202109

BACHELOR IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

BBCT 3033
BRAND MANAGEMENT
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

(ASSIGNMENT 1)

PREPARED FOR

STUDENT NAME STUDENT ID

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1. Define brand management and explain FOUR (4) important elements in

developing brand.

Brand management is a function of marketing that uses techniques to increase the

perceived value of a product line or brand over time. Effective brand management
enables the price of products to go up and builds loyal customers through positive
brand associations and images or a strong awareness of the brand. Developing a
strategic plan to maintain brand equity or gain brand value requires a comprehensive
understanding of the brand, its target market, and the company's overall vision.

1. Brand identity

Let us begin with the very basic. What exactly is a brand and what is brand identity?
The brand of course is an easily recognizable name that immediately tells people
about a certain organization that manufactures certain products or renders certain
services. Brand identity is the way people recognize the brand. It may be through the
logo or other associated visuals. The Swoosh logo of Nike is very simple, but is
immediately recognizable worldwide along with its punchline, “Just Do It”.

2. Brand image

Brand image is the idea of the brand that people develop in their minds. It also
dictates what they expect from the brand. For instance, Rolls Royce has the image of
a luxury car maker. So, it cannot be making a budget car even if there is a market. Its
existing premium customers won’t take it kindly as it dilutes the said image. It’s hard
and sometimes impossible to change brand image, so it’s best to know what you’re
aiming at, before you invest hard earned dollars.

3. Brand positioning
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Positioning is the way a product is placed in the market. It basically defines what
segments of the market it is targeting. For instance Virginia Slims is a cigarette
targeted at women. Basic ingredients in all cigarettes are same but this one has been
positioned to attract women by making it slimmer in size and making the packaging
sleeker.

4. Brand personality

Brand personality is just like the personality of human beings. It is certain emotional
or personal qualities that we associate with a particular brand. For example we can
associate youthfulness with Pepsi or ruggedness with Wrangler. Every element of the
brand identity including the colour of the logo and the typography on the brand name
adds to the personality.

(10 Marks)
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2. Define brand equity and explain how Apple Inc. develop their brand equity?

Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions. The starting point is how
an Apple product experience makes you feel. The Apple brand personality is about
lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and
aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology. The Apple brand
personality is also about simplicity and the removal of complexity from people's lives;
people-driven product design; and about being a really humanistic company with a
heartfelt connection with its customers. Through these qualities, Apple is positioned
as being extremely helpful to people (and businesses) as they strive to achieve their
goals.

The Apple brand is not just intimate with its customers, it's loved, and there is a real
sense of community among users of its main product lines. The brand equity and
customer franchise which Apple embodies is extremely strong. The preference for
Apple products amongst the "Mac community", for instance, not only kept the
company alive for much of the 90's (when from a rational economic perspective it
looked like a dead duck) but it even enables the company to sustain pricing that is at a
premium to its competitors.

It is arguable that without the price-premium which the Apple brand sustains in many
product areas, the company would have exited the personal computer business
decades ago. In recent years, this strength in brand preference has flowed directly to
Apple's profits - as the company dramatically improved its manufacturing costs,
while still maintaining very strong brand equity.

Apple’s Brand Equity

A third of the value of Apple is contained in their brands.
The value of Apple (at this time) is $703.5 B, and the value of the brand $234 B
(according to Interbrand), so 30% of the total value of the company comes from the
Apple brand and all their sub-brands (iPhone, Mac, iCloud, etc.)
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That $234 B brand value means that Apple would lose nearly half of its value
overnight if some bizarre trademark dispute meant that Apple could no longer sell
under the name “Apple,” use the logo, similar graphics, or the apple.com website, and
not use any other brands as well.

Theoretically, Apple could sell its brand for $234 B to Microsoft, Facebook, or any
business with that much cash or stock.

Granted, it would be hard to separate the Apple brand from the rest of the company.
Brand equity is entwined with every other component of a company’s value.
Companies are gestalt; they are their complete whole, inherently indivisible. The
intertwined nature of brands doesn’t stop companies from licensing their brand, which
can have good and bad consequences (brand dilution).

It’s also interesting to note that Apple spends $1.8 B a year in advertising. That may
seem like a large number, but it is not that much consider the brand is worth $234 B,
only 0.8%.

Because Apple’s brand is so valuable and so well love, they generate a lot of interest
from a small investment in advertising. One of the benefits of having a valuable brand
is your advertising dollars go further because ads from a well-known / well-loved
brand get more attention from viewers.

That relatively small advertising investment also shows that a brand isn’t earned
through advertising alone. Apple has developed it’s brand through advertising as well
as delivering consumer-focused solutions for decades. Most of their goodwill comes
from the positive experiences customers have with their products. Many people will
not consider buying products from the competitors of Apple.
(10 Marks)
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3. Describe brand extension for Apple Inc.

A brand extension leverages the reputation, popularity, and brand loyalty associated
with a well-known product to launch a new product. To be successful, there must be a
logical association between the original product and the new item. A weak or
nonexistent association can result in the opposite effect, brand dilution. This can even
harm the parent brand.

Successful brand extensions allow companies to diversify their offerings and increase
market share. They can give the company a competitive advantage over its rivals that
don't offer similar products. The existing brand serves as an effective and inexpensive
marketing tool for the new product.

Apple (AAPL) is an example of a company that has a history of effectively using a

brand extension strategy to propel growth. Starting with its popular Mac computers,
the company has leveraged its brand to sell products in new categories, as can be seen
with the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone.

Brand extension can be as obvious as offering the original product in a new form. For
example, the Boston Market restaurant chain launched a line of frozen dinners under
its own name, offering similar fare.

Another form of brand extension combines two well-known products. Breyers ice
cream with Oreo cookie chunks is a matchup that relies on consumers' loyalty to
either or both original brands.

Brand extension also may be applied to a different product category. Google's core
business is a search engine, but it has an assortment of other non-advertising related
products and services including the Play Store, Chromebooks, Google Apps, and the
Google Cloud Platform.

(5 Marks)
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4. In your opinion, why Apple Inc. so successful in building the brand image?

Whenever Apple introduces a new product, consumer expectation is unmatched by

any other brand today. Apple users have come to expect nothing less than brilliant
innovation and revolutionary technology in their phones and computers. This is a
brand that has managed to fill us with heart-pumping anticipation as we wait in line to
buy the latest piece of personal tech that will no doubt be superior to all others on the
market. Brand power is both elusive and invaluable. It ultimately determines your
trademark’s perceived worth and how much customers are willing to spend on your
products. The true value of your product is influenced less by manufacturing costs
(the effort it took to visualize and create the product) and more by the amount people
are willing to pay for it.

The strength to compete, the sustainability of a business, and a brand’s market

performance are all hugely influenced by brand power. It is a logo’s ability to
differentiate itself from competitors and be perceived as having higher quality.

For the eighth consecutive year, Apple sits at the top of Forbes’ annual study for the
world’s most valuable brands. They are valued at $182.8 billion with brand revenue at
$228.6 billion.

While this is incredibly impressive, it isn’t all that hard to believe. We are surrounded
by iPhone and Apple users everywhere we go. Whether it’s the iPhone, iPad,
MacBook or Apple Watch, Apple has seamlessly saturated our daily lives and has
found a way to make everyday tasks easier and more manageable. These products
have become our means for communicating, shopping, scheduling appointments,
tracking our health, and downloading and listening to music.

It has become necessary for companies to give consideration to these devices with
their business model to stay up-to-date with consumer trends and preferences. This
could include anything from ensuring a website is mobile-friendly to integrating
Apple Pay in a store’s POS system.
(5 Marks)