Product and Brand Management
Assignment A
1 . What are the different motives for initiating a product change ? Explain the concept of product architecture and its implications for product design, taking suitable examples.
2 . Brand extension is the common phenomenon in the brand market, Illustrate the need for brand extension?
3 . (a) How would you budget for advertising and sales promotion while launching a new product ? Assume that your product is a line of economy range office wear shirts, in creaseless cotton mix fabric.
(b) What are the activities you would like to include in the sales promotion process and why ?
4 . What are the decisions required in the operationalisation of a product life cycle ? For a mature product category like cooking oil, how would you use the PLC to plan your future investment or divestment in the product category?
5 . Differentiate among the different lines, the product line, product mix, product width? Being the marketer manager of an FM CG company what strategies you apply in your company for better results?
6 . What is Brand Equity? What are its sources? How it can be measured? Explain the need of brand equity in the market now-a-days both for the customer and marketer?
7 . Explain briefly the process of brand re-launch? what are strategies used by the marketer to re launch his brand in the market? Define target market? What is the role of marketer he has to play in positioning the brand in the minds of customer?
8 . Discuss the need of brand knowledge in the minds of customer? as a marketer what will be your strategy towards brand building?
Assignment B
Case Detail :
Vinod Tahil's mind was a riot. For the first time in many years, the marketing manager of white goods manufacturer Electra India was questioning the marketing theories he had always believed in. Was he right in wanting to abandon the super premium route to brand building, or was he, in fact, trapped in the classical middle-class mindset which made him averse to premium Product ?
The previous Sunday, Tahil had had a long discussion on the issue with Gautam Sarin, his squash partner and marketing head of Plimsoll Watches. Tahil had walked into the squash court right after a stiff debate with his CEO, Arun Raja, over Electra's plans to launch a super premium, multifacility refrigerator from its international stable, the Eva 755.
In Eva 755 was a state-of-the-art multi-door fridge, with lots of features and plenty of storage space. It had two zero-degree compartments, an ice crusher, a dispenser for chilled water, a built-in deodorizer and an alarm that went off if the door was not shut properly. The price : a cool Rs 1 lakh.
The previous year, the company had launched its three-and four-door refrigerators. It followed that up with a 7.5 kg fully automatic washing machine, Ergo, which also carried a premium price tag. This, in fact, was Electra's strategy. If preferred to enter with its premium range rather than follow with mass. market route, CEO Raja wanted to build brands first. Volumes would be a natural consequence, he said.
But Tahil had his doubts whether Eva would cut much ice with the customer. In a market which was skewed in favour oI the value-for-money double-door refrigerator, the multi-door refrigerator seemed very ambitious to him. It was unlikely to build much saliency for Electra, he felt.
To begin with, the very idea of a large-sized refrigerator seemed irrelevant in the Indian context. In the West, convenience stores were fast being replaced by supermarket chains. As a parallel behaviour pattern, consumers there were using refrigerator not just for preserving foodstuffs, but also for long-term storage.
In India, however, the neighbourhood grocer had gained in strength and supermarkets had not become the norm yet. For the same reason, the Western pattern of long-term storage could not be replicated here. "India is a tropical country and there are lots of vendors for fresh vegetables and fruit. So, who needs vast storage facilities in India ?" he asked.
Raja was convinced that there was a clear consumer segment which sought premium and super premium products. "There are 3.8 million households in the A1 and A2 socio-economic classes. It's not the 150-million middle class but this super premium, super label conscious segment that I want to target. The self-employed and high-salaried people in this segment are virtually indifferent to high prices," said Raja.
Tahil would not buy the argument. "The so-called high-income group that you refer to comprises largely nuclear families. That means that these families consume less food than joint families do. There may be 3.8 million such families, but they are dispersed all over the country. A rich farmer from Gurgaon, who has a high disposable agricultural income and heads a family of 14, is the one who actually needs this product. But you have no means of getting your product to him."
An entry through a premium segment would entail lower distribution costs, but only if a mass product already existed. "If you have a mass product, you could piggyback on its distribution network and get your premium product to the rich farmer in Gurgaon," said Tahil. "In its absence, reaching out to the dispersed consumer will be prohibitively costly. Also, it will be difficult to get the required volumes."
Raja had other plans. He wanted to enter the super premium segment so that Eva could be Electra's image leader. "Why did Titan launch Tanishq ? Certainly not for volumes." he argued. "The premium range has a positive rub-off on the medium range. If a company launches a super premium product, its image becomes so overwhelming that the consumer does not question the price or the quality of its other product." he said.
"That 'image leader' angle is a double-edged sword," countered Tahil. "If the super premium product fails to make a mark in three years' time, its image as well as the company's image will take a beating."
Raja cited the example of BPL. "When it entered the refrigerator market, BPL was aware it was taking on the might of Videocon, a sturdy, reliable, home grown brand. To gain a quantum leap over Videocon's image perception, BPL first launched the three door refrigerator. Its launch stoked the interest of consumers, who gushed and gawked and went home and told their neighbours about it. So, the next time someone wanted to buy a basic 165-litre refrigerator, he first checked out a BPL fridge. Soon after that, BPL launched its home entertainment system, another super premium product. No one questioned the price or whether the product would be successful because they all knew that there were buyers for the quality that BPL had to offer. Thereafter, every offering from BPL was viewed with respect," he said.
Brand building, Tahil felt, worked when it ran parallel to volume building. "The middle class is very aware and discontinuously upgrading its information. It will want to know how many Indians are buying Electra and we need to answer that with some volumes," he said.
In such a scenario, the launch of Eva appeared to bea wasteful exercise. "The premium you can charge on product must have a meaningful price to quality/value ratio," argued Tahil. "Price is no longer the deciding factor, it is value instead. As we go along you'll find consumers are less likely to compare prices than they did in the past," declared Raja.
Tahil disagreed with Raja on the significance of price. "Price will always be a key factor in the purchase decision. The people you are targeting for Eva watch the market, evaluate products and are very aware. They may buy a pair of Reebok shoes for Rs. 2,000, but a refrigerator for Rs. 1 lakh ? That's going too far," he said.
Raja left after coffee, but Tahil carried his disagreement to the squash court. "Raja is trapped in mythical view of the Indian middle class," he said to Sarin."All around us lie the debris of companies which overestimated the middle class' willingness to pay for global brands. Yet he believes that Eva has potential," he said. Sarin felt Tahil was underestimating the market. "Ianthe wake of liberalization, there was a lot of brouhaha -over the relevance of some of the products entering India. People asked, 'Who needs KFC ? Who needs Reebok ?'But we must realize that the consumers aspired for anything global. Now they are asking for particular features and design improvement, he said.
"Who are these consumers ?" asked Tahil. "The glorious middle class ?"
"Tahil, in durables you have to benchmark differently. When you are selling potato chips or cornflakes, you are looking at one set of consumer behaviour patterns. But in durables, which can replace manual tasks, the consumer is seeking higher value delivery. Within this, there is also a segment which is indifferent to high prices the self-employed and the high-flying executive. They have access to soft loans and hefty perk. Money is no object for them. They are eating out twice a week, buying shoes worth Rs. 2,000 and paying Rs. 1 lakh for health club memberships.
Please give your answer in at least 25 words and press save and continue button.
S. No. Questions Marks - 10
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1. Critically evaluate the price band being suggested for Eva. Do you agree with Rajan's assessment of the targeted consumer or with Tahil's ? Justify you answer.
2. What in your view are the target customers for this kind of product ? What is the brand positioning that you would suggest for Eva in view of the target market identified by you ?
3. With the information given above, access the importance of pricing on strategic brand decision. Support your answer with relevant examples.
Assignment C
Question No. 1 Marks - 10
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Strategy of using individual family brand names is referred as
Options
house of brands
strategy house
house of products
extended strategy
Question No. 2 Marks - 10
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Branding strategies alternatively use by marketers does not include
Options
individual brand names
company brand name
sub-brand name
variant brands
Question No. 3 Marks - 10
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Offering of all brands and brand lines by a particular company is considered as
Options
company portfolio
brand portfolio
brand line portfolio
corporate portfolio
Question No. 4 Marks - 10
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In designing brand portfolio, focus is always on
Options
maximum market coverage
minimum market coverage
categorize market coverage
brand house coverage
Question No. 5 Marks - 10
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When bands are introduced to compete with competitors thus brands are classified as
Options
flankers
competitive
variant brand
sub variant brands
Question No. 6 Marks - 10
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In brand dynamics, brand active familiarity based on trial and saliency of promising brand is classified as
Options
presence
'brand relevance
performance
advantage
Question No. 7 Marks - 10
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Brand association which can be made with personal relevance is classified as
Options
differentiability
feasibility
desirability
deliverability
Question No. 8 Marks - 10
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______________ provide information about content, taste, durability, quality, price, and performance, without requiring the buyer to undertake time-consuming comparison tests with similar offerings or other risk reduction approaches to purchase decisions
Options
Brand personalities
Brand names
Brand positioning
Brand equity
Question No. 9 Marks - 10
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Brand name, marketing communications, packaging, price are examples of__________ that enable consumers to form associations that give meaning to the brand.
Options
Brand anatomy
Intrinsic attributes
Extrinsic attributes
Brand value
Question No. 10 Marks - 10
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Many brands are deliberately imbued with human characteristics, to the point that they are identified as having particular personalities. This is referred to as:
Options
brand personalities.
brand names.
brand value.
branding pyramid.
Question No. 11 Marks - 10
________________________________________
Cadbury brand is a good example of
Options
distributor brand.
manufacturer brand.
generic brand.
niche brand
Question No. 12 Marks - 10
________________________________________
Xerox brand is a good example of
Options
distributor brand.
manufacturer brand.
generic brand.
niche brand
Question No. 13 Marks - 10
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The identities and images are developed by the wholesalers, distributors, dealers, and retailers who make up the marketing channel. This is referred to as
Options
manufacturer brand.
generic brand.
distributor brand.
luxury brand.
Question No. 14 Marks - 10
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Many retail brands adopt a single umbrella brand, based on the name of the organization. This is referred to as:
Options
corporate brands
family branding
individual branding
manufacturer brand
Question No. 15 Marks - 10
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This branding policy requires that all the products use the organization's name, either entirely or in part, e.g. Microsoft, Heinz, and Kellogg's
Options
Family branding
Individual branding
Corporate brands
manufacturer brand
Question No. 16 Marks - 10
________________________________________
_________ is a strategic activity and is used to differentiate and distinguish a brand, so that a consumer understands the brand, not just remembers it.
Options
Brand heritage
Brand anatomy
Brand positioning
Brand extension
Question No. 17 Marks - 10
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This level of rebranding refers to the renaming of a whole corporate entity, often signifying a major strategic change or repositioning. This is known as:
Options
corporate rebranding
SBU rebranding
product rebranding
international rebranding
Question No. 18 Marks - 10
________________________________________
____________ are a way of capitalizing on the recognition, goodwill, and any positive associations of an established brand, and using the name to lever the brand into a new market.
Options
Brand repositioning
Brand stretching
Brand extensions
Brand equity
Question No. 19 Marks - 10
________________________________________
In brand dynamics, emotional and rational attachments of specific brands is considered as
Options
bonding
brand relationship
brand evidence
brand existence
Question No. 20 Marks - 10
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In return for a fee, one company permits another to use its trademark to promote other offerings over a defined period of time, in a defined area. This is known as
Options
brand stretching
brand extensions
brand licensing
co-branding
Question No. 21 Marks - 10
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When two established brands work together, on an offering to generate increased consumer appeal and attraction is called
Options
brand licensing
co-branding
brand extensions
brand stretching
Question No. 22 Marks - 10
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This cluster of B2B customers requires messages that emphasize the support of a well-established and highly reputable manufacturer, the emotional and self-expressive benefits should be stressed
Options
The brand receptive
The low interest
The highly tangible
The brand sensitive
Question No. 23 Marks - 10
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Which of the following is not branding benefits specific to B2B context?
Options
Functional and product use benefits
Self-expressive
Ethical advantages
Emotional advantages
Question No. 24 Marks - 10
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__________ brand is sold across multiple country markets, and managed through decentralized management with local control.
Options
Multidomestic
Global
Domestic
International
Question No. 25 Marks - 10
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With this type of brand scope, positioning, identity, image, distinguishing characteristics including attributes, associations, and identifiers of the brand virtually identical to the home market. This is referred to as:
Options
multidomestic
global
international brand
domestic
Question No. 26 Marks - 10
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A measure of the value and strength of a brand, including an assessment of a brand's wealth is known as:
Options
brand stretching
brand heritage
brand name
brand equity
Question No. 27 Marks - 10
________________________________________
Which of the following is not one of the core elements to develop business brands?
Options
Communication
Services
Symbolic devices
Behaviour
Question No. 28 Marks - 10
________________________________________
Which of the following is not associated with brand equity?
Options
Brand value
Brand heritage
Brand strength
Brand description
Question No. 29 Marks - 10
________________________________________
In brand dynamics, belief for delivering product performance on consumer's short list is classified as
Options
presence
brand relevance
brand performance
advantage
Question No. 30 Marks - 10
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________need to encompass relationship issues and to ensure that the way a customer relates to a brand, including the meanings they assign, offers opportunities for cross-selling customers into other products and services in an organization's portfolio.
Options
Brand equity
Brand stretching
Brand extensions
Brand strategies
Question No. 31 Marks - 10
________________________________________
'Word "brand" is frequently used as a
Options
customers
marketing
advertising
metonym
Question No. 32 Marks - 10
________________________________________
Clearness regarding proportions of brands is clarity in
Options
functions of brand
aspects of differentiation
both 1 & 2
None of the above
Question No. 33 Marks - 10
________________________________________
Careful brand management look for to build product or services related to the
Options
target audience
cost
profit
All of above
Question No. 34 Marks - 10
________________________________________
Observation of consumers that several brands are equal to
Options
brand extension
brand parity
symbols
brand trust
Question No. 35 Marks - 10
________________________________________
Identification and observation of a brand is extremely influenced by its
Options
marketing
loyalty
visual presentation
Both 1 and 2
Question No. 36 Marks - 10
________________________________________
In brand dynamics, relevance to consumer needs within an affordable price is classified as
Options
`performance
advantage
presence
brand relevance
Question No. 37 Marks - 10
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Assess importance of a brand by volume premium it produce when evaluate to a alike but unbranded product or service is way of
Options
income split method
multi-period excess earnings method
volume premium method
All of above
Question No. 38 Marks - 10
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Course of sales and profits of a product over its whole life is called
Options
product life cycle
customer lifetime value
product management
marketing management
Question No. 39 Marks - 10
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New product development stage in which concept is tested whether idea has strong appeal is called
Options
concept development
concept testing
material testing
market screening
Question No. 40 Marks - 10
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Management of new product development strategy includes
Options
customer centered development
team based development
systematic product development
All of above