MARK1069 Branding Assessment Brief |University of Greenwich

Assessment brief: 

Guidance:

A detailed brief for both assignments will be provided by the Tutor in Moodle. Students are required to carefully review all information and instructions posted on Moodle before beginning their work.

1. Brand Audit Assessment

Assignment Type: Group Project (Video Presentation)
Group Size: 5-6 members
Weighting: 30% of total module grade

For your assessment, choose one specific internationally recognised company from the following categories:
-    E-commerce retailers
-    Consumer electronics
-    Fast food and beverage chains
-    Supermarket chains
Examples would include Amazon, eBay, Apple, HP, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, etc.

Brief:

Your team has been hired as brand consultants by the brand of your choice to conduct a comprehensive brand audit. The company wants to understand its current market position, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth. 

Your task is to conduct a thorough brand audit of your chosen brand and present your findings in a 15-minute video presentation. This audit will provide crucial insights for the brand's future strategic decisions.

Core Requirements:

Your 15-minute video presentation should be structured as follows:

Section One: Corporate/Parent Brand (2 minutes)

• Present an overview of the brand’s architecture, core values, strategic mission, and reputation.
• Focus should be primarily on the brand's essence rather than delving deeply into corporate history.
• Assess the brand's heritage, identity, image, and personality, explaining how these elements contribute to the overall brand perception in the UK market.

Section Two: Brand Proposition and Positioning (4 minutes)

• Offer a comprehensive overview of the brand's products or services, including their form (physical characteristics) and function (performance and utility).
• Highlight the unique attributes of these offerings and compare them to competitors.
• Evaluate the brand's identity, image, and personality, considering how they relate to the corporate/parent brand. Recognize both similarities and differences, and support your analysis with relevant industry sources and academic theories.

Section Three: Consumer Insights (4 minutes)

• Provide in-depth insights into consumer behaviour, dynamics, and consumption patterns within defined consumer segments associated with the chosen product or service. 
• Discuss how cultural or social factors specific to the UK market influence consumer perceptions and behaviours related to the brand.
• Your analysis should be grounded in relevant industry sources and academic theories to support your observations. 

Section Four: Critical Discussions and Evaluations (5 minutes)

• This section should form the core of your audit, offering a comprehensive assessment of the company's branding strategy and execution. 
• Your analysis must be structured around an appropriate branding model or theory learned during the module. 
• Use your chosen framework to explore the brand-customer relationship and evaluate the brand's performance.
• Draw conclusions and provide evidence-based insights into how effectively the brand meets consumer needs and how it compares to competitors. 
• Integrate findings from Sections 1-3 to support your critical evaluation.

Your objective is to thoroughly document, investigate, analyse, illustrate, and explain the brand landscape in relation to its impact on and by consumer behaviour and experiences. Clearly define the consumer segments and audiences upon which your analysis is based. Identify any gaps in information and performance critically and justify the need for improvement. However, DO NOT develop a new branding campaign or marketing plan, as this is beyond the scope of this audit.

NOTE: The time allocations mentioned for each section (e.g., 2 minutes for Section One, 3 minutes for Section Two, etc.) are recommendations to help you balance your presentation. These are not strict requirements. You have the flexibility to adjust the time spent on each section as needed, based on the specific demands of your chosen brand and analysis. However, ensure that all required elements are thoroughly covered within the overall 15-minute timeframe.

2.  Sustainable Experiential Rebranding Strategy (Individual Report)

Assignment Type: Individual Assessment
Weighting: 70% of total module

Word count: 1500 words with ±10% tolerance, excluding executive summary, references and appendices.

Following the comprehensive brand audit conducted by your team, the brand you chose has decided to develop a strategy to address the growing need for sustainability through an experiential campaign. The brand's leadership recognizes the importance of aligning this initiative with the brand's existing identity, values, and practices while addressing the insights gained from the audit.

Task:

As a key member of the consulting team, you have been tasked with developing a detailed proposal for a sustainable experiential campaign strategy for this specific brand. Your strategy should address the particular challenges and opportunities identified in the audit, focusing on enhancing the brand's sustainability efforts and consumer engagement within its industry.

Write a 1500-word report proposing a comprehensive sustainable experiential campaign strategy for the brand audited by your team. This strategy should align with the brand's identity, values, and practices, directly addressing the target insights and discussions from your group's video audit.

Core Requirements:

1.    Executive Summary
-    Briefly summarize the key points of your report
2.    Introduction (150 words)
-    Clearly state the objectives of the sustainable experiential campaign
3.    Sustainable Experiential Campaign Strategy (600 words)
-    Propose specific sustainability initiatives for the campaign
-    Detail innovative experiential marketing strategies that showcase the brand's sustainability efforts
-    Explain how these experiences will create meaningful connections with consumers while highlighting sustainable practices
-    Discuss how this integrated approach will differentiate the brand in its industry
-    Explain how the campaign aligns with the brand's existing identity, values, and practices
4.    Implementation Strategy (200 words)
-    Outline key steps for rolling out the campaign
-    Discuss internal and external communication strategies
-    Provide a timeline for implementation
5.    Impact on Brand Equity (250 words)
-    Discuss how this campaign would help increase the brand's equity using consumer-based brand equity models
-    Analyse the potential impact on brand awareness, associations, perceived quality, and loyalty
6.    Discussion and Recommendations (250 words)
-    Critically evaluate the strengths and potential challenges of the proposed campaign
-    Provide specific, actionable recommendations for successful implementation and long-term sustainability integration
7.    Conclusion (100 words)
-    Summarize the key points of your strategy
-    Reinforce how this campaign will position the brand as a leader in sustainability and consumer engagement