UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

ASSIGNMENT

DMA 607: BRAND MANAGEMENT

NAME: TIMOTHY MAHEA

REG NO. D61/70146/2008

SUBMITTED TO: MR. MUTUGU

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Discuss the elements and use of value proposition. Give examples

VALUE PROPOSITION

It really is the expression of the essence of your business. It's the foundation of all your
marketing messages. It's what makes you stand out and be memorable in an overcrowded
marketplace of look-a likes. And it always is more about your clients and their businesses than it
is about you and your business.

Value Proposition is the business lingo for the way that you describe the value of your goods,
services or company to someone else. Usually value propositions are aimed at potential buyers to
convince them to choose your company or product from the vast ocean of consumer choices. In
other words, Value Propositions are the sum of the benefits of your product to a given consumer.
Value Proposition consists of the sum total of benefits which a vendor promises that a customer
will receive in return for the customer's associated payment (or other value-transfer). It can also
be put simply as the value proposition is what the customer gets for his money/time.

ELEMENTS

A great Value Proposition has several elements that, combined together, pack a powerful
marketing punch that's hard to ignore. These elements include the following:

1. Your ideal target client - Who exactly are your products/services designed for? It
certainly just can't be just "medium or large companies." You need to zero in on much
more specifically. What industry, department, technology, values? For example Equity
Bank has products targeted at the lower market. Therefore the bank has come up with
products that address the needs of the niche market that it targets.

2. Their problems or challenges - What are they struggling with? What's not working for
them? What opportunities are coming up that they may not be meeting successfully?
What keeps them up at night? You need to know this in your head, heart and gut. The
companies dealing with consumables have resulted to having products for the low income

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 earners, hence the emergence of the “kadogo” market where items are packaged is small
quantities.

3. The solutions or results - Where do they want to go? What do they aspire to? What are
they excited about and committed to? After they've solved their problems, where are they
going to put their attention and resources? most companies are now coming up with
programs to establish relationships with customers.

4. The unique angle - What have you got that nobody else has? And how is this an
advantage to your clients? What can you do faster, better, smarter than every other
competitor out there? You need to know this with a high degree of certainty or you'll just
blend in with everyone else.

USES OF VALUE PROPOSITION

Most businesses remember some of the basic elements of a Value Proposition without even
thinking about it. It is worth exploring, however, so that you can be clear and strong when
communicating within your market. The elements are the same as the elements of a good news
story: Who, What, When, Where, How. By answering these questions, you will have a good list
of the value of your service and therefore can create a strong value proposition to back up your
goods. You will know what to advertise and what to feature, and you will also know what to
improve. A critical focus on the following helps in articulating the key issues you need to
consider.

WHAT: What are the key elements of your product? What does it do? What can the buyer do
with it?

WHEN: When will they see or feel a benefit from this product or service? When will it be used
up or not useful?

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WHERE: Where will a consumer use your product? Are there special locations to find this? Is it
rare? Is it more useful or needed in some parts of the world than others? Where will it fit into
consumers' lives? Where was it made?

WHY: Why does someone want this? Why should a consumer pick your product? Why did you
make it the way you did?

HOW: How is your product better than the next guy's product? How does it work? How does it
make people feel or anything in their lives better? How have people been living without it before
you? How does it fit into your brand?

Another area that has been ignored for a long time possibly is WHO, which is emerging as a
critical area for consideration. Who is the ideal consumer for this? Who needs this? Who would
be interested in learning about this? Who are the communities and individuals most likely to
want this product? Who will be most likely to tell other people about this product's value? Who
do my consumers know and respect?

When a company or professional asks and answers all of these questions, the most important
characteristics that define the value of the product will emerge. By joining these characteristics
into a solid Value Proposition, the company will know how to market their product to create the
most success possible.

What is brand identity?

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BRAND IDENTITY

A brand identity provides direction, purpose and meaning for the brand. It is central to a brand’s
strategic vision and the drive of one of the four principle dimensions of brand equity

Brand identity is a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategists aspire to create or
maintain. These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to the
customers from the organization members.

Brand identity should help establish a relationship between the brand and the customer by
generating a value preposition involving functional, emotional or self-expressive benefits.

1. Brand identity consist of twelve dimensions organized around four perspectives-

2. the brand as product (product scope, product attributes, quality/value uses, users, country
of origin),

3. brand as organization (organizational attributes, local versus global)

4. brand as person (brand personality, brand customer relationships) and

5. brand as symbol ( visual imagery/metaphors and brand heritage)

Brand identity structure includes a core and extended identity. The core identity- the central,
timeless essence of the brand- is most likely to remain constants the brand travels to new markets
and products. The extended identity includes brand identity elements, organized into cohesive
and meaningful groupings, that provide textual and completeness.

According to Aaker, the brand identity consists of a unique set of brand associations that
represents what the brand stands for and promises to customers.35 At first, you need to know
where you actually are (actual identity) in order to find a way to your desired brand identity.
Ideally the desired identity is also the ideal identity. However, what you’re communicating and
how people conceive it can be two very different things. Now you may wonder what the
difference is between brand identity and brand image. Well, the latter is more a tactical asset
that can change from time to time while brand identity a long-lasting strategic asset that
represents the timeless values of the brand.

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Value Proposition – A company like Zehrs sells quality products and services that provide good
value at a low price for its customers; expects to continue to be known as low cost operator
through innovative and customer orientated actions; expects honesty and integrity dealing with
customers, employees, suppliers, and community.

BRAND AS A PRODUCT

1. The product scope: associations with product class

2. Product related attributes
3. Quality/value
4. Associations with use occasion
5. Associations with users
6. Link to a country or region
Another strategic option for organizations is to associate one’s brand with a country of origin
that will add credibility to it. For instance, Swatch watches are seen as indelibly Swiss, Mercedes
as German, and champagne as French. In each case, the brand’s association with a country or
region implies that the brand will provide higher quality, because that country or origin has a
heritage of making the best within the product class.

THE PRODUCT SCOPE: ASSOCIATION WITH PRODUCT CLASS

A core element of a brand’s identity is usually its product thrust, which will affect the type of
associations that are desirable and feasible. Brand names help consumers identify products that
might benefit them. Brands also tell the buyer something about product quality, with what
product or products is the brand associated? For visa, it is credit cards, for Compaq/Dell, or
Microsoft, it is computers. A strong link to a product class means that the brand will be recalled
when the product class is cued. Measuring the actual equity of a brand is difficult

A dominant brand like Kleenex will often be the only brand recalled. Other examples are:
Safaricom, Tusker, Omo, Mumias. The goals of linking a brand with a product class are not to
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gain recall of a product class where the brand is mentioned. A key identity issue arises when the
scope of a product class is expanded. Product class expansion, under one brand name will lead to
people left wondering as to what product is being referred to whenever the name is mentioned.
For example, what does SONY stand for?

PRODUCT RELATED ATTRIBUTES

Attributes directly related to the purchase or use of a product can provide functional benefits and
sometimes emotional benefits for customers. A product related attributes can create a value
proposition by offering something extra or better. For example features or services. Product
attributes should not be the only focus of identity. Other aspects can add value and
distinctiveness to the brand identity.

QUALITY/VALUES

The quality elements is one product related attribute important enough to consider separately.
For example, star buck’s brand identity is based in large part on its reputation for providing the
finest coffee in the world with integrity and constituency. Value is closely related to quality. It
enriches the concept by adding the price dimension. Wal-mart is primary positioned as a value
retailer.

ASSOCIATIONS WITH USE OCCASION

Some brands successfully attempt to own a particular use or application, forcing competitors to
work around this reality. For example, Clorox bleach has become strongly associated with the
whitening of clothing, even through bleach can be used for cleaning and disinfecting a wide
variety of things. Star bucks coffee houses provide a familiar, yet upscale place to relax staffed
by friendly employed.

ASSOCIATIONS WITH USERS

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Brands can also be positioned by a type of user. For example, Gerber focuses on babies; Eddie
Bauer offers contemporary fashions for the person with an outdoor lifestyle. A strong user type
position can imply a value proposition and a brand personality.

Link to a country or region

A brand can also be associated with a country or region that will add credibility to it. For
example, champagne means France, Bloomingdale’s means New York. In each case, the brand’s
association with a country or region implies that the brand will provide higher quality, because
that country has a heritage of making the best within that product class.

Studies have shown that the extent of the effect of country of origin depends on the product
class. For example, Japanese electronic products are rated higher than Japanese food. The
country of origin however, can impart attributes that travel across categories

A product identity, or brand image are typically the attributes one associates with a brand, how
the brand owner wants the consumer to perceive the brand - and by extension the branded
company, organization, product or service. The brand owner will seek to bridge the gap between
the brand image and the brand identity. Effective brand names build a connection between the
brand personality as it is perceived by the target audience and the actual product/service. The
brand name should be conceptually on target with the product/service (what the company stands
for). Furthermore, the brand name should be on target with the brand demographic. Typically,
sustainable brand names are easy to remember, transcend trends and have positive connotations.
Brand identity is fundamental to consumer recognition and symbolizes the brand's differentiation
from competitors.

Brand identity is what the owner wants to communicate to its potential consumers. However,
over time, a products brand identity may acquire (evolve), gaining new attributes from consumer
perspective but not necessarily from the marketing communications an owner percolates to
targeted consumers. Therefore, brand associations become handy to check the consumer's
perception of the brand.

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