[No. of Printed Pages — 6]
MGBMK-20301 ‘ ROMP NOs sae ewan
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
THIRD SEMESTER END TERM EXAMINATION :
JANUARY, 2010
PRODUCT & BRAND MA
Time: 3 Hrs.
Attempt any 4 questio
Each question carries 6 marks,
1. What have been the key marketing activities that have
most contributed to the success of positioning of Pulsar
(Motor cycle from Bajaj)?
2. How do you assess the value of the brand to the
company ? Does it require having strong Brands for
the success of the company ?
3. What are 5 of your favorite brands? Why ?
4. Brand Equity helps in enhancing product life cycle,
How do you build brand equity ? How does LUX
enhance the maturity stage through Brand equity 7 _
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fe
How would you characterize branding strategy in
general? What are the positive aspects? Are there
any negative aspects ?
SECTION — B (20 Marks)
Attempt any 2 questions,
Each question carries 10 marks
In India, Brand building is tough or easy, quote two
examples one in favor and another against to support
your case with details of what can be branded; why
do brands matter ?
Brand Extension: Which product or service categories
should be considered and what names and other brand
elements should be applied ? Expand your boundaries
by taking an example and consider the implications of
different cultures on effective brand extension.
“Category Redefinition” is more difficult to handle
than “Product Redefinition”. Explain.
SECTION — C (16 Marks)
(Compulsory — Case Study)
Coca-Cola
1. SWOT ANALYSIS: Strengths Coca-Cola has
been an intricate part of American culture for over aMGBMK-20301 3
century. The product’s image is laden with
sentimentality, and this is an image many people have
taken deeply to heart. The Coca-Cola image is
displayed on ‘T-shirts, hats, and collectible
memorabilia. This extremely recognizable branding is
one of Coca-Cola’s greatest strengths. “Enjoyed more
than 685 million times a day around the world Coca-
Cola stands as a simple, yet powerful symbol of quality
and enjoyment” (Alien, 1995).
Additionally, according to Bettman, et. al, (1998) Coca-
Cola’s bottling system is one of their greatest
strengths. It allows them to conduct business on a ~
large scale while at the same time maintain a local
approach. The bottling companies are locally owned
and operated by independent business people who are
authorized to sell products of the Coca-Cola Company. -
Because Coke does not have outright ownership of
its bottling network, its main source of revenue is the
sale of concentrate to its bottlers (Bettman, et. al,
1998).
Weaknesses: Although domestic business as well
as many international markets are thriving (volumes
in Latin America were up 12%), Coca-Cola has
recently reported some “declines in unit case volumes
in Indonesia and Thailand due to reduced consumer
. purchasing power.” According to an articlé in Fortune
magazine, “In Japan, unit case sales fell 3% in the
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second quarter [of 1998]... scary because while Japan
generates around 5% of worldwide volume, it
contributes three times as much to profits. Latin
America, Southeast Asia, and Japan account for about
35% of Coke’s volume and none of these markets
are performing to expectation (Mclean, 1998).
Opportunities ; Brand recognition is the significant
factor affecting Coke’s competitive position. Coca-
Cola’s brand-name is known well throughout 90% of
the world today, The primary concern over the past
few years has been to get this name brand to be even
better known. Packaging changes have also affected
sales and industry positioning, but in general, the band
has tended not to be affected by new products (Alien,
1995).
Coca-Cola’s bottling system also allows the company
to take advantage of infinite growth opportunities
around the world. This strategy gives Coke the
opportunity to service a large geographic, diverse, area
(Bettman, et. al, 1998).
Threats: Currently, the threat of new viable
competitors in the carbonated soft drink industry is
not very substantial. The threat of substitutes, however,
is a very real threat. The soft drink industry is very
strong, but consumers are not necessarily married to
it, Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure
on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee, juices,
milk, and hot chocolate (“Cola Wars”, 1991).MGBMK-20301 = 5
Even though Coca-Cola and Pepsi control nearly 40%
of the entire beverage market, the changing health-
consciousness of the market could have a serious
affect. Of course, both Coke and Pepsi have already
diversified into these markets, allowing them to have
further significant market shares and offset any losses
incurred due to fluctuations in the market (“Cola
Wars”, 1991)
_ Consumer buying power also represents a key threat
in-the industry. The rivalry between Pepsi and Coke
has produce a very slow moving industry in which
management must continuously respond to the changing
attitudes and demands of their consumers or face losing
market share to the competition. Furthermore,
consumers can easily switch to other beverages with
law cost or consequence (“Cola Wars”, 1991).
2. BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP MATRIX
In accordance with the BCG matrix, [ would
recommend the following strategies for Coca-cola
products in each category ; '
Dog Strategy : Either invest to earn market share or
consider disinvesting.
Star Strategy: Invest profits for brand growth.
Question Mark Strategy ; Either invest heavily in order
to push the products to star status, or divest in order
to avoid it becoming a Dog.
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Cash Cow Strategy: Use profits to finance new
products and growth elsewhere.
3, LIFE CYCLE:
To be able to market its product properly, a firm must
be aware of the product life cycle of its product. The
standard product life cycle tends to have five phases:
Development, Introduction, Growth, Maturity and
Decline. Coca-Cola is currently in the maturity stage,
which is evidenced primarily by the fact that they
have a large, loyal group of stable customers.
Furthermore, cost management, product differentiation
and marketing have become more important as growth
slows and market share becomes the key determinant
of profitability. In foreign markets the product life
cycle is in more ofa growth trend Coke’s advantage
in this area is mainly due to its establishment strong
branding and it is now able to use this area of stable
profitability to subsidize the domestic “Cola Wars”.
Questions:
(i) How is Brand recognition a significant factor
affecting coke’s competitive position ?
(ii) Which strategy from the BCG Matrix is
recommended keeping in mind that consumers
can easily switch to other brands ?
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