BMMM5002 Strategic Brand Management Assignment 1 Brief 2025/26 | DMU

BMMM5002 Assignment Brief – 2025/6

Assessment Information – What you need to do

This assignment is an individual assignment of 2500 words.

This assignment is a comprehensive brand audit, presented as a report. 

Below are three highly successful brands in different industries.  Choose ONE and develop a brand audit of its strategy, applying relevant theories and frameworks you have learned in this module. Your brand audit should include a brand inventory (organisation perspective) and a brand exploratory (consumer perspective).

A short brand brief on each of these companies will be provided to you in Week 1 of the module to help you with your research.  Make sure you consult and think through the relevant books, journal articles and industry reports you need to order to produce a high-quality report.

1. Audible by Amazon
2. Gymshark Fitness Apparel
3. Bach Flower Remedies

At a minimum, you are required to apply the Customer-Based Equity Model (CBBE) and one other relevant model or framework you have learned from participating in this module. Take care to justify your choice of frameworks. Adopt regional, national and international perspectives wherever appropriate. 

The analysis should cover the following content at a minimum:

-Strategy factors: what are the main aims, purpose and mission/values of the brand? How do the offline and online factors align with the brand’s mission and purpose? What is the planning and implementation process? How well do these strategies create consumer awareness, loyalty and brand resonance?
-Communication factors: what are the communication channels (traditional, digital, etc.) used by the brand to communicate their brand identity, values and personality? How consistent are these communication strategies?
-Human power factors: what is the brand’s approach to consumer interactions across the various online and offline channels? What technologies enhance/hinder these interactions? How does the brand gather, respond and utilize consumer feedback and data? What role does holistic and emotional branding play in these product/service-
consumer interactions?
-    Competitor analysis: identify one to two relevant competitors of the brand. What can the brand learn from their competitor(s) and why?
Give examples to support your answer.

Please ensure that your assignment is submitted through Turnitin in good time. Please check your document for spelling, grammar and other errors before submitting it. Be especially careful that you have not deliberately or unwittingly committed plagiarism.

Formative feedback

You will receive formative feedback in class by presenting a draft visual in seminars for peer and module leader’s feedback.

Assessment Details

The assignment is designed to assess the following learning outcomes:

• LO1: Evaluate and apply the conceptual ideas, frameworks and theories within contemporary brand management and explain how they underpin management practices in strategically building, positioning and managing sustainable brands (CW1).
• LO2: Critically evaluate effective brand management strategies through a sustained enquiry into brand communications and its competitive positioning (CW1). 
• LO3: Critically evaluate the myriad ways in which these regional, national and international brands interact with consumer touchpoints, respond to consumer feedback and make impacts upon consumers’ lives (CW1).

There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.
The word limit includes tables, figures, quotations and citations, but excludes the title page, contents page, references list and appendices.

Criteria for Assessment - How you will be marked

This assessment is worth 50% overall and should contain the following elements:

• Problem definition: what is the issue under investigation? What are the key concepts? How should they be defined? Why is it important that the question is addressed?
• Application of at least two relevant frameworks or models: why are they relevant and what is the best way to apply them for maximum insight?
• References: the Harvard Referencing system must be used correctly and consistently. Study citethemrightonline.com for guidance.

How to Submit your Assessment

The assessment must be submitted by 12:00 noon (GMT/BST) on 8th May (Friday). No paper copies are required. You can access the submission link through the module home page.

• Your coursework will be given a mark of zero if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.
• Please ensure that you have submitted your work using the correct file format, unreadable files will receive a mark of zero. The Faculty accepts Microsoft Office and PDF documents, unless otherwise advised by the module leader.
• All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason will be subject to the University regulations on late submissions.
  oIf an assessment is submitted up to 24 hours late the mark for the work will be capped at the pass mark of 40 per cent for undergraduate modules or 50 per cent for postgraduate modules
  oIf an assessment is submitted beyond 24 hours late the work will receive a mark of zero per cent
  oThe above applies to a student’s first attempt at the assessment. If work submitted as a reassessment of a previously failed assessment task is submitted later than the deadline the work will immediately be given a mark of zero per cent
  oIf an assessment which is marked as pass/fail rather than given a percentage mark is submitted later than the deadline, the work will immediately be marked as a fail
• The University wants you to do your best. However, we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict. If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to five working days, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the re-sit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline for your assessment. You will find information about applying for extensions and deferrals here.
• Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.
• Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

Return of Marked Work

You can expect to have feedback returned to you on or before the 23rd of February, 2026.  If, for any reason there is a delay, you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online. It is important that you access the feedback you receive as this will help to make improvements to your later work, you can request a meeting with your Module Leader or Personal Tutor to discuss your feedback in more detail.

Marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed their review.

More information on assessment and feedback can be found here.

Academic Integrity and Generative AI Use

In submitting a piece of work for assessment it is essential that you understand the University's requirements for maintaining academic integrity and ensure that the work does not contravene University regulations. Some examples of behaviour that would not be considered acceptable include plagiarism, re-use of previously assessed work, collusion with others and purchasing your assignment from a third party. For more information on academic offences, bad academic practice, and academic penalties, please read chapter four of our academic regulations.

Generative AI tools cannot be used for this assessment. You must not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to generate any materials or content in relation to your assessment. Please include a declaration as follows:
Declaration: This assessment has not used any generative-AI.

Academic Support and Your Well-being

Referencing is the process of acknowledging other people’s work when you have used it in your assignment or research. It allows the reader to locate your source material as quickly and easily as possible so that they can read these sources themselves and verify the validity of your arguments. Referencing provides the link between what you write and the evidence on which it is based.

You identify the sources that you have used by citing them in the text of your assignment (called citations or in-text citations) and referencing them at the end of your assignment (called
the reference list or end-text citations). The reference list only includes the sources cited in your text. The main referencing guide can be found here and includes information on the basics of referencing and achieving good academic practice. It also has tabs for the specific referencing styles depending on whether you require Harvard style used in business or OSCOLA style used by the Law school.

The University has a wealth of support services available to students; further information can be obtained from Student Gateway, the Student Advice Centre, Library and Learning Services and, most importantly, your Personal Tutor. If you are struggling with your assessments and/or deadlines please do seek help as soon as possible so that appropriate support and guidance can be identified and put in place for you. More information can be found on the Healthy DMU pages.