Roland corporation brand positioning

All sources should be referenced using APA formatting.

Client Name: Slate, Inc.

Industry: Musical instruments

Competitors: 1. Casio

2. Roland

Product Lines: Keyboards

Slate, Inc. has asked us to provide a brand analysis report on these two competing brands to inform Slate’s decisions on the direction of its own branding strategy.

Casio has a solid market reputation, although people mostly know the company for its other products, such as watches. However, the company makes outstanding keyboards, ranging from entry models to pricier keyboards for experts (AIMM, 2018).

Roland keyboards are renowned for their similarity to real pianos. Their keyboards produce sounds that closely mimic the tones of grand pianos, making their stage pianos among the best instruments available. Roland keyboards are well crafted and are suited to consumers who pay attention to the smallest details (AIMM, 2018).

Branding Strategies

Deliverable: Based on your research of the two companies’ brands, write an eight to nine-page report (four pages on each company) that addresses the following branding elements:

1.brand personality

2.brand image

3.brand identity

4.brand differentiation

5.brand positioning

6.brand communication

7.brand loyalty

8.brand equity (including financial equity)

As you examine these branding elements, your report should also answer the following questions:

1.How strong are the companies’ brands in the market?

2.What are the factors contributing to their strengths and weaknesses?

3.How are these two brands competing against each other? How strong is their global performance?

4.How do consumers perceive their brands?

5.Are there any sub-brands? Are there any brand extensions?

Your report should contain a one-page executive summary (following the cover page) that highlights the most important findings of your analysis. Also include a one-page table in an appendix at the end of the paper that compares the brand elements for the two brands.

Support your work with course readings, scholarly sources, and reliable nonscholarly sources, such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Harvard Business Review, as well as UMUC Library databases, such as Hoover's and ABI-Inform. All sources have to be cited using APA formatting, both within the text and in the reference list.

Your final report to Carlos should be eight to nine pages, excluding cover page, executive summary, the reference list, and appendices. Any graphs, tables, and figures should be included as appendices. Your report should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in size-12 Times New Roman font. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.

Multiproduct Branding Strategy

A company may use one name for all its product capitalizing on its brand equity and the favorable perception that the consumers have for it (i.e., the company’s trade name and brand name are the same, as it is for Sony, GE, and Microsoft). This strategy allows for product-line extensions, or the use of an existing brand name to enter new market segments in the same product class. Line extensions work best if they take business away from the competition (i.e., incremental business) and do not cannibalize the company’s existing sales.

An important decision companies must make is under which brand a new offering will be marketed. For example, Black & Decker makes power tools for consumers under its Black & Decker brand, while tools for more serious do-it-yourselfers and professionals are under its DeWalt brand. If Black & Decker decided to add to its DeWalt line new products such as coolers, portable radios, CD players, and other accessories construction professionals might find useful at a job site, the company would be creating a brand extension, which involves using an existing brand name or brand mark for a new product category.

Why would Black & Decker add these accessories to the DeWalt line? If the company did, it would be because DeWalt already has a good reputation for high-quality, long-lasting durability and performance among construction professionals. These same professionals would trust the DeWalt brand to deliver.

When they're branding a new offering, firms have to consider the degree of cannibalization that can occur across products. Cannibalization occurs when a firm's new offering eats into the sales of one of its older offerings; ideally, when you sell a new product, you hope that all of its sales come from your competitors' buyers or buyers that are new to the market. A completely new offering will not result in cannibalization, whereas a line extension likely will. A brand extension will also result in some cannibalization if you sell similar products under another brand. For example, if Black & Decker already had an existing line of coolers, portable radios, and CD players when the DeWalt line was launched, the new DeWalt offerings might cannibalize some of the Black & Decker offerings.

However, some marketers argue that cannibalization can be a good thing because it is a sign that a company is developing new and better offerings. These people believe that if you don't cannibalize your own line, then your competitors will.

Other companies engage in sub-branding, or combining the corporate brand with another brand (e.g., Lamborghini Murcielago or Porsche Boxter). On the other hand, a brand extension capitalizes on a strong brand equity and involves the use of an existing brand name to enter a totally different product class (e.g., Suzuki motorcycles extending its name to cars and outboard motors). However, too many uses of a brand name may dilute its meaning to the consumers as has happened with Arm & Hammer’s brand that has been used for toothpaste, detergent, cat litter, baking soda, carpet deodorizer, deodorant, and air freshener (Kerin & Hartley, 2017, p. 308).

Multibranding Strategy

With multibranding strategy, the company gives a distinct name to each product. This is a useful strategy when each brand is intended for a different market segment. For example, P&G markets its flagship detergent under the Ariel brand, while Tide is the low-tier brand. In the United States, Tide is the flagship detergent. This strategy involves higher promotion and advertising costs compared to the multiproduct branding strategy; however, since each brand is unique to its market, there is no risk that failure of one brand will impact the other brands in the line (Kerin & Hartley, 2017).

Private Branding Strategy (Private Label)

With a private branding strategy, a company manufactures products but sells them under the brand name of a retailer (e.g., Rayovac produces batteries for retailers such as Walmart and Kroger). This is a highly profitable business for both sides, and about 20 percent of all products sold in drugstores and supermarkets bear a private label (Kerin & Hartley, 2017).

Mixed Branding Strategy

Using a mixed branding strategy, companies market products under their own brand and under private labels and sell in different market segments (Kerin & Hartley, 2017).

References

Kerin, R. & Hartley, S. (2017). Marketing (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Licenses and Attributions

Branding, Labeling, and Packaging from Marketing Principles is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license without attribution as requested by the site's original creator or licensee. UMUC has modified this work and it is available under the original license.

Branding Packaging Decisions

An important set of questions for a marketing team to consider involves the packaging on which a brand's marks and name will be prominently displayed. Sometimes the package itself is part of the brand. For example, the curvaceous shape of Coca-Cola's Coke bottle is a registered trademark. If you decide to market your beverage in a similar-shaped bottle, Coca-Cola's attorneys will have grounds to sue you.

Packaging has to fulfill a number of important functions, including the following:

•communicating the brand and its benefits

•protecting the product from damage and contamination during shipment, as well as damage and tampering once it's in retail outlets

•preventing leakage of the contents

•presenting government-required warning and information labels

Sometimes packaging can fulfill other functions, such as serving as part of an in-store display designed to promote the offering.

Primary packaging holds a single retail unit of a product. For example, a bottle of Coke, a bag of M&Ms, or a ream of printer paper (five hundred sheets) are all examples of primary packages. Primary packaging can be used to protect and promote products and get the attention of consumers. Primary packaging can also be used to demonstrate the proper use of an offering, provide instructions on how to assemble the product, or any other needed information. If warning or nutrition labels are required, they must be on the primary packaging. Primary packaging can be bundled together as well. Consumers can buy bottles of Coke sold in six-packs or cans of Coke in 12-packs, for example.

Secondary packaging holds a single wholesale unit of a product: a case of M&M bags or cartons of reams of paper. Secondary packaging is designed more for retailers than consumers. It does not have to carry warning or nutrition labels but is still likely to have brand marks and labels. Secondary packaging further protects the individual products during shipping.

Tertiary packaging is packaging designed specifically for shipping and efficiently handling large quantities. When a Coca-Cola bottler ships cases of Coke to a grocery store, they are stacked on pallets (wooden platforms) and then wrapped in plastic. Pallets can be easily moved by a forklift truck and can even be moved within the grocery store by a small forklift.

A product's packaging can benefit the customer beyond just protecting the offering while it is being shipped. No-spill caps, for example, can make it easier for you to use your laundry detergent or prevent spills when you're adding oil to your car's engine. As noted above, secondary packaging (and tertiary packaging) can serve as part of an in-store display, thereby adding value for your retailers.

Brand Audit

A brand audit is a detailed analysis that shows how a company’s brand is performing versus its goals, and how that performance positions the brand in the market. A brand audit should help the company to do the following (Smith, 2016):

1.establish its brand performance

2.identify strengths and weaknesses

3.align its strategy more closely with the expectations of its customers

4.recognize its position in the market versus the competition

A brand audit is used to assess the sources of a brand’s equity and identify area for improvement, growth, and innovation in order to leverage the company’s equity.

Learning Topic

Print

Branding Elements

Branding elements are the foundation of a branding strategy and help distinguish a brand from its competitors. There are several elements that are important in distinguishing a brand. These include brand personality, brand image, brand identity, brand differentiation, brand positioning, brand communication, brand loyalty, and brand equity. Analysis of these elements will allow marketers to understand the performance of a particular brand.

The branding elements described in the sections below are critical for a successful branding strategy.

Brand Personality

Successful brands acquire a brand personality over time, which is a set of human characteristics that is associated those brand name. Consumers "assign personality traits to products"—for example, rugged, romantic, rebellious, or sophisticated—and choose those brands that are more in line with their "desired self-image" (Kerin & Hatley, 2017, p. 304). Marketers can instill a brand with a personality; for example, Pepsi’s personality traits include exciting and young, while Coca Cola is real and all-American. On the other hand, Harley-Davidson portrays defiance, masculinity, and individualism (Kerin & Hartley, 2017).

The five key dimensions of brand personality include the following (Imagibrand, 2017):

1.brand competence—Is the company branding its expertise? The attributes represented by this brand personality are success, intelligence, expertise, and reliability.

2.brand sincerity—Does the company have a genuine brand? The attributes represented by this brand personality are honesty, wholesomeness, genuineness, and cheerfulness.

3.brand excitement—How daring is the company's brand? The attributes represented by this brand personality are daring, playfulness, spirit, and imagination.

4.brand sophistication—Would James Bond ever use the company's brand? The attributes represented by this brand personality are poise, elegance, and charm.

5.brand toughness—Can the company's brand stand against the competition? The attributes represented by this brand personality are potency, forcefulness, power, and ruggedness.