Conducting a Brand Audit Discussion
ANSWER
Step 1: Review Slate Case File
- You received an email from Jillian Best, CEO of MCS, with the Slate case file attached. Review this case file to understand the context and background of Slate, Inc. and their branding.
Step 2: Review the Branding Elements
- Carlos Chance, Head of Branding at Slate, Inc., has provided you with a list of branding elements to focus on in your report. These elements include brand personality, brand image, brand identity, brand differentiation, brand positioning, brand communication, brand loyalty, and brand equity. Familiarize yourself with these concepts.
Step 3: Research Slate’s Competitors
- Conduct research on Slate’s two biggest competitors. Visit their websites and explore scholarly and reliable nonscholarly sources to understand their branding strategies. You are required to consult a minimum of three scholarly sources and twelve reliable nonscholarly sources.
Step 4: Discuss Competitors’ Branding Strategies
- Participate in a meeting with Carlos and his team to discuss the importance of branding. Support your arguments with at least one source from the course readings and three reliable nonscholarly sources derived from your own research.
Step 5: Present Your Research Results
- Jillian Best, CEO of MCS, has requested a list of the sources you are using for your analysis. Provide a reference list with a minimum of four scholarly and 16 reliable nonscholarly sources.
Step 6: Submit Your Brand Analysis Report
- Write a comprehensive 12-13 page report on Slate’s branding elements, addressing brand personality, brand image, brand identity, brand differentiation, brand positioning, brand communication, brand loyalty, and brand equity. Support your report with research and cite sources using APA formatting.
Step 7: Complete Your Brand Analysis Report
- Make any necessary revisions to your report and include a one-page executive summary, a recommendation on Slate’s branding of the new product, and a table comparing the eight brand elements for the two brands.
Ensure your final report adheres to formatting guidelines, including one-inch margins, double spacing, and 12-point Times New Roman font.
Remember to submit your assignments to the designated folder by the specified deadlines.
Good luck with your brand audit project! If you have any specific questions or need further assistance with any of the steps, feel free to ask.
QUESTION
Description
Project 2: Conducting a Brand Audit
Step 1: Review Slate Case File
INBOX: 1 New Message
Subject: Thinking about the consumer and branding
From: Jillian Best, CEO, MCS
To: You
Attachments:
Good Morning,
I have attached the Slate case file to this email. It provides additional details you will need to inform your work with Carlos Chance, their head of branding.
Branding is a very important element of marketing. As you work on this project, it is imperative that you stay focused on the consumer. Remember that a company’s customers do not buy features; they buy benefits, both tangible and intangible. It is also critical to understand customers and how the brand influences their buying decisions.
Best wishes,
Jillian
After you have reviewed the Slate case file and read about branding, proceed to Step 2, where you will examine the elements of branding decisions.
Step 2: Review the Branding Elements
Through correspondences with Carlos about his expectations for the brand analysis report, the focus of your analysis starts to become clear:
INBOX: 1 New Message
Subject: Focus of Brand Analysis
From: Carlos Chance, Head of Branding, Slate, Inc.
To: You
Hello,
Primarily, we want you to examine the branding strategies of our competitors. This report will function as a brand audit that allows us to examine our competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, customer expectations, and our own relative position in the market.
These details form the basis of the main branding elements. I met with our CEO, Shanice Watts, and she wanted me to emphasize the following eight categories we would like you to analyze in your report about our two biggest competitors:
- brand personality
- brand image
- brand identity
- brand differentiation
- brand positioning
- brand communication
- brand loyalty
- brand equity (including financial equity)
Slate’s executive teams are really looking forward to your report. Thanks for helping us with this.
Best,
Carlos
When you have finished reading about the branding elements, proceed to the next step, where you will begin your research on Slate’s competitors.
Step 3: Research Slate’s Competitors
Required Readings
Ferrara, M. H. (2013). Handbook of global marketing. Gale.
- Building an international brand
- Managing a brand across multiple markets
- Global brand success stories
To carry out this assignment, you need to understand Slate’s competitors’ brand strategies, their consumers, how to acquire market knowledge through primary and secondary research, and how to use that knowledge to build and support a brand.
To start your research, visit the websites of Slate’s two biggest competitors and review both scholarly and reliable nonscholarly sources to explore their branding decisions. Your research of the two companies should focus on the branding elements discussed in the previous step.
Consult a minimum of three scholarly sources and twelve reliable nonscholarly sources (15 total). Make sure that you use reliable, nonscholarly sources such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Statista, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as the UMGC Library databases such as Hoover’s, IBIS World, and ABI/INFORM.
In addition, explore the following branding websites for relevant content:
Then proceed to the next step, where you will discuss branding strategy.
Step 4: Discuss Competitors’ Branding Strategies
Importance of Branding
As you are researching Slate’s competitors, Carlos asks you to participate in a meeting on the importance of branding with his team.
Review the meeting details, then go to the discussion area and begin by posting your main response to Carlos’s questions by Saturday midnight (latest!). Support your arguments with at least one source from the course readings, and three reliable nonscholarly sources derived from your own research. Then respond to at least two postings in the discussion group. Complete all discussion posts and responses by Tuesday midnight (latest!).
Review the MBA Discussion Guidelines for instructions on participation in discussions.
In the next step, you will respond to your boss’s request for a vetted list of references you are using to support your report.
Step 5: Present Your Research Results
When you are just about finished with your research, MCS CEO, Jillian Best, decides to check in on your progress. She emails you requesting that you provide a list of the sources you are using for analysis:
INBOX: 1 New Message
Subject: Sources for Slate Project
From: Jillian Best, CEO, MCS
To: You
I know that you’re deep into your analysis of the Slate, Inc. case, but I wanted to preview your work and check in on the sources of information you are using to develop your report. Slate has asked to examine the sources of secondary research that we are using in our report to ensure their quality and originality. Accordingly, I want you to share the list of references you have been using to research Slate’s competitors.
Deliverable: Provide a reference list derived from your research that has a minimum of four scholarly and 16 reliable, nonscholarly sources (20 in all).
I suggest using reliable nonscholarly sources, such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, Statista, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as UMGC Library databases, such as Hoover’s, IBIS World, and ABI-Inform.
All sources should be referenced using APA formatting.
Thanks for your hard work,
Jillian
Submit your reference list to the Assignments folder. Then proceed to the next step, where you will write your brand analysis report.
Step 6: Submit Your Brand Analysis Report
Required Readings
Chapters 7 and 16
Lancaster, G., & Massingham, L. (2018). Essentials of marketing management (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Deliverable: Based on your research of the two companies’ brands, write an 12 – 13 page report (six pages separately on each company under its own heading, and each brand element discussed and supported separately under its own subheading) that addresses the following branding elements:
- brand personality
- brand image
- brand identity
- brand differentiation
- brand positioning
- brand communication
- brand loyalty
- brand equity (including financial equity)
As you examine these branding elements, your report should also answer the following questions:
- How strong are the companies’ brands in the market?
- What are the factors contributing to their strengths and weaknesses?
- How are these two brands competing against each other? How strong is their global performance?
- How do consumers perceive their brands?
- Are there any sub-brands? Are there any brand extensions?
Support your work with course readings, scholarly sources, and reliable nonscholarly sources, such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, the Financial Times, Statista, the Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as UMGC Library databases, such as Hoover’s, IBIS World, and ABI-Inform. All sources have to be cited using APA formatting, both within the text and in the reference list.
Your report to Carlos should be 12-13 pages, excluding cover page, the reference list, and appendices. Any graphs, tables, and figures should be included as appendices. Your report should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.
By midnight on Saturday of Week 4, submit your report to the Assignments folder.
Step 7: Complete Your Brand Analysis Report
Deliverable: Incorporate any revisions to your final Brand Analysis report.
Also, include the following:
- A one-page executive summary that highlights the most important findings of your analysis.
- A clear recommendation on Slate’s branding of the new product that they intend to launch, and include your rationale (at the end of the paper).
- A one-page table in an appendix at the end of the paper that compares the eight brand elements for the two brands.
Your final report to Carlos should be 11-13 pages, excluding cover page, executive summary, the reference list, and appendices. Any graphs, tables, and figures should be included as appendices. Your report should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.
Submit your final report to the Assignments folder.
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