Collaborative teams will be formed, consisting of 4-5 students. Each team will select a brand that is actively in-the-market and conduct a brand audit. The work of this brand audit is to perform an assessment as a consumer-focused exercise, that reveals the health of the brand you select. As an outcome, each team will discover and detail the brand’s sources of consumer based brand equity; identify possible challenges and opportunities for the brand; and recommend ways to improve, defend and otherwise better leverage its brand equity. Selected brands can come from any number of areas including services or products but with these limitations: 1) the brand will need to be pre-approved by me; 2) it should not be a brand that we have discussed in depth during lecture; 3) or one that has been well covered in the assigned readings/case studies. I also would prefer you to avoid high fashion and current celebrity brands. You may consider non-profit, geography, consumer product, technology for example. In choosing your brand, you will want to consider the accessibility of information that can inform your audit.
The goal is for each team to build your conceptual understanding within the given framework to draw connections and identify brand equity growth opportunities.
The brand audit will draw on two steps: the Brand Inventory, and the Brand Exploratory.
Step 1: The Brand Inventory will be a comprehensive profile of the brand and its assets, which may include identification of:
• Brand purpose, mission, vision and values
• Brand elements (logos, slogans, sounds, characters)
• Brand positioning
• Digital assets (website, social media)
• Product and service attributes
• Direct and indirect key competitive brands
• Relevant marketing activities, target audiences
• Pricing, distribution, retail
Pricing, distribution, retail is my part.
In this process, each team should work to form strategic questions that may support the brand by assessing factors such as:
• Consistency and continuity of the brand throughout its footprint; how are brand
elements utilized
• Strengths and weaknesses of the brand
• Is the brand rising, maintaining its position, or losing relevancy and possibly declining
• Target audience opportunities
Additionally, using the Brand Report Card, by Kevin Lane Keller, in your Course Pack, the
prompts will serve as a guiding tool in the Brand Inventory stage. Each team is to include a
completed report card in their final submission.
Step 2: The Brand Exploratory focuses on potential consumer perceptions of the brand. Thus, the second step of the brand audit is to research and seek understanding of what consumers actually think of the brand. In this process you may consider use of third-party data sources:
• Analysis of available consumer, category, or brand-specific research
• Analysis of consumer trend reports
• Other available qualitative or quantitative data from sources such as Nielsen, US Census
Bureau, Pew Research, trade organizations, etc.( This is my part)
• Not required, but you may take opportunity to interview a representative of the brand
In this process, each team should work to form strategic questions that assess how brand goals
are being delivered to consumers considering factors such as:
• Reveal strengths and/or gaps in the awareness, understanding, relevancy of the brand
to intended audiences
• Consider desired versus actual perceptions of consumers may have based on their
potential exposure to the brand
• Impact of brand marketing communication efforts in supporting goals
• Non marketing factors influencing brand equity
Based on each team’s findings through the Inventory and Exploratory phases, each team should reach several strategic and/or tactical recommendations to support the strength of your brand’s brand equity. Each team will check-in with me no later than class on our class on April 19, to share your recommendations so that I may provide fine-tuning towards the submission of the final deliverable.
Our Brand is: Tiffany&Co
My first step part is: pricing, distribution, retail
My step two part is:Other available qualitative or quantitative data from sources such as Nielsen, US Census Bureau, Pew Research, trade organizations, etc.