I need someone to complete my midterm exam by Monday, June 24, 2019. The specifics on the assignment is attached. Please use the following two companies for my paper: Columbia Sportswear Company and C
Wk. 6. Mid-Term. 30%. Competing Brands: What Makes Them Different?
SELECT one popular USA consumer product or service that is not a category leader (here are a few ideas with the category leaders in parenthesis):
Dr. Pepper (Coke & Pepsi),
Wendy’s (McDonalds),
Coors Light Beer (Bud Light),
Sears (Wal-Mart),
Reebok shoes (Nike),
Please use the following two companies for my paper: Columbia Sportswear Company and Carthartt, Inc (these are both clothing companies)
Yahoo Search (Google),….you get the idea…just visit a retail store if you need to see the leaders (they often have the largest number of products on the shelf) versus the ‘challenger’ brands.
NOTE: This is a 'brand' analysis, not a "Corporation" analysis. Make sure your data is about the brand and not the entire corporation. Let me suggest that you avoid brands that are owned by a corporation of the same name (e.g., Adidas, Dr. Pepper, etc.) because the published data can quickly get confusing (is this brand information or corporate information?).
The manuscript portion of your document will have 5 sections:
BRAND PROFILE. Provide the brand name and explain your brand’s product line.
INDUSTRY. Define the competitive industry and name the leading brand(s). Provide brief profiles of the brands. Providing market share data is very helpful.
TARGET MARKET. Use the “Whole Foods” example in the “Marketing Basics” presentation. Present a paragraph to profile this brand’s leading target market. You should discuss and justify the key attributes you have included in the target market profile. Providing a profile of the secondary target market would be nice.
POP / POD. Analyze the brand’s points-of-parity and points-of-difference relative to the category leader and the leading target market. It is best here to list and explain the 3-6 key POPs and the 1-3 key positive PODs (there is important support material in the COURSE MATERIALS folder).
UNIQUE SELLING POINT. This final section calls for you to craft a statement of 1 to 3 sentences that relates the main positive POD for the target market that you have defined. Be sure to provide an explanation of why this one statement will appeal to the consumer and will motivate them.
NOTE: Some of this analysis is personal observation, but you must also use several quality references and in-text cites to document brand data along with some of your recommendations. The goal of the paper is to understand how your brand competes. Issues that might be worthy for inclusion could be: comparison of pricing, comparison of distribution, graphics of product and / or in-store shelving, screenshot of advertising, pictures taken in-store, etc.
NOTES: Students should include a cover page, Table of Contents, Executive Summary, manuscript, and References. Manuscripts need an opening paragraph that explains the purpose and organization of the document followed with the five sub-heads named above. Most quality manuscripts have 6 to 8 pages of writing plus graphics that take an additional 1 – 3 pages. If the student finds 3 to 5 quality references, this will meet the basic expectations of this assignment (but more is highly desirable).
