii. Income level of 30,000 and above.
iii. Upper middle class, and all upper classes.
Psychographic i. Media Lovers, Achievers, Tech Enthusiast.
Usage i. Moderate to High Usage.
End Users i. Fitness and Sports Users, Entertainment Seekers,
Working Professionals

However, through our research, we were able to identify some critical concerns in our
consideration of the target group. When considering the factor of active and busy lifestyle, we
were able to identify three categories of active people. The first group of users were peak
performers, athletes, or professional sports personnel; who had high income and invested a lot
into maintaining their physique or performance status. Such users were more brand conscious
and preferred to use existing premium brands such as Apple. Moreover, such users preferred the
use of products complementary to their brand of smartphone. Similarly, the second group of
users were also athletes and sportsmen, however they were of middle and lower income group.
Such users were more focused on the value the products offered and were more willing to use
wired phones, if it meant saving few bucks. Unfortunately, both of the market are unattractive as
one has intense competition from world leading brands, and the other does not offer substantial
profit earning market. Finally, the third group of users were busy working professionals who
were moderately active than their peers. These users were more inclined to improve their
physical appearances, involved more in purchasing various accessories and premium products.
Moreover, these users were more willing to try out new product, and are ready to spend premium
if they perceive the product as offering high value.

Therefore, based on our interview, our primary target market are those individuals that live in
urban areas and are significant parts of the corporate world. These people are generally of the

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age 27 – 35 and have gathered at least a year’s worth of experience in the corporate world. They
are part of a nuclear family, live in a good rental flat or have their own house; and are ambitious
in their professional career. These people continuously strive to make themselves and the life of
their loved ones better, and value products that they believe greatly enhances their own mobility
and comfort. Moreover, they want to raise their kids in the best college, and are ready to commit
more than the required 9 to 5 for the betterment of their career and company progress. They take
pride in their work and are involved in activities that help them better their own stature among
others. They are a busy work schedule, and are ready to manage accounts and work beyond their
normal work timing. Moreover, despite their busy lifestyles, they actively work to maintain a
healthy physique and often spend the weekends with their loved ones or friends. These people
are actively involved in improving themselves, reducing unwanted steps and increasing
efficiency.

Based on the above information, we can see that our target market cannot be appealed simply
through the use of flashy advertisements. Our target market value good product, but are willing
to spend more if the product can enhance their daily job/task. Moreover, they need to know that
the product is willing to the extra mile just like them, to enhance their experience. Our earbuds
must resonate with their core values of hard work and commitment, and should help bring
‘comfort’ in their overall busy lifestyle without missing any important ‘connections’. Since, we
are advertising a new brand, we need to emphasize how our brand acts as a bridge between
making their busy life ‘comfortable’ through our practical features, removing unwanted
‘redundancies’, and helping them ‘maintain’ their physique, without losing important
‘connections’ they have in their life. Our advertisement will need to highlight the practical aspect
of having our product, reducing inconveniences, as well as showcase the emotional link of
‘connecting with others’ through the use of our earbuds.

8. OBJECTIVES

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Our main objectives for the current execution are as follows:

 To create brand awareness and establish a positive image in the minds of our potential
customers.
 To improve brand recall by establishing strong emotional connection with potential
customers.

To begin with, the first objective reflects our core need to establish a name among our target
market. We want to engage and inform customers of our product offering and aim to position
ourselves quite differently compared to other competitors in the market. For the first objective,
we plan to carry out our advertisement through various online and offline medias. While most of
the efforts will focus on social media advertising, and online advertisements; we also plan to
involve in various location based partnership advertisement where we offer to sponsor the
evening or event with our earbuds, something like a ‘romantic date night re-imagined’. Similarly,
we also plan on having sponsored events for gym and yoga classes as well.

For our second objective, we want to ensure that our brand had a strong recall in the minds of our
customer. To achieve this, we need to have a strong brand equity, and we want to improve our
impression through the use of emotional connection in our advertisement. Our advertisement will
also highlight the important connections we have in our life, whether it be personal or
professional; and will emphasize reliable connections for every occasion.

9. TONE AND MANNER

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We must keep our tone and manner humble and mostly particular and casual. We speak to our
consumers in a tone that is subdued and more relaxing. Our product resonates with the values
embedded with a young working professionals and also accentuates the belief of going that extra
mile. We believe that our consumer should be able to rely on the quality and convenience we
provide to them. Our tone should be similar with all the customers that comes our way. This
means that our words should serve our purpose of providing them an auditory experience by
being more practical and true to our customers.

10. EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES

The following are mandatories for the current execution:

 Highlight of features such as ergonomic design and battery life that complement
comfortable and active lifestyle.
 Highlight of motion touch and instant pairing to further accentuate the feeling reduced
‘inconveniences’.
 Use of intimate conversation with loved ones, and critical conversation with client to
create the feeling of maintaining ‘connection’.

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REFERENCES

1. www.iclarified.com/71429/apple-posts-new-airpods-ad-bounce-video
2. https://youtu.be/uzt2PchQAI4
3. https://youtu.be/kPwFhpczdOg
4. https://youtu.be/Vu36eoC50i0
5. https://youtu.be/kXKUOzxr3LQ

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