STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT

Choose from the following topics-

Place Branding-for example a tourism destination (country or city).
A combined Product/Service brand- for example a software technology product/service.

Both these topics are complex as they are ‘intangible’ in nature –

Choose two countries or two combined product/services which have an on-line presence aimed at creating high value. This may include non-profit organisations such as museums, art galleries etc, or governmental organisations as well as private companies and corporations. Visit their websites and assess how they are signaling their offer. Consider their brand architecture, the brand as a symbol, the brand as a product/service and the brand as a person. Develop a long list of attributes related to the brand, not the web site.

Critically evaluate their positioning strategies and offer recommendations to these companies/organisations.

Structure of the assignment

1. Executive summary- summarise the key issues raised in the report.
2. Selection of the company/organization responsible for the brand. Explain your choice of companies and any judgements which helped you make this choice.
3. The positioning of these services as presented in their websites. The various dimensions of positioning should include symbol, product/service and personality characteristics, as they are portrayed in the web sites. You should also discuss brand architecture, the brand depth and width or any other aspects of their brand strategy that you feel is relevant. One section for each company/organization summarizing key points should be used.
4. Comparison of the positioning of the selected companies/organisations. You should try to identify points of parity and the points of difference in the positioning of these on line companies/ organisations. You are expected to use relevant diagrams, tools and models to illustrate your views on how these brands are positioned and why they are positioned in this way.
5. Provide feedback in your report to the brand support teams of these two organisations. You could compare and contrast your findings in relation to the two brands which you have chosen to generate greater insights. Discuss issues such as targeting specific groups of customers, changes which could be beneficial for these on-line companies or organisations and any other challenges related to the image that is identified during contact with the website. Remember to focus on positioning or, re-positioning the brand to create maximum value for the various stakeholders.

Individual Report Guidance
You are expected to refer, critique and apply relevant theory, tools and models to demonstrate your viewpoint and findings within the report. Appendices maybe used up to a maximum 3,000 words in total. All references should be cited and a bibliography detailing the sources should be included at the end of the report before appendices. Remember to consider how brands meet the needs of a range of stakeholders and also; how multisensory cues can help differentiate brands and build brand equity. In addition consider how companies can develop brand elements that help build brand equity; appreciating how marketing and in particular marketing communications help build brand equity. These aspects should help form the basis of your report.

You should use relevant tables, diagrams, models and figures throughout the report. This material should be developed from you and should be based on the data collected from websites, current journal papers, theory and media reports. Marketing information on the positioning of the companies/organisations should come from the company or organisation’s websites.

The report should be clearly organized and divided in the pre-mentioned sections. The length of the report should be no more than 2,500 words (excluding the executive summary, appendices, tables and references).

Failure to comply with this word limit and structure will result in reduced marks. All parts of the essay should be formatted in 1.5 spacing and Times New Roman.

Sources of information and academic references should be acknowledged appropriately within the text using Harvard referencing style. Appendices appearing at the end of the text are not included in the word count.

You should run your assignment through the software package Turnitin (this can be found on the University’s website), and includes the Turnitin receipt in your assignment.