Category: Brand

The teams main project will involve branding a product. The product is a jewelry line that was previously being made in a local cottage industry. Following the success the jeweler had among the local community, she now wants to brand her products. This branding will be followed by a marketing campaign. The jeweler has contracted me to lead a small team that will be in charge of the branding process. The jeweler started making these products to be able to cope with the effects of the recession four years ago.

Initially, her work was part time but it has since become full time. Because of the economic situation during the inception of the business, most of these products are lowly priced. By branding her products, the jeweler is hoping to raise the products stature. The jeweler is hoping to use my expertise to make sure that the branding transforms the market value of her products.

Having been contracted for this project I proceeded to set up a creative team that would accomplish this task. Unfortunately, all the three people I requested were in different states. The budget set aside for this project would not be sufficient to gather the group in a central point. This is why we decided to collaborate virtually.

Virtual collaboration seemed like a viable option because it saved costs and ensured none of the team members would have their social life disrupted by the project. All the three members are in different states across the country. Two of the members in this team are my former college mates while the third member is a former colleague. The virtual collaboration will encompass different platforms such as video conferencing, instant messaging, and audio conferencing among others.

The project at hand might seem simple but it is actually very momentous. If the jewelers products are well branded, it might be a stepping-stone to a bigger market for her products. On the other hand, if the branding fails even the little progress made by the products could be reversed.

The teams first task will be to conduct intensive research on the jewelry market. The initial research will focus on the jewelry shops within this state. Then the research will explore online marketing options. After exploring these fundamentals, the research will then explore the impact this branding can have on the national and global markets.

The latest research indicates that some of the most successful branding and marketing campaigns in recent times are the ones that had both originality and simplicity. However, originality does not translate to ignorance of market principles. This is why the research part of the project is very important. After this initial research, the group will embark on the real collaborative activities.

The first will involve sharing of the information each member gathered through individual research. Then we will move on to brainstorming sessions. During these sessions, there are two important details that the group needs to agree on. The first is the jewelry lines brand name and the other one is the logo for the brand. When going about this, it is important to put into consideration the brands future expansion.

For this collaborative project to be successful, all members of the team need to commit themselves to this project in the course of the next one month. As the team leader, I am in charge of specifying the modes of collaboration as well as the time commitment procedures. When selecting the team, I took several factors into consideration.

The first of these factors is the ability of every member to employ fresh thinking. Fresh thinking means that there is no room for conservativeness in the team. To meet this criterion, I chose to start by considering those people I have worked with before.

The two first members of the team are my former college mates. In college, we had already collaborated in several successful projects. The third member is someone I worked with during my internship at an investment firm. I preferred this member because he has the ability to supply original ideas and at the same time be a team player. Most original thinkers are reserved people who have trouble collaborating with others. The third member of the group transcends this impediment.

The next requirement was the members ability to work seamlessly with up to date collaboration tools. This simply means that all the members need to be technologically versed. In todays terms, these are the people who often use the virtual communication tools on a day-to-day basis.

This means that their facebook or twitter accounts are regularly updated, they take part in online forums, and they most likely run blogs. Two of the members in my team possess all these three requirements. All the members of this team also need to be able to interact with one another comfortably without having to meet face-to-face. In modern times, people do not necessarily need to meet in order to be comfortable with one another.

However, there are people who are yet to grasp this concept. All the members of my team need to have overcome this hurdle. For instance, at times the jeweler might be part of our video-conferencing sessions and this should not be a discomfort to anyone. Finally, all the members of my team need to have covered brand development either in school or during later careers. It is also important that all the members have access to high-speed internet and up to date video conferencing software and hardware.

My role as the teams leader will be to coordinate not to dictate. This means that all decisions have to be agreed on by all the team-members. Each individuals contribution to the group is equally important. However, in some instance the members will be assigned tasks that relate to their areas of residence.

For example, a member might be required to visit the jewelry shops in his/her area of residence and purchase a particular product. These tasks are very important as they are meant to capitalize on the collaborative nature of this project. Nevertheless, the final decision belongs to the jeweler herself. If she is not satisfied with a particular idea, then the group is obligated to supply a new one.

The group will undertake this project as a networked team. This means that the group will dissolve at the end of the project. The budget provided for the team can only accommodate two face-to-face meetings during the entire project. However, these are only on a need-to basis and they are not scheduled. All the other communication will be through virtual means. At the stipulated time, the group will hold video conferences to discuss matters concerning this project.

Only one member of the group is in a different time zone. This member is already aware of this, and has agreed to make adjustments. Video conferencing will use laptops or personal computers. All other pertinent information about the project can be communicated through mobile phones and emails. This can either be in form of calls or text messages. In case connection is lost during a meeting, members can reschedule or take short a recess until the problem is resolved.

There is a single payment for the entire project. As the teams leader, I am in charge of the budget. I have also managed to negotiate salaries with all the other three members. The salary structure for all members is similar but there is a stipulation for penalties.

The structure allows me to earn a profit from the entire project. My profit margin is however dependent on the speed with which the team is able to deliver. Therefore, it is my goal to keep the team motivated and efficient in order to avoid a loss-making scenario. As an added perk, the jeweler has promised to extend our services to advertising and marketing if we do a good job with the branding.

The success of this project depends on the ability of the team members to work under the stipulated environment. Given that all the team members have a commendable level of experience in branding, the team is likely to come up with a good brand name and logo. The main advantage for the team is that most of the members have interacted before. This means the team has already overcame one main limitation of virtual collaboration. The jeweler who has contracted the team also supports this idea because she believes it is a great way to gather talent.

Executive summary

This marketing research has been carried out to study the importance of brand image and relate it to brand association. Two major hypotheses have been formulated after extensive literature review following already preset objectives.

These hypotheses have been appropriately named H1 and H2, where H1 suggests that there is a correlation between brand image and brand association and H2 is based on the proposal that brand image and brand image influence how customers respond to a product in the market. A proper analysis of figures and facts collected has served to illustrate to prove the above hypotheses true.

Introduction

The importance of market research cannot be underestimated in todays competitive business atmosphere. Information collected by the researchers comes in handy in helping the decision makers come up with functional strategies to help the business cut a niche in the market.

By identifying the customers needs, businesses can come up with creative ways to attract the attention of the public to a product that is targeted at addressing this need. In order to serve the purpose of market research, this essay seeks to underscore the value of both brand image and brand association in relation to how products and services are received by the public.

To this end, a proper literature review will be provided to study on common trends and influences of branding and specifically brand image and brand association.

Accompanying the literature review is a set of primary data collected from the public through questionnaires and analyses of the data collected alongside their interpretation. Finally, limitations of the two aspects of branding-brand image and brand association will be pointed out before recommendations are made.

Literature review

Brand imaging is by far the most important component of marketing that will help a company get its product off its stores and into the houses of the intended customers. According to Aaker (1991), the more a brand appeals to the customers the more they will develop the need to purchase the product.

In this way, the brand image adds to the value of the product. The definition of brand image has come to be the subject of debate amongst scholars and researchers in the field of marketing (Dobni & Zinkhan, 1990).

One of the most renown researchers in the field Kevin Lane Keller defined brand image as perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory (1993).

This definition has been supported by many of his peers including Andrew Mitchell who describes brand image as simply all that a consumer can possibly associate with a particular brand (1982). Studies have shown that consumers of a particular product when going out to purchase the product seek to also get the image associated with the product.

For instance, the various presentations of beer as making an individual tough causes many men to go for the particular drink that promises them the most power. They therefore consume the beer in the hope that it will make them appear tough in the eyes of other people.

The best brand images will instantly evoke response from the consumers and will stand out from other brands in the same market (Till, 1998). When conducting an analysis of the brand image for a particular product, the researcher basically seeks to find out the first thing that comes to the mind of consumers when they hear of or see the product. The brand image is complemented by other branding aspects such as packaging, customer service and advertising.

While the phrase brand image has come to be well developed to an extent that it has come to be regarded as an independent aspect of marketing concepts, there are many scholars who have categorically chosen not to use the words in their works, much as they may be studying concepts very similar to brand image.

These professionals totally agree that consumers of particular products generally pick them up based on their physical appearance (Stanton, Etzel, & Walker, 1994). This is basically what brand image is though these scholars would not use the word. Though this is just calling a rose by any other name in the interest of professionalism, it is only prudent that these variants be given consideration.

Some schools of thought have chosen to focus on the symbolism associated to brands and products. As a result, in place of the words brand image, the scholars involved in this line have coined words such as perceived product utility and symbolic utility Some other scholars have chosen to emphasize the human characteristics in the concept of product acceptance and have adopted phrases such as the social and psychological nature of products (Nilson, 1999).

A third group that has chosen to disregard the words brand image have instead focused their attention on the meanings that consumers associate to the product. For instance, certain scholars have in the past used complex wordings such as the psychological meaning of products (Alreck, & Settle 1999) to describe the concept of brand image.

The methods for determining the levels of brand image are not uniformly applicable to particular cases. In the number of years that brand image has been generally accepted as a concept of marketing, various methods and tools have been developed and put into use in the analysis of the structuring of brand images.

A lot of studies have been carried out to establish various ways of assessing brand images with some groups chosing to measure individual aspects of a brand (Rooney 1995). Other individuals have come up with methods to do a wholesome analysis of the particular brand image. Though studies have been taking place to try and establish a method to qualitatively and quantitatively measure aspects of brand image (Kanwar, Olson, & Sims, 1981).

Brand association is the amount to which a particular brand is linked to the particular product it describes in the eyes of the consumer. In general brand association is the identity that individuals use to distinguish a product from similar products (Aaker,1991; Stanton et al.,1994). There are a number of ways in which the manufacturers of a given product can help customers develop an association to the product. These include:

Benefit to the customer

Consumer benefit is the particular requirement that taken care of by a product. For example, skin protection by a sunscreen cream is considered its consumer benefit (Fournier, 1995.). The benefit of a product to the customer may be guided by either rationality or emotions.

When rationality comes into play in determining the benefit to a consumer, it generally means that the value proposed by the brand is as close as possible to the benefit obtained from the product itself. If psychological and emotional associations are used to determine the value of a product, the benefit that the consumer gets from the product is not directly obtained from the functionality aspects of the particular product (Kassarjian, 1977).

For instance, the rational benefit of a car is the fact that it can help move from one place to another conveniently while the emotional benefit would be the prestige of owning a car.

Attributes of the product

The person in charge of marketing a particular product can choose to generally relate the brand that he is supporting to a particular usage or function (Calderon, Cervera, & Molla, 1997). For instance, coffee can be associated with couple out on date in a cosy restaurant, by a fireplace.

Consumer/customer

Brands can also be associated to particular consumers or users. Marketers of a certain product need to identify the target group before they release it to the public (Quester, Farrelly, 1998). For instance, some products may be associated to individuals who own offices as would be in the case of filing cabinets.

Celebrity

When a product is associated to an individual who has some credible perception in the eyes of the public, the value associated to it automatically goes up (Finlay, 1996). This is the reasons why we see celebrities being contracted to endorse certain products. For instance, if a popular wrestler endorses an off-road vehicle, the public learn to associate the car to the toughness of the individual.

Personality of the product

Just like human beings, product can be classified depend on characteristics such as trustworthiness, strength, youthfulness and so on and so forth (Schiffman & Kanuk, 1996).

Objectives

The Objectives of the research were to:

• To analyze the relation between brand image and brand association
• To establish the how brand image and brand association influence decisions made by customers in relation to product choice

Research Questions

• What are the distinguishing and uniting factors of brand image and brand association?
• How are brand image and brand association to the decisions that customers make in relation to choice of products?

Hypotheses

• There is a correlation between brand image and brand association.
• Brand image and brand association are the key determinants of how consumers respond to a given product.

Data collection instrument (questionnaire)

Quantitative method was used to collect data. This is a method which was developed in the natural sciences to study natural phenomena. It is positivist and objectivist as well as deductive: testing of theory.

The questionnaire is one of the main instruments for gathering data using a social survey design. It is completed by the respondent. The questionnaire, which is one of the quantitative survey methods, was used in this research in order to collect the primary data. The reasons for using a questionnaire are that compared with the interview, the questionnaire is cheaper to administer, quicker to administer and convenient for respondents

The development of questionnaire passes through three stages; planning stage, design stage and pilot stage. Therefore, the researcher has followed these stages for the questionnaire.

In this research, the questionnaire was designed in relation to the literature review: the questions were formulated as closed questions to answer the research questions. The questions considered illustrate the relationship between brand image and brand association.

Therefore questions 1 and 2 (as the opening questions) ask what the relationship is between the brand image and brand association, and which type of services they use. Question 3 explores how brand image influences choice of particular products while question 4 measures how decisions regarding the purchase of certain products are determined by brand association.

Question 5 illustrates customer preference and how it is influenced by brand image and brand association. Questions 6 and 7 measure the interaction between brand image and brand association, as well as customers expectations of a particular brand. Questions 8 and 9 measure customer loyalty to a particular product based on its brand.

Question 10 is a demographic question. However, all the questions have been formulated to measure (directly or indirectly) the customer preference and loyalty in the relation to brand image and brand association.

Furthermore, the layout of the questionnaire was designed by using some tactics in order to be clear as well as attractive for respondents. The researcher used the standard likert five point scales in the majority of questions to make it easer to collect the data (Crompton, nda).

Some experiments recommend that demographic questions should be at the end of questionnaires because the data is sensitive; therefore the current researcher has considered that in the design of this questionnaire.

In addition, ambiguous terms were avoided in the questions, and any long, repetitious, leading or double-barrelled items, and negative questions which could essentially reduce the effectiveness of the project.

Content validity of the questionnaire (pilot study)

Piloting is not only trying to ensure that survey questions operate well; it also has a role in ensuring that the research instruments as a whole function well. They add that a pilot study allows such a question to be identified. Also, it allows the researcher to determine the adequacy of instructions to respondents completing questionnaires. Moreover, it gives the researcher an idea of the questions: are they well phrased, or do they need modification?

In this research, existing questions were utilized especially in the demographic part of the questionnaire. In addition, the questionnaire was pre-tested before redesigning the final questionnaire. Therefore, the first draft of the questionnaire was revised by checking that the questions cover the entire main points in the literature review which are related to customer preference and loyalty.

The second draft was assessed by 10% of the sample (four people), two of whom are loyal clients of particular products and generally pick them based on brand image and brand association. The individuals were asked to comment about the layout, content, and language clarity of the questionnaire. They gave some observations about it before the final draft was made.

Sampling

The size of the sample in this research was 40 respondents, who were selected according to the objectives of the study which are to examine customer preference as influenced by brand image and brand association. Therefore, the sample section had to comprise customers loyal to particular products based on how they were branded. They were selected from outside stores, because and a majority were the consumers of household commodities

Data collection methods

As mentioned above, a questionnaires was used to obtain data from the study group. The survey method was utilized in the collection of primary data. The questionnaires were distributed by three methods:

Face to face

Some respondents were met on a one on one basis and requested to fill the questionnaires. The reasons for using this approach was that it was cheap and hastened the process of data collection. This method also allowed respondents to see the questionnaire forms and answer the questions easily. Getting individuals who would fit in the target group was however challenging.

Email

Most of the data was collected by email; a method that proved to be very effective in this research. The reasons for using this approach were that it was a cheap and quick method for collecting the data. It also allowed respondents to see the questionnaire forms and answer the questions easily.

Telephone

The third approach used in the collection of primary data was via telephone. This was however only used with a few respondents from the sample group. It was recognized that this is an expensive method of data collection, and it also came with the disadvantage of respondents not being able to see the questions; Its advantage was that was a very quick method of obtaining data and the answers received were also precise.

Limitations

• This research was limited to a sample of 40.
• The research was carried out within a limited period of time.
• This study was limited in term of the honesty and thoroughness of the respondents in completing the questionnaires.

Managerial implications

Seeing that there is a direct correlation between product branding and customer preference and loyalty, it is only imperative that the company establishes strategies to help in enhancing the functions of selling the brand image and capitalizing on brand association.

Recommendations

The company should concentrate on service quality ensuring that it maintains and enhances the image of the product in the market. In addition to this, the company should concentrate on consumer loyalty by building a strong relationship with them through fulfilling their needs, preferences and expectations.

Conclusion

In this research, the literature review and the finding of the correlation test show that, there is a significant and moderate positive relationship between three variables in the branding, namely: brand image, brand association, customer preference and customer loyalty.

Reference List

Aaker, D.A.,1991. Managing brand equity: Capitalizing on the value of brand name. NewYork: TheFreePress

Alreck, P.L. & Settle, R.B., 1999. Strategies building consumer brand preference. Journal of Product and Brand Management. 8(2), pp65-93

Badri, M.A. ,Davis,D.L. & Davis,D.F., 1995.Decision support for global marketing strategies: The effect of country of origin on product evaluation. Journal of Product and Brand Management. 4(5), pp87-152

Broniarczyk, S.M. & Alba,J.W., 1994.The importance of in brand extension. Journal of Marketing Research, 22(3), pp123-185

Calderon,H., Cervera,A. & Molla, A., 1997. Brand assessment a key element of marketing strategy. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 6 (5), 165-255.

Dobni, D., & Zinkhan, G. M., 1990. In search of brand image: A foundation analysis Advances in consumer research, 17 (2): pp110-119.

Finlay, K., 1996. Reliable and valid measurement of memory content and structure as a function of brand usage pattern. Advances In Consumer Research, 23(1), pp282-288.

Fournier, S., 1995. A brand as a character, a partner, and a person: Three perspectives on the question of brand personality. Advances In Consumer Research, 22, pp393-395.

Kanwar, R., Olson, J. C., & Sims, L. S., 1981. Toward conceptualizing and measuring cognitive structures. Advances In Consumer Research, 8(3), 122-127.

Kassarjian, H. H., 1977. Content analysis in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 4(2), pp8-18.

Keller, K. L., 1993. Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing Research, 29(5), pp1-22.

Mitchell, A. A.,1982. Models of memory : Implications for measuring knowledge structures. Advances In Consumer Research, 9(4), pp945-951.

Nilson,T.H., 1999. Competitive branding. New York: John Wiley & Sons Ltd Quester,P.& Farrelly,F., 1998. Brand and memory decay effects of sponsorship: The case of the australian formula one grand prix. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 7(6), pp235-362.

Rooney, J.A., 1995.Branding: A trend for today and tomorrow. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 4(4), pp65-98.

Schiffman, L.G. & Kanuk, L., 1996. Consumer behaviour. NewDelhi: Prentice-Hall Of India.

Stanton,W., Etzel,I.J., & Walker.B.J., 1994. Fundamentals of marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Till, B.D., 1998. Using celebrity endorsers effectively: Lessons from associative learning. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 7(5), pp145-209.

Introduction

The ability of consumers to identify, describe and differentiate a specific brand from its competition is at the center of all branding initiatives carried out by different branding managers as they try to improve their brand awareness levels. This paper shall set out to discuss the importance of brand awareness by conducting a case study that compares two brands in Australia.

This shall be done by highlighting the importance of brand awareness, comparing the breadth and depth of brand awareness for the chosen products and analyzing the results from the survey conducted in a bid to measure the level of brand awareness each product has in the Australian market.

Importance of brand awareness

According to Atiglan et al. (2009), brand awareness refers to the likelihood that consumers within a given market know of the existence and availability of a given product. Atiglan et al. (2009) further state that brand awareness is the degree of precision to which consumers link a brand to a specific product. Effective brand awareness is measured from the consumers ability to recognize or recall a specific brand.

Similarly, Srivastava (2009) argues that branding efforts become futile if the product does not satisfy the needs of the targeted consumers. As such, the author states that brand managers should come up with brands that consumers can identify with in regard to the products performance, applicability and imagery.

With this in mind, it is always important for brand managers to measure the brand awareness level of their brands in order to reap the learning, consideration and choice advantages.

Keller (2008), states that effective brand awareness ensures that the brand is registered in the consumers mind. This means that a consumer is able to easily recognize and recall a brand amidst other competing brands.

In addition, brand awareness increases the probability that consumers will consider a specific brand and choose it when faced with options. As such, measuring the brand awareness level of a given brand is important to brand managers because it enables them to market and improve their brands in a manner that guarantees consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

Breadth and Depth of Brand Awareness: Sample Description

According to Keller (2008), the depth of brand awareness refers to the ease of recognition and recall and how strong the brand is categorized among competing brands. The breadth of brand awareness deals with the purchase and consumption considerations made by the consumer when choosing a specific brand.

In order to measure these dimensions, a case study was conducted in a bid to establish the overall consumer satisfaction rating of two prominent quick service restaurants in Australia. McDonalds restaurants and Subway restaurants were chosen and ten respondents selected to participate in the survey.

Eating fast and maintain a healthy life style were the main considerations made by consumers frequenting quick service restaurants. This is according to results posted by respondents to a survey recently conducted in Australia. Age, gender and career choice played a pivotal role in determining the type of food consumers ordered.

In regard to brand recognition, most people stated that they knew McDonalds and have had their meals. They attributed this to the fact that McDonalds is prominent, familiar and popular as compared to other brands. However, when asked of their satisfaction rating, most participants recalled that subway restaurants offered the best services in terms of price, quality of service and interactivity.

Research method

A qualitative research methodology was selected for this study. The primary method of data collection was a survey. A semi-structured interview was conducted with the selected respondents and the results compiled and analyzed graphically.

Table 1: selection criteria of respondents

This research method was selected due to its flexibility and its ability to give credible and computable results. In addition, it enabled the researcher to observe and interact with the respondents freely without inconveniencing their schedules. Out of the five male respondents, two were aged below 25 years old. Three of the female respondents were below 25 years old.

The logic behind this classification is because younger females are more conscious about their looks as compared to their older counterparts. On the other hand, older males are health conscious and try to live health lives. This criterion was effective since it was designed to evaluate the level of brand awareness of the selected brands in regard to consumer satisfaction.

Measures

The respondents were required to rate their satisfaction levels from the selected brands based on predefined parameters. The rating method was based on a scale of 1-5 stars, 1 star being the lowest score and 5 stars being the best score. These two restaurants were selected due to their market share and availability across the Australian market. Below is an overall presentation of the results posted from the survey.

Research results

As mentioned earlier brand salience focuses on the ability of the brand to create a lasting impression on the consumer mind.

The results from the survey indicated that while McDonalds is a renowned brand in Australia, its brand awareness level is lower in comparison to the levels exhibited by subway restaurants, which are higher. The graph below shows the relationship between the respondents and their responses on the selected measures.

Graph 1: respondents and response to brand awareness Measures

From the graph it is evident that the brand awareness levels of Subway restaurants are higher than those recorded for McDonalds restaurants. This can be attributed to the fact that Subway restaurants have marketed their brands more effectively in terms of consumer satisfaction, quality of service and the ability of consumers to identify themselves with Subways products.

For example, in their website, Subway restaurants offer their consumers a chance to develop a unique recipe for their meals. This is a marketing strategy that ensures that consumers have a sense of ownership to this brand, thereby guaranteeing their loyalty.

In addition, subways emphasis on fresh and healthy products attracts more consumers. This ensures that their products are recognized, considered and chosen by consumers.

On the other hand, McDonald has failed to address the key issues that may make their brand more prominent. By providing less quality products, McDonalds has given Subway restaurants a competitive edge that remains unmatched in the Australian market.

Data analysis

Data analysis was categorized according to the drinks, breakfast and meal preference of the respondents as can be seen in appendix 1. In regard to drinks, McDonalds brands were preferred by most of the respondents.

Subway restaurant meals and breakfasts were preferred by all respondents due to the fact that they are healthier options in comparison to those served at McDonalds restaurants. Below is a table showing a breakdown of brand preferences recorded by respondents

The table above shows the number of respondents who could recognize and recall various products from the selected brands. From the results, it is evident that the depth of brand awareness for Subway brand products is higher than that of McDonalds brand products.

Conclusion

Brand awareness provides brand managers with an avenue through which they can effectively market their products in a competitive business environment. By ensuring that a brand is easily recognized, recalled and considered, businesses guarantee their survival, all the while increasing consumer loyalty.

From this report, it is evident that brand awareness plays a pivotal role in marketing and it should be effectively implemented if success is to be achieved.

References

Atiglan, E, Akinci, S, Aksoy, S & Kaynak, E 2009, Customer-Based Brand Equity for Global Brands: A Multinational Approach, Journal of Euromarketing, vol. 18, no. 2, pp.115-132.

Keller, KL 2008, Strategic brand management  building, measuring and managing brand equity, international edition, 3rd edn, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Srivastava, RK 2009, Measuring brand strategy: can brand equity and brand score be a tool to measure the effectiveness of strategy?, Journal of Strategic Marketing, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 487-497.

Appendix

Compiling results for depth of brand awareness

Introduction

Soulo karaoke is an effective application system that holds conventional features that aid in sharing the information between individuals. The sing a long system has a library of various songs that are popular among music fans. It acts as an essential entertainment support system, and is especially popular among the youths. Thus, this project focuses on establishing the imperativeness of Soulo Karaoke and its brand strategies.

The applications market position, niche and value

Indeed, the product was introduced in the market through the adoption of a niche market entry strategy by its producers. The strategy was deemed appropriate since it helps the establishing products to gain popularity and acceptance very quickly (Longhurst 23). Similarly, it remains a viable entry strategy in a market that is characterized with intense competition in the technology industry. Its producers target the youth and low income earners as they are initial customers in the niche settings.

They were targeted since they were a neglected group by other companies that operated in the same industry. Notably, the strategy yielded immense benefits to the applications developers since it was easily accepted by youths and subsequently other individuals who use mobile systems. The strategy has immensely facilitated strategic positioning of the application in the market (Longhurst 26). This is noticeable since it is widely accepted and used by many individuals.

Its branding and leader strategy

The product holds a strong position in the market as depicted by its key features that include portability, flexibility, tonal enhancement capacity and video creation. Its developers were keen on developing a product that holds unique brand features and name to counter the dominance of key competitors in the market (Jenkins 43). They were also keen on producing a brand that youths could easily identify and that could satisfy their needs. As noted, the brand strategy was technologically and innovatively generated.

It was developed based on creative ideals from the initial stages of idea generation to product launching and marketing. In particular, the products brand name was exclusively selected, its marketing strategies were well designed and its operating systems also remained well installed. These aspects explain the brand strategy that the products developers have adopted in facilitating sales of the item (Jenkins 49).

Internal strengths and financial-risk

As noted, the application has immense internal strengths that propel its acceptance among potential customers. The strengths are derived from its features and incentives that its users receive (Haley and Younge 6). Firstly, it enables users to sing and share their performances with others with much ease. This enables various music fans and video lovers to share information pertaining to music or video shows effectively via Facebook or twitter. It also supports quality recording of songs since it provides real-time voice enhancers or regulators. Thirdly, it is portable and easy to install in compatible phones such as 3G phones, iPhones and iPads.

Consequently, the application supports the execution of multiple activities such as video streaming, recording of songs and sharing of information across networks.

Despite the applications noble strengths, it has diverse financial risks that its producers and users must observe. Firstly, its developers must ensure that it is safe, it is of quality and that it holds the capacity of satisfying customer needs effectively. This is essential in ensuring that its sales volume remains high to facilitate effective recovery of cost. This is also important to facilitate high returns (Haley and Younge 6). Similarly, users of the application should take precautionary measures when purchasing the application to ensure that they do not loose out by buying substandard applications.

Works Cited

Haley, Alex and Gary Younge. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, London: Penguin, 2001. Print.

Jenkins, Mark. iPad Music: In the Studio and on, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Pres, 2012. Print.

Longhurst, Brian. Popular Music and Society, Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2007. Print.

Background

British growers are facing competition from foreign exports and this has prompted them to put up an intense fight. Whereas the trend towards the domestic sustainability has indeed assisted the British farmers to secure some sales, in the future market, this only may not be sufficient enough.

John Giles said this while addressing the British tomato growers association at their 2010 conference. The UK has become a prime market for tomatoes as it has a greater appetite for the tomatoes and other product besides having affluent customers.

The Fast Moving Consumer Goods markets have seen competition among producers and suppliers increase and it has facilitated branding as a strategy to stay competitive on the market. Many producers have conducted a number of marketing campaigns to enable their products to develop strong brand identities for consumer products like bread (Warburtons bread, etc) and milk (Cravendale and Yeo Valley milk, etc).

These advertising and promotional activities for these consumer products have combined both the rational and emotional appeals with a unique image description with certain characteristics to attain competitive advantage.

The Tomatoes Challenge

Having been faced with imminent threat from foreign competition, the larger UK tomato grower Ennivel has come up with a strategy to develop a brand identity and a communication strategy for marketing its products on the domestic market. Ennivel has secured the three leading supermarket retail chains in the UK namely, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Tesco.

Nonetheless, Tesco has already begun purchasing tomatoes from the Spanish, Dutch and Italian importers and this has caused worry to the Ennivel executives that the business may not be able to compete aggressively with these larger exporters based on prices and quality alone. Its with this in mind that Ennivel is developing a brand of tomatoes that will communicate the healthy eating lifestyle (Organic + fresh tomatoes = Healthier life).

The Branding Strategy

The brand name i proposed for Ennivel tomatoes was Choochi. This is a very simple name and easy to keep in mind once a person comes across it. The name can readily be remembered and they can easily pronounce it. Furthermore it could be associated with chewing based on the sound. It is therefore almost a descriptive name describing tomatoes as edible.

The double O between the consonants will be drawn into tomato shapes therefore people can connect the name with tomatoes as they read it. Moreover the name Choochi can be easily identified as a logo and it will be drawn in red with the two Os depicting very ripe and succulent tomatoes

As a group we however settled on branding our tomatoes as Lyco instead of Choochi. We derived the name Lyco from the word lycopene. Lycopene is the name of the carotene compound found in tomatoes. The group thought that this name was more suggestive of our product; therefore its quality will definitely be associated with superiority. This is why we thought the name was the most appropriate as it was connected to tomatoes in a unique way.

The Advertising Message

I suggested to the group that Tomatoes have a lot of benefits and the advertising will seek to adopt a message that will summarize all these benefits in simple and short message. Generally tomatoes add colour to food. Ripe tomatoes are usually red in and when used for cooking they cause food to have a reddish coloration that is appealing.

Tomatoes are sometimes served as a main dish thus some people think it is a vegetable (Thybo 835). Due to their taste, tomatoes also add flavour to food especially foods like sandwiches, pizzas and other delicious delights. One can delightfully enjoy a simple salad that is made of onions, tomatoes and cucumbers.

However, it is important to note that tomatoes are not just taste makers they have several other incredible benefits that entail possibility to prevent cancers and heart problems. For this reason, we as a group settled on advertising our brand as an important health food product. Our advertisement strategy will have two goals. The communication objective will be to build health awareness among our customers.

We tell them that organic tomatoes boosted their health by protecting them from possible serious diseases like cardiovascular problems. Since health is a serious matter, we anticipate great response because many people are conscious of their health today. The group decided to adopt the advertising message in the form of the Slice of Life Appeal.

This technique is founded on the conflict-solution concept where the consumers are presented as having or fear an impending problem. As a result they are actively seeking to stop it or prevent it.

This makes a lot of sense because health statistics have shown that there have been an increasing number of people suffering from cancers and cardiovascular diseases over the past three decades. These medical problems are a very serious concern to the society. However, out advertising strategy presents Lyco tomatoes as part of the solution to help prevent such problems from developing.

Tomatoes have a number of health benefits and among them include the ability to prevent cancer. Antioxidants in tomatoes have the ability to prevent cancer (Metzger 67). Cooked tomatoes have been found to have the highest levels of lycopene which is the carotene element responsible for the red coloration and also linked to the protection of DNA from damage (Caballero 105; Metzger 67).

Tomatoes also contain other antioxidants like vitamins A and C which function to reduce risk of cancer. Tomatoes are therefore protective against prostrate cancers, breast cancers, oral cancers and stomach cancers among others (Metzger 67).

Ennivel intends to market Lyco tomatoes as healthy food stuff and as such, there are several slogans or messages that were proposed to help market its tomatoes (Thybo 835). Based on the benefits that tomatoes have, the following slogans were suggested colour for your food this was drawn from the fact that the reddish tomato coloration adds colour to food (Caballero 107); fill your life/meal with love, this was derived from the fact that ripe tomatoes are red and in most cases red in that colour of love.

We like choochi, was suggested to draw consumers into being connected to Choochi tomatoes because of their quality; delicious is tomatoes! slogan was also suggested to help market the tomatoes are spicy and tasty for food preparation.

Lastly, there was the catchphrase Tomatoes are cool and healthy. This is the slogan that will now be employed in the advertising message. The slogan is derived from the fact that tomatoes are essential food ingredients that not only add flavour and colour to food, but also have other healthy benefits. Therefore in order to sum these benefits in a short and attention attracting phrase, this slogan was selected.

This is because the firm aims at selling the idea that consumption of fresh organic tomatoes was a healthy habit for healthy life (Thybo 835). The word cool may not be formal but it has deeper meaning in the contemporary society where people of all ages associate it with being classy, superior, important and attractive. Therefore associating this term with healthy is very tactical, as it will deliver the message simply and vividly to children and adults without seeming boring or too fancy for adults (Lewis & Hill 207).

Research has found that children have a great influence on the way parents shop and that is why this advert is targeting children and parent. Essentially it is very easy to convince children concerning the product and draw their attention. Even though the main reason for advertising is to create health awareness and initiate the buying process, consumers like to be amused and enthused as well.

Basically, people never respond to adverts that are too boring. By mentioning the word healthy, the advert will resonate with the audience at a slightly deep level because it will be informative hence inspiring interest. This type of advertising is set to elicit great response since in a normal market as consumers are always looking to solve a problem as the slice of life appeal suggests. With intensive campaigns advocating for healthy eating and organic food consumption (Powers 16), our slogan is bound to attract people who want to be cool or classy and eat healthy at the same time.

What Consumers have not been told about Tomatoes

Most of the information about tomatoes has been said especially since there has been increased campaign towards healthy eating with the government and non-government organization claim on people to eat organic foods. Consumers may have not been told that tomatoes can help protect them form cardiovascular diseases.

Lycopene also has the ability to mitigate the occurrence of cardiovascular problems like heart disease (Caballero 105). Researchers in Boston Brigham Womens hospital found out that women who consumed tomato-based products had reduced risk of developing heart disease at 29% rate.

Tomatoes also contain chemical element called chromium, and this chemical helps patients suffering from type 2 diabetes to maintain blood sugar at normal level. Besides being able to protect human beings from cancers, tomatoes are able to reduce the levels of the dangerous Low Density Lipoproteins which are usually referred to as the bad cholesterol because of their impact on human health (Metzger 68).

Research has shown that tomatoes have to reduce the oxidation of the LDLs and therefore this reduced the effect of oxidized LDLs which include inflammation of the arteries and other tissues. This helps to reduced risk of developing arteriosclerosis.

Tomatoes also contain greater amounts of potassium and scientific research has shown that potassium has the ability of lowering blood pressure and there reducing the risk of developing heart problems.

The Target Market

The advert will strategically target both parents and children in order to have greater sales and build customer loyalty. It is easier to convince children that a product is entertaining or offers some reward when they acquire it (Lewis & Hill 207). Children present a very important group of in marketing since the UK lifestyle has completely transformed.

In the past, children never had a say in whatever the family was planning but today, the society has changed and children greatly influence parents decision like going to holiday and what to eat among others (Lewis & Hill 207).

The advert is designed to catch the attention of the children. Basically this strategy can easily create brand loyalty because we anticipate that children will grow special attachment to our brand as it campaigns for healthy eating. Therefore they will be loyal to the brand as they will have greater understanding of our policy.

As a group we thought that children are an important factor of decision making unit  DMU in a family. Children function as initiators of the decision to buy (Lewis & Hill 209). Parents are willing to agree to the demands of their children because they want their children to feel loved and as such they can buy most of the things that the child might suggest or imply to like.

Children also function as influencers by challenging their parents to buy or no to buy certain products based on certain reasons that they may have learnt concerning the product (Lewis & Hill 210). When children learn about our brand from the television adverts, at school from peers and teachers or following actual experience of the product in direct promotional activities, they can influence parents to buy, especially when they are refereeing to healthy organic and tomatoes.

In DMU, children are sometimes the deciders, the buyers and the users of the product (Lewis & Hill 210). This is very important to note because, in todays economy, all the customer categories are important especially children who have their own purchasing power and can influence that of their parents.

Children in the modern world enjoy more autonomy and power to make decisions to the family compared to the past decades (Lewis & Hill 212). This means that when children are more vocal with what they want, parent will be obliged to buy it. This has been termed as pester power where children nag and bother parents into purchasing

The idea of healthy eating is greatly advocated for in schools and even on the television by various groups that support the idea. Advertising is very much tied to psychology of the buyers. Healthy eating has constantly been advertised and it has become persistent where children can constantly plead with parents to consider organic foods (Powers 16).

After that persistent plea, comes the importance of the nagging. Parent are struggling to ensure that they raise healthy children and with such intentions, comes the desire to give the best to their children and this also works like the guilt of not spending more time with children.

Having targeted advertising, psychologists and researcher have identified what makes children react. This is based on their emotional, social and developmental needs as they grow up. This advertisement is clearly set to exploit art work of designing the logo, fantasy by use of informal words like cool and hope by suggesting that organic and fresh tomatoes caused healthier lives.

Besides attractive packaging and advertisement message, promotional activities will be conducted on the tomato shelf. Children will be given labels for every pack of tomatoes they collect. The pack will have a child challenge quiz for children to suggest ways of eating more tomatoes where the winner will be the most creative child and will be rewarded. Red dots will be put along the walking space to the tomato shelves to lead children to the brand.

The salesperson will wear a red nose like a clown to amuse and excite children at the shelf hence drawing their attention to the brand. Since the children spend almost 8 hours at school, we will invite several schools for school trip to our farm, let the children learn how tomatoes are grown and let them help with the process of growing the tomatoes to build some loyalty to our product (number of students, timings and age will be determined differently depending on the school.)

The key decision influencer for the children will be the brand design that is colourful; the labels give for every pack of tomatoes and catchy phrases used for our promotional activities. For the parents, it will be the pester influence from the children the fact that this will be promoting healthy eating.

The CDM study will guide our understanding of their purchase decisions because the final decision is much deeper than knowing a brand name. It entails emotional pull and persuasive message. We have done thorough market research and identified the emotional triggers which include the pester power of the children and the need to have healthy life.

Advertising Strategy: to Promote Healthy Eating

Because of the increased cases of diet related medical conditions and the role that diet plays in influencing chronic diseases, it has become important that people have to watch what they eat. Fruits and vegetables that are cultivated organically have been found to have greater ability to fight cancers because of the antioxidants these fruits have compared to other fruits cultivated normally (Metzger 67).

Research has found that pesticides, herbicides and certain synthetic fertilizers affect phenolics (the chemical responsible for plant defence mechanism). However organic fertilizers boost production of anticancer compounds (Metzger 67). Our production of tomatoes does not employ use of pesticides and herbicides.

Previous researches have shown that synthetic chemicals raze the natural development of the natural plant elements like phenolics. Antioxidants are also destroyed in the same way (Powers 17).

In order to be able to compete with other producers or growers, Ennvil aims at developing a brand Lyco which is basically organically produced tomatoes hence promoting healthy eating (Powers 17). The main idea behind this concept of advertising is that Organic and fresh food stuff will enhance healthier life.

This is the reason why our tomatoes will be produced without fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides (Powers 17). The tomatoes will be delivered at the retail stores within 24 hours after their harvest and the main goal is to develop a friendly, unique and recognizable brand that will allow consumers to enjoy healthy lives and tasty meals.

Our production will entail production of tomatoes by use of organic fertilizers and pesticides. As a result, the organic plants retain their natural chemicals as they are not interfered by synthetic chemicals from artificial fertilizers and pesticides. The tomatoes have the ability to make vitamins and other chemicals like lycopene naturally (Caballero 105).

For this reason, the organic tomatoes are usually more nutritional in compared to conventional tomatoes. This means that their consumption will make the body to receive a greater amount of nutrition as in vitamins and other minerals required by the body for healthy growth and development.

As part of the greatest marketing strategy, Ennvil will advertise tomatoes as very healthy for human consumption. To emphasize this, the message will say that Lyco tomatoes have many health benefits including defence from cardiovascular diseases.

The major challenge will be to convince the supermarket that our brand will not beat theirs or affect it in business. However, based on the fact that the consumer decision making process take the issues of having alternative seriously, we will use this concept to ask supermarket to allow more alternative for customer because it is one of the things that will attract them to the store.

Besides many clients do not like monopolistic businesses and as such, we will request to be allowed to engage in healthy competition where we seek to build each others competitiveness in terms of prices and quality of tomatoes. Consumer awareness has greatly increased and by having our organic tomatoes around, this will be an attraction enough to draw clients who would purchase other groceries as well particularly by impulse.

This would be a significant opportunity for the supermarket to improve on the quality of its tomatoes as well as build a reputation of being friendly and fairs engaging in healthy competition.

Media Strategy

Contrary to the popular belief that the internet is a very fast paced media for advertising reaching many parts, studies show that Television is more effective (Tymore 71). We contemplated that we could use cinema advertising to market out tomatoes. However, there are several advantages and disadvantages that influenced our decisions.

The advantage of using cinema for advertisement is that the message reaches the target audience directly because nearly all of the viewers pay attention to the big screen waiting for the movie to start or in between the movie they will still watch it (Tymore 71). Besides, the marketer is able to identify the target audience easily because in most cases the large number of people who go for cinemas are aged 18 to 35 years and few out of this age bracket.

The major disadvantages are that it is very costly to advertise in cinema and sometimes adverts in a movie theatre seem like distraction and people do not like them. Despite the fact that they can easily catch the attention of the audience, out target group is children and parents and this target group does not visit cinemas as often.

Instead of cinema, we resorted to using television as a medium for advertising because it is a medium that children and parent all have constant access. The cost of advertising on television is quite expensive if the ads have to be repeated for several times and on several channels (Singer & Singer 376).

Besides the ads are usually shorter and at times obscure but the Ennvil ad will be precise and revealing crucial information. Several experts will have to be employed in order to conduct the advert hence making the creation of the advert very intricate.

We settled on TV advertising because of some major advantages that distinguish it from cinema advert. Television has a great ability to communicate to a very large audience over a very big geographical area in a short period of time. Besides, TV advertising can be manipulated in terms of timing to target children and parents.

The adverts can be targeted to specific audience for instance placing the adverts during childrens programs like the cartoon networks. The timing include in the mornings before leaving for school, in the afternoons and lunchtime period, and during weekends. The ads can also be aired on adult shows and health programs (Singer & Singer 376). This way, the Ennvil tomatoes will be marketed to both the children and parents.

The use of visuals, sound and action, the TV ads will enable us as marketers to influence the audiences emotion as they listen and see the way the message is conveyed (Tymore 71). This also improves the credibility of the information being passed across hence catching the attention of the target group.

Television adverts are bound to be very efficient in influencing the consumers perceptions and gradually swaying their decisions later as instant sale may not be possible (Singer & Singer 376).

To enhance TV adverts, the group also suggested that the firm with put up Billboards close to schools and major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsburys and Morrisons. These supermarkets already have their own lines of tomatoes with their names. Lyco tomatoes are only adding up to these brands to increase customer options.

There will more adverts on the internet since its use cannot be overlooked. We will place adverts on Youtube, Facebook and other social sites to increase possibility of access by parents. As our tomatoes gain popularity, we believe the Word of Mouth will naturally take effect as our satisfied clients recommend it to friends and family.

The Above the Line (ATL) advertising used here is television and it is very effective however, we will have a strategy to combine it with Below the Line (BTL) strategies which will include the unconventional means of advertising.

Basically the changing market dynamics of the FMCG shows that BTL is very effective as it entails direct communication via email and direct mails. Besides being on television, Ennvil will employ email and direct mail communication to initiate closer communication with our clients (Tymore 71).

By sending direct mails and email to major retailers communicating to them our products, Ennvil is likely to win their confidence and secure orders because ambiguity can be clarified. We will link the ATL and BTL through social sites and sharing networks like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Myspace among others. This is just to make sure we reach a larger audience.

The main challenge will be to adapt consumer advertising and transforming into adverting strategy. This consumer advertising strategy has had very crucial impact on businesses and Ennvil is expected to exploit all the advertising strategies to ensure that it competes with tomatoes exporters from outside the UK.

Trade advertising will be designed to ensure greatest distribution of the products. The company will place articles in health magazines and or trade magazines like Progressive grocer.

Works Cited

Caballero, Benjamin. Guide to Nutritional Supplements. London: Academic Press, 2009. Print.

Lewis, Milton and Hill, Anderson. Food Advertising on British Childrens Television: A Content Analysis and Experimental Study with Nine-Year Olds. International Journal of Obesity, 22.3(1998): 206-214

Metzger, Boyd. American Medical Association Guide to Living with Diabetes: Preventing and Treating Type 2 Diabetes, American Medical Association. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2007. Print.

Powers, Sandy. Organic for Health. New York, Sandra Powers, 2006. Print.

Singer, Dorothy and Singer, Jerome L. Handbook of Children and the Media. London: Sage Publishers, 2008. Print.

Thybo, Annet, et al. Effect of Organic Growing Systems on Sensory Quality and Chemical Composition of Tomatoes. LWT  Food Science and Technology, 39. 8(2006): 835-843

Tymore, Stan. Advertising and Public Relations. New York: InfoBase Publishing, 2010. Print.

The process of a constant development of new trends in the modern business and economy requires managers and marketers to develop innovative approaches to promoting products and services and to attracting potential clients. From this point, today events are discussed as the effective marketing tool which is actively used in branding and promoting because of a lot of advantages provided.

Events can be characterized as the effective marketing and advertising tool due to their orientation to the target audience and their high characteristics in relation to attracting many potential purchasers, creating the specific environment, establishing the interactive relations with clients, and demonstrating the benefits of the product or service to customers directly, in open communication.

As a marketing tool, events are planned and organized in order to show the products qualities and form the definite brand awareness with the help of the open interaction with the target audience. Thus, the organization of events is the part of the strategic marketing system, and it is the successful communication tool.

In this case, the purpose of the advertising events is to promote the product or service effectively with references to establishing the direct contacts with clients (Allen). The organized events are the good opportunities to persuade the audience to use the certain products with the help of presenting the products characteristics within the most appropriate environment.

To promote the definite product, it is necessary to choose the most appropriate type of the event in order to gain more benefits and achieve the business objectives according to the developed plan and strategy. It is possible to determine such types of events which can be used as the component of the promoting strategy as meetings, conferences, seminars, trade shows, concerts, and malls.

Each type is effective for advertising different products regarding their particular features and the target audience (Wolf, Wolf, and Levine). Thus, to present the product within the limited public which is the products audience, it is possible to choose seminars, meetings, and conferences. They are effective while orienting to the concrete audience, clients, sponsors, and investors.

To expand the target audience, increase the sales, and pay more attention to the potential clients, it is useful to choose trade shows, concerts, and malls. The entertaining character of the event and the orientation to evoking more vivid impressions help marketers create the positive brand awareness and stimulate the growth of the publics interest to the product (Masterman and Wood).

The effectiveness of events as important marketing tools depends on the successful marketing strategy and management. Marketers should concentrate on the concrete business objectives in promoting products and plan the event with references to these objectives, using PR initiatives, web initiatives, and working out direct messages (Saget).

It is also significant for marketers and managers to predict the possible results of the event for maximizing the returns and increasing the investments and focus on the post-event analysis to make the necessary changes in the strategy.

The advantages of using events as marketing and advertising tools are in providing the necessary associations between the brand, products, and their benefits which are based on the direct contact with clients and vivid impressions. Thus, participating in the events, clients are in open interaction with products and services, and they receive the important experiences to make the further choice in favor of the definite product and brand.

Works Cited

Allen, Judy. Event Planning: The Ultimate Guide to Successful Meetings, Corporate Events, Fundraising Galas, Conferences, Conventions, Incentives and Other Special Events. USA: Wiley, 2009. Print.

Masterman, Guy, and Emma Wood. Innovative Marketing Communications: Strategies for the Events Industry. USA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005. Print.

Saget, Allison. The Event Marketing Handbook: Beyond Logistics and Planning. USA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012. Print.

Wolf, Paulette, Jodi Wolf, and Donielle Levine. Event Planning Made Easy. USA: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.

Introduction

Male Coffee Shop is one of the many coffee shops in the city of Male that has been in the market for the last eight years. This firm, just like many other coffee shops in this city, has been largely depending on the booming tourism industry in this city to support its operations.

With a total of twenty permanent employees, Male Coffee Shop is one of the leading coffee outlets that have successfully attracted a pool of customers who visit this city regularly. It is worrying that this firm, just like its market rivals, is operating without any a clear brand that can make it stand out as a unique firm.

Other than the name, this firm has made no effort to build a strong brand equity that may help it increase its competitiveness in the market. Brand equity is important for any firm that is operating in a competitive market environment (Keller 2003, p. 28).

Fisher and Vallaster (2008, p. 57) defines brand equity as A brands power derived from the goodwill and name recognition that it has earned over time, which translates into higher sales volume and higher profit margins against competing brands.

According to this definition, it is clear that brand equity is earned over a period of time, and it gives a firm power to earn higher profit margins over its competitors in case the brand is stronger in the market. In this report, the researcher seeks to develop an appropriate way through which Male Coffee Shop can develop strong brand equity.

Analysis

According to Kotler and Keller (2012), it is important to understand the relevance of a brand in the market in order to realize the importance of building one within a particular industry. Male is one of the tourists destination cities in this region. Coffee is very popular among the tourists, and for this reason, several coffee shops have sprung up.

The problem that most of these shops face when it comes to attracting and retaining customers is lack of strong brands that can distinguish their products from one another. At the coffee shop where the researcher works, this problem has been persistent, and has limited the ability of the firm to outsmart its competitors despite its superior products.

The only solution for this problem will be the development of a superior brand that will make the products of this firm distinguishable from those of other market rivals. The following are some of the general steps that can be followed when developing brand equity.

Choosing brand elements

Brand elements refer to trademark devises which are used for the purpose of identification and differentiation of a brand in the market. These elements serve vital role in identifying a given brand in the market in a way that would enable customers to differentiate the existing brands in the market. Brand name is the first element of a brand (Parameswaran, 2006).

It is one of the most important elements of a brand because customers will rely on it when talking about superior brands in the market. The current name used by this firm can appropriately support its branding efforts. This name would help the marketing team of this firm to emphasize to the customers their unique capacity to prepare high quality coffee.

The brand symbol is another important element of brand that should be used to differentiate a firms brand from those of competing firms (Bergh & Behrer, 2013). An appropriate symbol for this coffee shop would be a steaming cup of coffee. This would help in emphasizing on the particular product that is offered at the firm. The marketing team would also need to develop a logo that would be used to identify the name.

The appropriate logo should have the full names of the firm, and colors that would further emphasize on the products that is offered at the shop. It will also be appropriate to identify spokespeople that can be used to help boost the image of the firm.

The best spokespeople that can is chosen would be local or international celebrities who are not controversial (Narula, 2006). For instance, top athletes like Usain Bolt of Jamaica, David Rudisha of Kenya and Justin Gatlin of the United States would be appropriate spokespersons. Other important elements such as characters, slogans, jingles, and signage should also be treated seriously in order to win the appeal in the market.

Designing holistic marketing activities

Selling a brand to the market involves a series of activities that are focused on reaching the right population with the right message that will convince them that the firm offers a better deal. Designing holistic marketing activities involves developing programs that would enable a firm to reach out to the market with the information about its brand, and specific products that it offers in the market.

One of the most important activities at this stage is always advertising using the best channels available (Pike, 2011). Advertising helps a firm to create awareness of the brand in the market, factors that make it superior, and how different it is from other existing brands.

Given the fact that this coffee shop will be targeting tourists who visit Male, one of the best channels that can be used for advertising would be through website of tour companies. Most of the tourists would visit these websites before they travel in order to know what to expect. It is at that moment that the firm should make the brand for its products be known by this group so that they can be familiar with name.

The firm may also consider using the social media to reach out to the clients. Facebook and Tweeter may be appropriate in reaching out to the local and international clients (Sen, 2005). In order to ensure that the local market segment is not ignored, mass media marketing through radio and television commercials or national newspapers should also be used.

Viral marketing will also be needed in order to promote endorsement of the brand by customers who have experienced the service delivery at the shop or those who have been informed of the brand by friends or relatives. Direct communication through the customer care center should be developed as the firm grows to take care of the interests of the clients when they need to make direct contact with the firm.

Leveraging secondary associations

In order to build brand equity, it is important for this coffee shop to leverage secondary associations in the market. According to Kotler (2009), leveraging secondary association involves developing superior product attributes, creation of competitively convincing prices, and finding ways of making the product available to the consumers.

It is important for this coffee shop to make use of its strong brand to leverage its new products in the market. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to ensure that the current products have desired attributes in the market. The existing products should meet or even exceed the expectations of the customers in the market. The pricing strategy taken by the firm should reflect the superiority of the products.

This means that the prices should not be abnormally high because the customers may feel that the firm is being exploitative. Similarly, they should not be below the market average because customers may become suspicious of the products offered by the firm. They may feel that the firm is offering substandard products. The pricing strategy chosen by this firm may be pivotal in the future when introducing new products (Holt, 2004).

The approach taken to make the products available to the customers is another important factor that would determine the strength of the products in the market. The products should always be readily available to the customers through convenient channels. That will be a way of strengthening the brand in the market. The brand will be associated with efficiency in the delivery of products in the market.

Internal branding

Internal branding has become very popular for companies that seek to promote their brand in a competitive business environment. Internal branding involves developing a culture within an organization where employees become more focused in meeting or exceeding customers expectation in the market.

According to Kotler (2011), internal branding focuses on making employees understand the need to offer quality services to the customers. Customers always expect firms to deliver on their promise. If this coffee shop promises to deliver the best coffee to its customers who visit the city of Male, then they should be given the best when they visit the facility. It is the role of the employees to ensure that these customers get the best.

Brand communities

Developing a brand community is perhaps one of the biggest challenges that firms have in the current market in their quest to develop a pool of loyal customers. Keller (2001) defines brand community as A specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relations among admirers of a brand.

As shown in this definition, it is a group of admirers to a given brand who feel that they are bound together by the brand because of the superior quality it offers. Because of the brand, they find themselves sharing the same views or even culture when it comes to the consumption of that particular product irrespective of their geographic origin.

This means that this coffee shop will need to find a way of creating a community out of the visitors to this city who will be bound to visit its facility because they have developed a culture of regularly visiting it. The marketing team will need to develop a unique character among consumers that would help in creating a strong bond between the firm and its consumers.

This bond can be created in superior products, superior product delivery, superior product positioning, and appropriate marketing approaches (Vaid, 2003). Customers should always have the desire to visit the facility as a way of being part of the community whenever they visit the city of Male.

Factors influencing organizational structure and types of authority

According to Hartwell and Chen (2012), the organizational structure defines the type of authority that a leader uses to run a specific firm. At Male Coffee Shop, the top manager is the owner of the facility. This gives him the absolute authority over the decisions made at this firm. The authority from the top manager is passed to the two deputies responsible for production and marketing.

These top managers understand that delivering the best quality starts by preparation of high quality coffee. The employees responsible for serving coffee should be cautious and very attentive to the customers, ready to respond to any of their request. Their service should be superb to make the customers feel that they are getting the best of the services.

All the employees within the firm must realize that it is their responsibility to strengthen the brand of this firm in the market. They must remain motivated in order to ensure that their final products are of high quality, and with capacity to meet or exceed what the industry offers. To achieve this, the managers must make them feel that they are important members of the organization other than just employees.

Evaluation

Span of Control and Centralization

When defining the evaluation that should be used, it is important to determine the best span of control for the process in order to know whether centralization or decentralization would be the best strategy. The marketing team should develop a superior evaluation process that would help in maintaining a superior quality delivery of products to the customers.

According to Glynn and Woodside (2009), evaluation should be a continuous process. Some processes should have a centralized system of evaluation while others may have decentralized approach. Developing an appropriate evaluation strategy will be important at this stage in order to ensure that all the consumers who visit the coffee shop leave when they are satisfied. The model below may be very important at this stage.

Kellers Brand Equity Model

It would be important for this coffee shop to settle on an appropriate brand equity model that it is intending to use when building the brand equity. Choosing an appropriate model that is already tested will help the firm to know some of the important steps that it should follow in order to achieve the best results.

Kellers Brand Equity Model is one of the best models that can be used by this coffee shop to develop a strong brand in this competitive market. As Borja (2003, p. 67) says, You have to build the right type of experiences around your brand, so that customers have specific, positive thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, and perceptions about it. This will make them develop some commitments towards the brand.

They will always feel attached to the products offered by the firm because of the past memorable events. It will also promote viral marketing where customers will invite their friends to come and visit the facility in order to share the superior experience they had with the brand when they were served. The figure below shows the steps that should be observed when using the model.

Kellers Brand Equity Model

Source (Han, 2005, p. 48)

The first step in this model has been identified as the brand identity process. At this stage, the coffee shop will focus on identifying itself to the customers. Currently, there are numerous coffee shops within Mali city operating without a clear identity using a strong brand. When this firm decides to build brand equity, the first step would be to identify itself among the customers.

The second stage in this model is creation of meaning to the brand. After identification of what the brand is and the specific products it offers in the market, the next crucial step will be the definition of brand meaning. Definition of the brand meaning is done from two perspectives which include imagery and performance (Davis & Baldwin, 2005).

In terms of imagery, this firm will need to explain to its customers how well its products meet their needs both socially and psychologically. This can be done through promotions. In terms of performance, the firm should ensure that whenever customers visit the facility, they should get the best quality that the firm can deliver best in order to make them know the superiority of the firms products.

The third stage is the brand response that customers give after an interaction with the brand either through the promotions or through the actually consumption of its products. The customers will use the quality of the products, and the credibility of the firm in delivering on its promises to determine its superiority and finally make consideration about the brand (Hansen & Christensen, 2004).

When they are satisfied, they will give positive response that should be used by the firm to improve their services even further. Dissatisfaction will lead to poor response which should be a warning to the firm that they have to overhaul the current strategy.

The last stage would be the brand resonance which is a complex process that seeks to define customers behavioral loyalty, a sense of community, and active engagement in the market (Tungate, 2012). It seeks to make the customers feel part of a given brand, other than being mere customers.

It is a concerted effort that seeks to hand over ownership of the brand to customers. It is through this that Male Coffee Shop can outsmart some of its top competitors such as Top Coffee Brewers in this market.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Male Coffee Shop is operating in a competitive environment where it must find the best ways of outsmarting its competitors such as Top Coffee Brewers. Building brand equity is one of the ways through which it can gain this superiority over this competitor. This firm offers products that are almost identical to that of Top Coffee Brewers.

Male Coffee Shop can outsmart other market rivals by building a brand equity that would help it differentiate its products in the market from those of other market competitors. Branding will help this firm to acquire a unique position in the market.

The marketing team will need to develop a brand that can help its customers identify Customers will know of the existence of its products, and the superiority over other existing brands. The following recommendations should be observed.

• The marketing management of Male Coffee Shop should develop a team of experts that will be engaged in the creation and management of the firms brand to enable it to compete successfully with firms like Top Coffee Brewers.
• When developing brand equity, it is important to conduct a market research in order to understand the needs of the customers.
• The firm should consider using both the mass and social media in marketing its brand to the customers.
• All the employees within Male Coffee Shop must realize that it is their responsibility to strengthen the brand of this firm in the market to make it more successful than Top Coffee Brewers.

References

Bergh, J., & Behrer, M. (2013). How cool brands stay hot: Branding to Generation Y. London: Kogan Page.

Borja, B. (2003). Design management: Using design to build brand value and corporate innovation. New York: Allworth Press.

Davis, M., & Baldwin, J. (2005). More than a name: An introduction to branding; with a theoretical commentary by Jonathan Baldwin. Lausanne: AVA.

Fisher, C., & Vallaster, C. (2008). Connective branding: Building brand equity in a demanding world. Chichester, England: Wiley.

Glynn, M. S., & Woodside, A. G. (2009). Business-to-business brand management: Theory, research and executive case study exercises. Bingley: JAI Press.

Han, J. (2005). Building employment brand equity effect of firm practices, employee outcomes and organizational outcomes. New York: Cengage.

Hansen, F., & Christensen, L. B. (2004). Branding and advertising. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.

Hartwell, M. P., & Chen, J. C. (2012). Archetypes in branding: A toolkit for creatives and strategists. Cincinnati: How Books.

Holt, D. B. (2004). How brands become icons: The principles of cultural branding. New York: Cengage.

Keller, K. L. (2001). Building customer-based brand equity: A blueprint for creating strong brands. Cambridge: Oxford.

Keller, K. L. (2003). Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Kotler, P. (2009). Marketing management. Toronto: Pearson Canada.

Kotler, P. (2011). Marketing management + mymarketinglab with pearson etext access card + interpretive simulations. New York: Prentice Hall.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2012). Marketing management. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Narula, U. (2006). Business communication practices: Modern trends. New Delhi: Atlantic.

Parameswaran, M. G. (2006). Building brand value: Five steps to building powerful brands. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.

Pike, A. (2011). Brands and branding geographies. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub.

Sen, G. S. (2005). Consumer behavior: Dynamics of building brand equity. New Delhi: New Century Publications.

Tungate, M. (2012). Fashion brands: Branding style from Armani to Zara. London: Kogan Page Ltd.

Vaid, H. (2003). Branding: brand strategy, design and implementation of corporate and product identity. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill.

Introduction

Although the proposed the venture can be beneficial to both sides, Stanford Medical Center (SMC) needs to consider various trade-offs that might emerge during the establishment and consideration of the business processes.

Analysis

First, SMC has to pay attention to services and products that the venture is going to include. The services proposed in the venture are human-based and impossible without the engagement of professionals and skilled personnel, which will require investments in staffs repositioning and relocation. However, the identified expenses can be covered by SMC as the proposed business idea is a for-profit medical tourism center, which SMC will manage in the future according to the terms of the agreement. According to Berkowitz (2016), if the business is for-profit, some portion of this profit is often directed to shareholders. Thus, profits that will be gained by the facility (tourist medical center) can potentially cover the expenses SMC will have to endure and even provide revenues to the hospital.

Another consideration is the product line that is not specified in the case study. As this is a co-branding arrangement, prior to the launch of the services under the logo of SMC, both the Vietnamese government and SMC itself need to control and assess quality processes and the personnel (Berkowitz, 2016). To use SMCs brand, the Vietnamese government will need not only to train the staff of the medical facility appropriately under the supervision of the personnel from SMC but also to report various issues, including hospital-acquired infections, medical errors, and their consequences (both nonlethal and lethal) to SMC to ensure that services provided at the medical facility are corresponding to the quality of that provided at SMC. At the same time, SMC should also consider how possible mistakes or improperly trained staff can affect their brand and future operations.

As the Vietnamese government plans to expand the services of the facility in Saigon and create a medical tourism center, SMC needs to evaluate what target market this affiliation will focus on. Patients from the USA or European countries can be attracted to provided services by a lower price and nature (considering that the latter a primary tool for capitalization). However, the lack of developed infrastructure, equipment, and qualified staff can affect SMCs brand and the whole affiliation negatively if the provided services do not correspond with the quality of services expected from SMC and its alliances. A combination of recreation and quality services, supervised by SMC and provided by the hospital and staff trained by SMCs professionals can be an option to support SMCs brand and attract more customers who seek quality medical tourism that is priced reasonably (Medical tourism in Vietnam, 2015).

Conclusion

SMC has to consider how its co-branding value will be purchased by the Saigon hospital. As suggested by Berkowitz (2016) and shown in other examples, the Vietnamese affiliate can pay a fee for access to information or contact with SMCs physicians. Another suggestion is a supervision program from SMCs professionals provided for a fee to Vietnamese colleagues. It is also important to have a wide range of products to attract the target market, especially since the SMC is entering an introductory phase of its product (Does your value proposition, n.d.). Recreational services, among others, should be considered as primary services that can be of interest to the target market; furthermore, they can be coupled with relaxation services that can have a positive influence on the introductory phase of the product and SMC branding in the region.

References

Berkowitz, E. (2016). Essentials of health care marketing. New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Does your value proposition effectively communicate how youre different? (n.d.). Web.

Medical tourism in Vietnam: Awaken the potential. (2015). Web.

The 21st century ushered in numerous innovations and creative works. As a result, businesses are now required to manage and nurture innovations, and more so with regard to the business to business (B2B) category. The high level of complexity and competition in the business environment has necessitated the need to integrate products with consumers.

Additionally, advances in technology have resulted in saturated markets, and this has encouraged growth in customer awareness. The current essay paper describes a current innovation and discusses the management of that innovation in the realm of B2B in management.

One of the major innovations of the 21st century is the Android mobile operating system. The Android mobile operating system has been described as a new platform that offers mobile phone subscribers and owners an opportunity to download mobile applications like Google maps, books, and e-services, among others.

The Android mobile operating system is mainly used by Smartphones developed by major electronic companies like Google, Apple, Samsung, and Motorola. According to Berman (2012), the acquisition of Motorola Mocality Holdings Inc by Google Inc was aimed at obtaining some 17,000 patents belonging to Motorola, thereby enabling Google Inc to protect its Android mobile operating system.

This would enable the organization to offer the best services to its clients. Additionally, the move would also enable the company to improve its level of competitiveness immensely.

Managing an innovation or acquired innovation is one of the hardest tasks that a manager could ever undertake (Murray, 2012). This is because change is almost always resisted within an organization. However, the integration of the B2B realm in management ensures that an organization operates in an efficient manner (Khosrowpour, 2004).

The integration of the Android mobile operating system by Google would ensure that its customers receive the utmost efficiency in its usage. To nurture its innovations, Google has been able to acquire Motorola with the aim of protecting its operations through the use of available patents. According to Murray (2012), the ultimate goal of the management at Google was to build an innovative device through the use of talent and money. Additionally, Google would also be able to compete with other major Smartphone developers like Apple Inc.

The business idea behind the acquisition of the innovation is to ensure that its services like Google maps and search engines are preloaded in more than one million devices on a single day.

The major management factors which emerge in the nurturing of this innovation are curiosity, openness, leadership, concentration on strategic issues rather than engaging in operational tasks and personal understanding related to the process of innovation. These factors, according to Bean and Radford (2002) are essential as part of innovation management and nurturing as they in insuring creativity and innovation, becomes a success.

Hutt and Spech (2002) admit that B2B enables the management of an organization to manage an innovation fully. Similar sentiments have also been echoed by Khosrowpour (2004), who acknowledges that B2B encourages efficiency and best management opportunities through shared information. As such, consumers will be able to get the best services an organization can provide at any given moment. Communication during management practices ensures that innovation is well safeguarded and protected.

In summary, Googles adoption of new technology and innovation has been managed well to ensure efficiency. Additionally, the practice has been carried out with a view to increasing its strategic management as it competes favorably in the market. As a result, the company would gain a competitive advantage over its rivals as it offers its best services to its consumers.

Reference List

Bean, R. & Radford, R. (2002). Managing innovation managers. Innovative Leader, 11(5), 1

Berman, D. K. (2012). Googles $12 Billion Toy. The Wall Street Journal.

Hutt, M. D. & Speh, T. W. (2002). Business Marketing Management: B2B (10th edn). South-Western: Thomson Learning.

Khosrowpour, M. (2004). Innovations through information technology. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.

Murray. A. (2012). How to Change Your Organizations Culture. The Wall Street Journal.

Mission, Goals, and Objectives

My personal brand concept in the professional space will refer to the aerospace sector. As today the world is developing extremely quickly, many companies occur and enter the same market. They have similar products, which makes them face numerous problems on their way to success. The constant reference to the excellent quality of the products and their unique peculiarities is the best way for the organization to get the winning position and forget about being afraid of losses and yielding to the competitors.

My mission is to bring success to companies. Being an experienced engineer and the leader of the engineering maintenance team, I will help the organizations to deliver the services of high quality to the customers and attract new ones. Trying to promoting the organization by making the performance of my team better and better, I will assist it in problem solving and make the employees confident in the next day.

With my help, the organization will achieve more as I will manage my team realizing the peculiarities of the aerospace sector in Abu Dhabi and find out the best way to prepossess the customers and make them refer to the company each time they need such products. I will also enhance the knowledge of the team and teach them by my own example. I will make sure that the implemented strategies are effective and advantageous, as when getting my MBA, I improve my managerial skills as well (Aircraft Maintenance Team Lead par. 2).

Managing such activities, I am not just targeted at revenue gaining; they give meaning to my life, as I have always wanted to work in the aerospace sector. I am not afraid to take reasonable risks, and I am always ready for changes and innovations, as I believe them to be the triggers of success for the whole world.

I have several personal goals in the professional space, and they can be seen as a determination to:

• Enter a company that wishes to achieve enormous success in its sphere;
• Join a tight-knit team;
• Use creativity and provide innovative ideas to enhance not only personal performance but the performance of the whole organization;
• Improve my time management skills to accomplish all planned activities in time and assess them;
• Motivate the engineering maintenance team to perform their duties on the higher level;
• Make decent maintenance records;
• Maximize production;
• Implement costs reduction and gather the information about cost maintenance;
• Reduce the usage of energy;
• Promote responsibility for healthy environment and safety (Wireman par. 3);

My professional objective is to obtain a full-time position that will allow me to apply my skills to achieve mutual goals and bring the success to the organization. It involves the determination to provide decent technical support to other departments of the organization and its customers working in the aerospace sector, reach the goals set by the company regarding technical performances and make the organization achieve success in this way.

Target Audience

To communicate my brand to the future employees, I need to define the target audience that includes the companies and their representatives who are looking for the employee with my skills. I realize that it is impossible to be targeted at the whole market because, having the limits, I gain an opportunity to show that I am not lost: I know who will need me and where do I want to work eventually. In this way, I determine a dream audience at first: one will appreciate what I do and pay me well, trust my decisions and allow me to be rather independent, etc. Focusing on what I want to get, I can define my target market and companies.

My target audience should include rather large companies located in the UAE as I am not willing to move and want the company to be nearby. I will even limit it to Abu Dhabi. This organization should manage operations in the aerospace sector. On this basis, I can define a particular aerospace manufacturer that meets my demands. It is Global Aerospace Logistics LLC.

In the personal context, this target audience is likely to increase my competitive advantage. The industry that I chose belongs to the sphere that I am interesting in. The targeted organization provides professional aerospace services, which means that I will have an opportunity to show my skills and share them with other employees. I will have a chance to prove that being an MBA student I enhanced my managerial skills and can lead the engineering maintenance team promoting shared vision and improving performance. My personal positive attitudes towards the mentioned spheres make me determined to manage my duties on the highest level.

This passion and my personal characteristics (confidence, enthusiasm, persistence, etc.) will make me the best employee for the company, as I will be directed at constant improvement and will try hand not only for the company but also for myself. However, I also might be too enthusiastic about the work, which will not appeal to my family and friends. The deterioration of relations with them might make me unfocused and frustrated, which is likely to have an adverse influence on my performance. The fact that many experienced individuals are also targeted at these industries is also connected competitive disadvantage of my brand.

When considering the target audience in the professional context, my skills are to be underlined. I have perfect communication skills and can lead and motivate the team, so working in a company with many employees is not a problem. I can easily plan the working process and organize it, and I am used to work under the pressure, which is often needed in the large companies that operate in the chosen industry and have many working teams.

I am able to monitor the performance of the group and identify the drawbacks of the operations. I am a great coordinator and can maintain knowledge to make sure that all activities are properly managed. I also already have an experience of working in the sphere for 6 years, which is considered to be extremely important by the majority of personnel. Still, there are some competitive disadvantages. The chosen company is very popular in the UAE, which makes it more difficult to approach. Still, having my own brand is a competitive advantage, which is likely to give me much more chances to receive the job I really want.

Point of Parity and Point of Difference

Trying to find out whether my brand is competitive and can win the race or not, I should analyze it regarding the things that are necessary to gain the position and those that allow be to distinguish myself.

Points of parity are the key requirements that the targeted audience is searching for. These aspects have all my competitors (very similar if not identical). In the reference to the aerospace sector, they are:

• Consulting  to share knowledge and take part in decision-making for maintenance technicians;
• Define work methods, create schedules, prepare reports  to be able to evaluate the work of the team;
• Perform excellent leadership skills and ability to work in a team  to coordinate knowledge, monitor the performance of the team, counsel employees;
• Provide technical support, develop maintenance strategies, and optimize the usage of the resources  to reduce the expenditures and provide the team with a kind of guideline that they can use when managing their duties;
• Support the efficiency of operations and perform skilled operations  to make sure that the members of the team are doing their bets and have no problems;
• Arrange training for the personnel  to provide the workers with the required knowledge and teach them the most necessary skills that will improve their performance and streamline the working process (Maintenance Team Lead 1).

Points of difference are those additional attributes that let me benefit making me a different from other and allowing to show myself to advantage. These are:

• Innovativeness  to prove that I am a great worker, I can research the field and organizational opportunities to find out what innovations can be made to attract more customers and streamline the operations. I can advise the steps for the potential development of the company for them to be considered by superiors;
• Fresh vision  being not deeply involved in the operations of this company, I am not influenced by the common ideas that everyone is used to. I can see the problems and opportunities that others cannot mention;
• Relations with third parties  having good managerial and communicational skills, I can get in touch with other departments, companies, etc., which will be advantageous (Job Description 1);
• Work under pressure and to the deadline  I have got used to working in a rather stressful environment and can organize my work to finish everything before the deadline, which enhances my performance.
• Attention to details  I always consider the situation not only in general but also in detail, which allows me to find out what improvements are to be made without implementing big unneeded changes.

Cultural Dimensions

According to the Hofstede theory, the cultural dimensions include individualism-collectivism; uncertainty avoidance; power distance (strength of social hierarchy) and masculinity-femininity (task orientation versus person-orientation) (Bendell 58). The audience I am targeted at can have different preferences and values, in this perspective. To win the competition and be accepted by the companies that operate in the selected industries, my personal score should be as close to theirs as possible.

The companies that operate in the selected location mostly have the employees from the UAE and the US. As they are different regarding their culture, my brand should be somewhere in the middle. As the employees in the UAE are very linked to the hierarchical order within the organization while those in the US tend to avoid it, I will follow the instructions provided by the superior unless one allows me to act independently.

Individualism is highly valued in the US, but collectivism is preferred in the UAE. Thus, I will work as a team player and try to attract attention to myself not being very independent but originating advantageous and innovative ideas. In the both locations, masculinity and femininity are almost identical that is why I will treat the representatives of both genders equally. In the UAE, there is a tendency to avoid uncertainty while this score is almost 50 in the US (The Hofstede Centre par. 1). As the company will be located in the UAE, my brand will refer to its position. Both cultures tend to avoid long-term orientations, so I will be focused on setting short-term targets so that the success of the operations will be seen as soon as possible.

I Brand Mantra

It is also important for me to design a mantra, the thing that ensures good brand positioning. Mantra should consist of no more than 5 words and be applied to reveal the essence of brand positioning. My brand mantra will be the promise I give to myself and the targeted audience. I believe that the best variant for my brand is Fresh ideas, Development, Success. In this way, I underline that my task is to be creative and innovative.

Due to these qualities, I will develop as a professional and will promote the development of the company that hires me. I will make sure that the members of the team do not treat their work as something routine and boring but wish to do their best to achieve our mutual goals. This mantra also points out that the thoughts I have and the decisions I make will bring success to me (making me a desired employee), the team (improving its knowledge, skills and performance) and the organization (promoting its products and bringing more customers).

Works Cited

Aircraft Maintenance Team Lead. 2015. Web.

Bendell, Tony. Building Anti-Fragile Organisations, Burnington: Ashgate Publishing, 2014. Print.

Job Description. n.d. Web.

Maintenance Team Lead. n.d. Web.

The Hofstede Centre. n.d. Web.

Wireman, Terry. Goals and Objectives of Maintenance Organizations 2015. Web.