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Week Five Blog – Burberry

Burberry’s current positioning puts it in competition with both lifestyle and fashion brands, which is not sustainable. Burberry is positioned to be more premium and fashion-forward than pure lifestyle brands like Polo and Coach but more functional than pure fashion-forward brands like Gucci and Armani. Burberry’s current positioning allows the brand to play across categories and consumer segments but could inhibit the brand from outperforming more focused competitors. Burberry’s broad positioning has already led to brand confusion and adoption by non-target consumers, as well as an overreliance on the check pattern to reinforce the brand (potentially signaling a lack of coherence in brand promise. We have learned that strong brands are built on clearly defined target customers, and this is still something that Burberry lacks. 

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Week Four Blog – Diffusion

Individually wrapped peanut butter slides will benefit from a clear relative advantage based on convenience. They are also simple, designed to be highly compatible with customers’ existing patterns, and easy to experiment with. Since the individually wrapped peanut butter squares are optimal for on-the-go consumption, they will also benefit from high observability.

 For their very niche target consumer segment, Stave puzzles offer a clear relative advantage in the form of a unique challenge. The puzzles are targeted at “sharpy” customers who are already gravitating towards mentally stimulating pastimes. While the puzzles themselves are quite complex, the intended use of a puzzle is quite simple and intuitive. Although the puzzles are quite expensive, there is a high chance that target customers would have an opportunity to try one through their social network. Since puzzles are often displayed in common areas and the Stave puzzles are visually differentiated, the Stave puzzles will benefit from high observability.

 The Polytrack offers a middling relative advantage given that it is safer but slower. Polytrack requires a significant initial investment, which will slow trial, but once adopted is relatively simple and compatible with preexisting routines. The benefits are observable but only for those who know to that they should be evaluating them.

 The collapsible bike wheel will face significant diffusion challenges. With the product’s high weight and cost, it offers no clear advantage. Target customers are not used to collapsing their wheels and have already developed strategies for accommodating nonstandard wheels. They are also likely to have questions about how the new wheels would work with their existing bikes. The high price point presents a significant barrier to trial. While the wheel would be observable with adoption, initial barriers are likely to prevent any meaningful adoption.

 Given the influences of the five forces noted above, I would note that the rate of diffusion within target consumers will be descending in the following order: individually wrapped peanut butter slices, Stave puzzles, Polytrack, and collapsible wheel.

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Week Three - Cocho Y Toror

15.846 Branding: Week Three Blog – Concho Y Toro

Wine consumption is largely driven by perception rather than actual quality. Most individuals who are drinking wine seek a level of “refinement and sophistication” (Concho Y Toro, 2010). This means that attributes tied to perception but wholly unconnected to actual quality, influence consumers preferences. For example, consumers tend to use location of wine production as a driver of preference. When consumers were asked to grade three wines that they believed to be from France, California, and Texas, they rated the wine from France the highest, the wine from California the next highest, and the wine from Texas the lowest; in reality, all the wines were the same (Concho Y Toro, 2010).  

For our branding lab final project on Palmcare, an insuretech platform focused on the families of Caribbean immigrants, we could run an experiment in the informational marketing materials provided to prospective plan purchasers. In the control marketing information, we would provide standard information about plan contributions and benefits. In the experimental marketing information, we could include a case study on the savings associated with managing a high-incidence chronic condition (e.g., diabetes), through Palmcare. This could help Palmcare both make the benefits more tangible and draw upon the emotions of Americans who see friends and family suffering from that condition and understand the extent to which poor care can detract from their quality of life.

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Week Two Blog – Market Research

My first job focused on market research to inform sales and marketing strategies for CPG brands selling themselves to retailers. We used many of the methodologies outlined in the article in our work. Typically began with qualitative research methodologies, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, or shop-alongs (basically a combined observation session and interview as a customer navigates a store), to generate hypotheses. After the qualitative research, we used online surveys to validate our hypotheses and understand their relevance to our target population.

In addition to the methodologies noted in the article, we also utilized more modern technology-enabled market research methodologies that helped us understand eCommerce shopping behaviors. I found a non-experimental research methodology that utilized mouse movement and click tracking especially interesting. Since many retailers are investing in expanding their omnichannel presence and want to understand how customers interact with brands online, we would recruit participants from the target population to download software that enabled us to track their mouse movements and clicks throughout an online shopping session. Tracking mouse movements and clicks helped us understand how customers were navigating the website and what they were considering in their competitive set as they were shopping. It’s been really interesting to see how these methodologies have evolved as the way consumers shop has changed.

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Week One Blog – The Power of a Brand: Black & Decker

Makita is outselling Black and Decker 8 to 1 in an account that gives them equal shelf space because Makita has a stronger brand among Tradesmen. While awareness among tradespeople is high for both brands (98% for Black and Decker and 90% for Makita), tradespeople’s perceptions of quality are much higher for Makita (67% of tradespeople agree that Makita is “one of the best” versus 44% for Black and Decker). Confusion between Black and Decker’s consumer- and professional- grade brands may have contributed to tradespeople’s perception that their professional products are low-quality. While most brands’ consumer grade and/or private label products were gray or charcoal, Black and Decker’s professional grade products were also charcoal. Makita, on the other hand, visually differentiated with teal. In addition, Black and Decker’s household electronics division creates brand confusion and detracts from the perception that their power tools are high-quality, professional products with one tradesman noting, “Black & Decker makes a good popcorn popper, and my wife just loves her Dustbuster, but I’m out here trying to make a living.” In addition, some tradespeople used consumer products, which did not perform as well on tasks that they were not designed for. Black and Decker’s poor performance is driven by the brand’s poor perception among tradespeople, which is at least partially driven by brand confusion between personal and professional products.

Black and Decker’s share in the Industrial segment is much higher than their share in the Tradespeople segment because the company has a stronger brand among industrial buyers. In the industrial segment, tools are purchased by companies rather than individual users. These buyers view Black and Decker as offering, “high-quality, differentiated products and excellent service.” Laboratory tests showed that Black and Decker’s primary challenge in the tradesman segment was perception, rather than actual quality, and the in the professional segment were more knowledgeable about performance and less affected by potential confusion with Black and Decker’s consumer brand.