INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING

BRAND ASSIGNMENT
PART 1 (2 MARKS)
Select a brand that has both tangible benefits and intangible (emotional) benefits. Do not pick a corporate
brand like Apple; choose a specific product. Also, you are not allowed to pick an Apple product.

Start by finding at least three samples of advertising that will supports a brand profile that you will develop. If it
is an image (like a print ad), paste it into your Word document. If it is a video, copy and paste the link into your
assignment (ideally, hyperlink it to the name of the commercial).

PART 2 (5 MARKS)
Now complete the brand profile that we used in class (please use the same ‘table format’ similar to the sample
below). The brand profile must include:

A basic description of the product

The tangible benefits of the product
The intangible benefits, or emotional connection, of
the brand. This is the important one!
Imagery that surrounds the brand (eg. describe it like
a person)

There should be a strong, obvious link between your Brand Profile and your advertising samples. If the
advertising doesn’t communicate the brand’s benefits and /or imagery well, then either the advertising is bad
or you have poorly interpreted the brand’s benefits!

Then try to capture the UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP) of the brand in one sentence. This is the most
important message about the brand that the company wants you to learn and remember.

PART 3 (2 MARKS)
In less than 500 words, describe the target market for this brand. As much as possible, address the four
categories that we learned: demographics, geographics, psychographics, and behavior. The most important
one will be psychographics as it relates directly to the emotional benefit. In terms of demographics, be specific!
For example, don’t pick a target market like upper income adults 18+. Be specific about an age range (no more
than 10 years), an income range, etc. Yes, many brands have a very broad appeal, but you can generally
differentiate between primary and secondary target markets.

PART 4 (2 MARKS)
Prepare a positioning map and plot the brand and at least two competitors on the map. I do not want you to
use the obvious choices of Price and Quality as your axes. If you can’t avoid this because it is an important part
of your brand, use only one (eg. Price OR Quality combined with another attribute). Now answer the question:
does your brand do a good job of differentiating itself? The answer does not have to be Yes! Answer in less
than 250 words.

DUE DATE
Section E: due March 22nd by 11:59pm. Section F: due March 23rd by 11:59pm.
25% will be deducted for late submissions.

RUBRIC
This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade. It will be evaluated as per the following rubric.

0 1 2 3
A basic description of Incomplete Vague/generic Adequate description Accurate description
the product description of and succinct and succinct
product
The tangible benefits Incomplete Vague/generic Adequate explanation Accurate explanation
of the product explanation of the and succinct and succinct
tangible benefits
The intangible Incomplete or Vague/generic Adequate explanation Accurate explanation
benefits, or inaccurate explanation of the and succinct and succinct
emotional connection tangible benefits
Imagery Incomplete or Vague/generic Adequate description Accurate description
inaccurate imagery and succinct and succinct

USP Incomplete or Poor summary of Adequate summary Strong summary of

inaccurate positioning and of positioning and positioning and
benefits benefits benefits
Target market Incomplete Vague/generic Adequate description Accurate description
demographics and description and succinct and succinct
geographics
Target market Incomplete Vague/generic Adequate description Accurate description
psychographics and description and succinct and succinct
behaviour
Positioning map Incomplete or Poor Adequate Accurate
inaccurate
Does your brand do a Incomplete or Vague/generic Adequate analysis Accurate and
good job of inaccurate analysis and and conclusion thoughtful analysis
differentiating itself conclusion and conclusion
Advertising Incomplete Samples poorly Samples provided but Three strong samples
supported the brand not all samples that support the
profile supported the brand brand profile
profile provided