FINAL REPORT OUTLINE

BRANDING IN VIET NAM

Objectives : The final report aims at learning how to evaluate a Brand with different methods.
Based on the collected data and research results, we will propose branding recommendations
focusing on building/improving brand knowledge structure in consumers’ mind and brand
performance.

Brief Content : The final report consists of four parts: 1) The brand inventory, 2) The brand
exploratory, 3) The proposed brand positioning/ identity, and 4) The recommended branding
plan.
1) In The Brand Inventory part : there are 6 components, including :
(1) The product market overview,
(2) Market analysis,
(3) Brand element analysis,
(4) Marketing programs analysis,
(5) Target segment profiles and
(6) The brand benefit/ differentiation analysis.
We will conduct major secondary research to paint a big picture of the current product
industry and market, as well as evaluate the brand performance in the current market.
2) In The Brand Exploratory part : we will conduct primary research to uncover the
consumers’ brand awareness, associations, attitudes, preferences, loyalty, and other
perceptions concerning our Brand, Competitor brand 1 and Competitor brand 2. This part
consists of three components:
(1) Consumer research questions: In the consumer research questions, we will propose
10 research questions based on our research objectives and the revision of the research
questions in the preliminary report.
(2) Research design : The research design section will illustrate the methods of the
primary research, data collection and the participant recruitment.
(3) Major findings : In the major finding section, we will present the survey results and
takeaways which is of great significance for the proposed brand recommendations.
3) In The Proposed Brand Positioning : we will analyze the current brand knowledge
structure and other perceptions for our Brand, Competitor brand 1 and Competitor brand 2.
According to the research results, we will propose two different desired brand positioning
strategies based on the research insights we have uncovered.
4) In the last part, Branding Recommendation : we will creat our branding strategy based on
the previous findings and insights in order to help our Brand to change the current positioning
to the positioning and image that we proposed.
Our branding strategy focuses on developing a brand extension for the our main brand. For
the extension, we aim at new targeting consumers with specificed products. For the main brand,
we will propose to build the image to be more reliable and emphasize the attributes of Brand
as the pioneer in the goods/service industry and their excellent quality.

Content :
PART 1 : THE BRAND INVENTORY
(1) The product market overview.
a) Major developments and current state of the market.
b) Main brands in the market.
c) Overview of the consumer info.
(2) Market analysis.
a) Important market trends.
• Batter (strike repeatedly with hard blows) for counterfeiters.
• Personalization matters.
• Experiences counted
• …….
b) Main competitors and their competition strategies in their product.
• Raising brand value.
• Raising brand awareness.
• Rapid market expansion.
• Similar market position.
• ……
(3) Brand element analysis.
a) Brand Names and URLs.
b) Logos and Symbols.
c) Characters
d) Slogans & jingles.
e) Packaging and Signage.
(4) Marketing programs analysis.
a) Past marketing/branding strategies for our Brand.
• Consistent advertising and marketing efforts using in-house
creative team.
• From functional to emotional appeals.
• A complete lifestyle brand.
• …..
b) Past marketing/branding strategies for Compertitor 1.
c) Past marketing/branding strategies for Compertitor 2.
d) Brand Attributes of our Brand.
• Product Portfolio: (Wide Product Portfolio).
• Pricing: (Accessible Consistent with its brand position).
• Marketing Communications: (Social media Engagement).
• Distribution Channels: (Multi-channel distribution strategy).
(5) Target segment profiles.
a) The target market for the overall product category.
b) Core/potential target market of Brand.
c) Core/potential target market of Competitors.
(6) The brand benefit/ differentiation analysis
a) Core benefits and compelling reasons to buy.
• Low price.
• Nature of the product.
• Psychology: Reasons to purchase an item of.
• Consumer Habits: Promotion.
• More options.
• Unique Style: Spirit.
• Multi-channel distribution: Find me anywhere.
• …..
b) Point of Parity (POP) for Brand and Competitors.
• Offering a similar range of the products.
 • Update the seasonal collections regularly.
• Treasure the brand history and integrate it into marketing
strategies.
• A combination of both function, style and emotional appeal.
• Emphasize on building unique brand image and associations
through marketing communication expense.
• Good quality and focus design.
• Feature a ‘World of … ” on the website.
• …..
c) Point of Difference (POD) for Brand ( or for Competitors).
• Pioneers in the … goods.
• Affordable price for category products.
• Multi-channel distribution model.
• A customer-centric focus.
• One of the first brands in VN to go online.
• On the way being a complete and premium lifestyle brand.
• The main communication message is sexy, glamorous, and
flamboyant.
• Smart-position – also appeal to “not so rich yet” target consumers.
• Pursuit of the jet-setting lifestyle (richness, high-quality and
fabulousness) in the real world.
• Utilize designer’ personal relationships with celebrities.
• …..
d) Point of Difference (POD) for Competitor 1
e) Point of Difference (POD) for Competitor 2

PART II:THE BRAND EXPLORATORY

(1) Consumer research questions
• RQ1: What are the consumer’s perceptions/brand image of Brand,
Competitor 1 and Competitor 2?
• RQ2: What are the main factors that affect consumers’purchase decision
making?
• RQ3: What motivates the purchases Brand products and other
competing brands?
• RQ4: What is the level of consumer’s brand awareness about Brand,
Competitor 1 and Competitor 2?
• RQ5: How is the consumers’ loyalty toward Brand and competing
brands?
• RQ6: What is the consumers’ preference towards Brand, Competitor 1
and Competitor 2?
• RQ7: How do the consumers use Brand, Competitor 1 and Competitor
2 products?
• RQ8: What are the brand associations of Brand, Competitor 1 and
Competitor 2?
• RQ9: How do consumers respond to the changes of Brand’s marketing
strategy?
(2) Research design
a) Research method
 This study is designed to evaluate our Brand in terms of the consumer’
perception, purchase intentions, motivations, brand awareness, brand associations,
brand loyalty and market competitions etc. A questionnaire was created with 20
questions.
Considering the main purposes of this research, we will chose to conduct
online survey and used Qualtrics survey tool to present, distribute and collect the
data collection.
The main reasons we used online survey include its wide coverage, features
of targeting specifically and accurately, increase of participant engagement and
less bias and distraction, and flexibility and convenience. First, wide coverage.
The online consumer survey is able to reach a larger amount of current and
potential Brand’s consumers in terms of both geographic and demographic aspects.
Second, target specifically and accurately. Web-based survey would help us
more accurately and specifically reach our target consumers.
Third, increasing participants’ engagement. One of the greatest advantage of
online consumer survey is that we would integrate image, useful links, sounds and
videos within the online survey questionnaire which could increase the engagement
of the participants (Mirzaee, 2013).
Forth, less bias and distractions. People are usually more revealing in online
environment compared to traditional research method such as interview and offline
survey (Marketing minds research, n.d.). Participants feel more comfortable and
free to reveal their true feelings and honest answer of the questions.
At last, flexibility and convenience. The participants could access to the
questionnaire whenever and wherever they are. In addition, the data collected
from the online survey tools like Qualtrics could be directly analyzed using
computer software without extra import.
b) Recruitment method
Due to the limited time and budget, each team will apply the snowballing
method to recruit participants for the online survey. Snowball recruitment is a
nonprobability sampling technique. It refers to the process of recruiting participants
based on the reference of certain people. It can “quickly build up and enabling the
researcher to approach participants with credibility from being sponsored by a
named person” (Denscombe, 1997). In the snowball recruitment, the researchers
collect the participant info from “the information needed to locate other members
of that population who they happen to know” (Babbie, 2013).
The whole recruitment process went on for two weeks and consisted of three
stages. In the first stage, we will use team members’ connections and references to
spread the recruitment information via social media, phone and email etc. At the
end of the first stage, we will collect more than 70 participants’ information,
including their demographic info and contact info. In the second stage, we
organized and filtered the participants, and recollected some people to make sure
the population size. In addition, we sent out our survey invitation and the links to
our participants and waited for their responses. In the last stage, responses were
received and processed.
c) Data collection
Participants were selected from three main sources, including professionals
from around HCM city, a college or a university located in HCM city and the team
members’ friends and acquaintances. These three sources were chosen for the
reason that the existing and potential market of our brand are people aged from 20
to 54.
 After adequate info was collected, a final list of 120 people was created.
Survey links were sent out to the participants via emails. However, due to the
limited budget, we didn’t provide any rewards like money or coupons for
participants. All the participants were volunteered to take the surveys. Two rounds
of email and Facebook message reminders were sent to those who had not yet
completed the surveys.
(3) Major findings
a) Consumers’ brand awareness of which brand is the strongest among these
three brands?. Which brand ranks second?
b) Quality or Price is the most important internal factors that affects
consumers’purchase decision making?. What (Quality or Price) is the
second most important factor?
c) Customer review is the most important external factors for customers
when they are making their purchase decisions? Celebrity endorsement is
the least important factor?
d) According to the results, which brand’s products have been purchased
most often?
e) Compared to its competitors, the brand image of ours whether reach the
expectation or not?
f) What brand has the lowest level of brand loyalty among the three brands?
g) Normal Outlook and Positioning, Deeply related with what Products?
h) Use as a gift to others?
i) …..

PART III: PROPOSED BRAND POSITIONING/IDENTITY

(1) Family Brand
a) Proposed brand positioning statement
b) Justification.
• Desired brand awareness – highly recognizable and memorable.
• Desired brand image – best quality, reliable and classically stylish.
• …..
c) POP & POD.
• A pioneer in the goods industry.
• Combination of best quality with distinctive and classic design.
• …..
(2) Sub-Brand
a) Proposed brand positioning statement
b) Justification.
• Desired brand awareness – fashion forward and trendy for the …
generation.
• Desired brand image – stylish and affordable quality products that
maintain a high level of durability and functionality.
• …..
c) POP & POD

PART IV: BRANDING RECOMMENDATIONS

(1) The Recommended Brand Position/Identity for Brand
a) Brand position for Family Brand
b) Brand position for Sub brand
 (2) The Strategies and Tactics for Family Brand
a) Organized Idea:
b) Brand tone:
c) Target Market:
d) Strategies and tactics:
• Unisex brand approach.
• Maintain the same prices and tighten distribution channels.
• Highlight the good-quality, durability, reliable and dependable.
• …..
(3) The Strategies and Tactics for Sub-brand
a) Organized Idea:
b) Brand tone:
c) Target Market:
d) Strategies and tactics:
• Lower prices with quality products.
• Unique design and style.
• Upgraded visual identity.
• …..
(4) Management Plan
According to the text, a brand equity management system is a set of organizational
practices designed to improve the understanding and use of the brand equity concept within a
firm. (Keller, 2019)
Long Term Strategy
1) Create a Brand Charter – As learned in book, things change over time. It is
important for a brand to have the ability to change and adapt to their
surroundings, whether that be because of technology, government regulations,
social/cultural changes, etc.
Overall, it is important to protect the brand equity. By developing a brand charter, it’s
easier to measure that brand equity, understand how to properly devise marketing programs,
and maintain design standards via treatments, color palette, logo usage, etc. The Brand has to
adapt to technology in the past by developing mobile products, like the iPhone or iPad case.
Continuing to develop accessible products in the future is essential to growing with technology,
and appealing to the younger generation.
Overall, Brand’s long term strategy is to target those that frequently purchase and
promote the quality, design, and style of various product offerings.

2) Create a Brand Equity Report – According to the book, it is important to conduct

a survey, and assemble the results for analysis of performance measures (Keller,
2019). After conducting a survey on Brand’s products and overall brand, many
interesting findings were discovered. Result showed the brand image and
awareness if Brand is not as strong as that of Competitors. This information, as
well as other statistics gathered, can be incorporated into the brand equity report,
along with marketing information and tracking studies. Because the World of
Brand is geographically diverse, this could be extremely helpful in understanding
regional and national sales markets.
Brand Equity Responsibilities - There will always be other brands that challenge
Brand, however it is important to understand the current trends in marketing and
communications. In module 4, part of managing brands over time include being
able to adjust, reinforce, or revitalize your brand at any time. Product consistency
should be maintained in the high value and durability of the product. Maintaining
quality standards helps to reinforce the brand, and maintain customer satisfaction.
Quality standards should be maintained both internally and externally. While
employees may come and go, having brand ambassadors with the company can
create a stronger identity, especially when it comes time for change.