USA: +1(669)289-8683 
Sign in
Subject: Thinking about the consumer and branding
From:
Jillian
Best,
CEO, MCS
To: You
Attachments:
Slate Case File
Good Morning,
I have attached the Slate case file to this email. It provides additional details you will need to inform your work with
Carlos
Chance, their head of branding.
Branding
is a very important element of marketing. As you work on this project, it is imperative that you stay focused on the consumer. Remember that a company’s customers do not buy features; they buy benefits, both tangible and intangible. It is also critical to understand customers and how the brand influences their buying decisions.
Best wishes,
Jillian
After you have reviewed the Slate case file and read about branding, proceed to Step 2, where you will examine the elements of branding decisions.
Subject: Focus of Brand Analysis
From: Carlos Chance, Head of Branding, Slate, Inc.
To: You
Hello,
Primarily, we want you to examine the
branding strategies
of our competitors. This report will function as a
brand audit
that allows us to examine our competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, customer expectations, and our own relative position in the market.
These details form the basis of the main
branding elements
. I met with our CEO, Shanice Watts, and she wanted me to emphasize the following eight categories we would like you to analyze in your report about our two biggest competitors:
Slate’s executive teams are really looking forward to your report. Thanks for helping us with this.
Best,Carlos
When you have finished reading about the branding elements, proceed to the next step, where you will begin your research on Slate’s competitors.
Required Readings
Ferrara, M. H. (2013). Handbook of global marketing. Gale.
To carry out this assignment, you need to understand Slate’s competitors’ brand strategies, their consumers, how to acquire market knowledge through
primary and secondary research
, and how to use that knowledge to build and support a brand.
To start your research, visit the websites of Slate’s two biggest competitors and review both scholarly and reliable nonscholarly sources to explore their branding decisions. Your research of the two companies should focus on the branding elements discussed in the previous step.
Consult a minimum of four scholarly sources and sixteen reliable nonscholarly sources (20 total). Make sure that you use reliable, nonscholarly sources such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Statista, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as the UMGC Library databases such as Hoover’s, IBIS World, and ABI/INFORM.
In addition, explore the following branding websites for relevant content:
Then proceed to the next step, where you will discuss branding strategy.
Step 4: Discuss Competitors’ Branding Strategies
Importance of Branding
As you are researching Slate’s competitors, Carlos asks you to participate in a
meeting on the importance of branding
with his team.
Review the meeting details, then go to the discussion area and begin by posting your main response to Carlos’s questions by Saturday midnight (latest!). Support your arguments with at least one source from the course readings, and three reliable nonscholarly sources derived from your own research. Then respond to at least two postings in the discussion group. Complete all discussion posts and responses by Tuesday midnight (latest!).
Review the
MBA Discussion Guidelines
for instructions on participation in discussions.
In the next step, you will respond to your boss’s request for a vetted list of references you are using to support your report.
Step 5: Present Your Research Results
When you are just about finished with your research, MCS CEO, Jillian Best, decides to check in on your progress. She emails you requesting that you provide a list of the sources you are using for analysis:
INBOX: 1 New Message
Subject: Sources for Slate Project
From: Jillian Best, CEO, MCS
To: You
I know that you’re deep into your analysis of the Slate, Inc. case, but I wanted to preview your work and check in on the sources of information you are using to develop your report. Slate has asked to examine the sources of secondary research that we are using in our report to ensure their quality and originality. Accordingly, I want you to share the list of references you have been using to research Slate’s competitors.
Deliverable: Provide a reference list derived from your research that has a minimum of four scholarly and 16 reliable, nonscholarly sources (20 in all).
I suggest using reliable nonscholarly sources, such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune,Financial Times, Statista, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as UMGC Library databases, such as Hoover’s, IBIS World, and ABI-Inform.
All sources should be referenced using APA formatting.
Thanks for your hard work,
Jillian
Submit your reference list to the Assignments folder. Then proceed to the next step, where you will write your brand analysis report.
Required Readings
Chapters 7 and 16
Lancaster, G., & Massingham, L. (2018).
Essentials of marketing management
(2nd ed.). Routledge.
Deliverable: Based on your research of the two companies’ brands, write a 13-page report (six pages separately on each company under its own heading, and each brand element supported separately under its own subheading, plus one page for recommendations to Slate) that addresses the following branding elements:
brand personalitybrand imagebrand identitybrand differentiationbrand positioningbrand communicationbrand loyaltybrand equity (including financial equity)
As you examine these branding elements, your report should also answer the following questions:
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, Statista, the Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as UMGC Library databases, such as Hoover’s, IBIS World, and ABI-Inform. All sources have to be cited using APA formatting, both within the text and in the reference list.
Your report to Carlos should be 13 pages (12-page brand analysis plus one page for recommendations to Slate), excluding cover page, the reference list, and appendices. Any graphics, tables, and figures should be included as appendices. Your report should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.
Step 7: Complete Your Brand Analysis Report
Deliverable: Incorporate any revisions to your final Brand Analysis report.
