Brand Management

Internal Assignment for December 2023 Examination

Case: Bella, a passionate plant lover, is embarking on a new venture that celebrates the
beauty and tranquillity of nature. Her start-up, "Bella's Botanical Haven," will offer a wide
range of indoor and outdoor plants, along with expert gardening advice, workshops, and an
online plant care community. Bella aims to create a haven where plant enthusiasts can
thrive, connect, and cultivate their green thumb. Bella has planned the following for her
business:
Interactive Plant Care App: Bella's Botanical Haven will feature an interactive mobile app
that allows users to identify plants, receive personalized care instructions, and track their
plant growth over time. Virtual Garden Design Studio: The platform will offer a virtual
garden design tool that helps users plan and visualize their dream gardens, complete with
plant recommendations and layout options.
Plant Subscription Boxes: Bella's Botanical Haven will introduce subscription-based plant
boxes, where users receive a curated selection of plants, plant care essentials, and
gardening accessories delivered to their doorstep regularly.
Sustainable Practices: The brand will emphasize on eco-friendly and sustainable gardening
practices, promoting the use of organic fertilizers, composting, and reducing plastic waste in
plant care.
Botanical Events and Workshops: Regular botanical events, workshops, and guided garden
tours will be organized to bring together plant enthusiasts, share knowledge, and foster a
sense of community.
1. You have been selected as a brand in charge of the business and you have been given a
task to work on brand elements including brand name. Bella has an open mindset for
changing the name if that works for the business. Explain and elaborate on various types of
Brand elements that you will suggest for the business.
2. Explain various ways through which you will leverage secondary brand association for the
business.
3. As a brand in charge of the business, explain your concepts on branding with example to
Bella:
a. What are the various things that can be branded, explain with special reference to
business.
b. What are the major brand challenges in contemporary times?
Answer 1:
1. The trademarkable devices that serve to identify and differentiate the brand are
referred to as the brand elements or identities. The factors that distinguish the
brand from its competitors in the consumer’s minds are a composition of visual,
auditory and sensory components, which lead to formation of the brand identity and
helps brand recognition and loyalty.
With regards to Bella’s business, let’s look at the primary brand elements and
suggest the relevant ones to her;
 Brand Name: Some words or a word is used specifically to identify a company
or a product belonging to the brand, this is termed as brand name. We would
recommend the name Nature Nurtured for Bella’s venture, which emphasizes
the nurturing aspect of gardening and nature. As all her products revolve
around the nature, such as plants, gardens etc., the suggested brand name
will quickly create that perception in consumer’s minds about what the brand
has to offer and reflects Bella’s focus on nature, community and passion for
plants.
 Logo: A logo is helpful to memorize and recognize the brand, if well designed.
It is a graphical representation of the brand, comprising of symbols, colours,
and typography. For the visual identity of Bella’s Nature Nurtured venture,
the logo should incorporate natural elements such as plant leaves or a well-
designed garden. The colour palette should contain soothing greens, earthy
browns, and colourful floral shared representing growth, nature and
sustainability. When this logo will be consistently displayed on online
platforms, and on her products, it will create a strong brand identity.
 Tagline: A tag line or a slogan should be crisp and memorable where the
brand’s mission, values and offerings could be encapsulated which will add
depth to the brand’s identity. A suitable one for this venture would be
“Cultivating Green Dreams, One Plant at a Time.”
 Product Design: A unique product design would result in a strong brand
identifier. The look and feel, which is mainly the physical appearance and
feature of the product relevant to the brand offering is what Product Design
is. As Bella’s venture focuses on sustainability, she should design her products
keeping that in mind and use nature friendly material such as decomposable
and biodegradable, low carbon foot print. The colour palette used in the logo
should only be reflected in her products as well.
 Packaging: Packaging can influence the purchasing decisions and contribute
to the overall brand experience. Factors such as the design, material and
format of product packaging (the text that appears on the package) are
important to consider. Bella’s venture should consider using recyclable
packing so that it has minimum foot print on the nature. Also, she should
include the colours from the logo’s colour palette and use creative designs to
appeal to the customers for buying it.
 In regards to the above choices, one should keep in mind the six criteria for
brand elements, that it should be Memorable, Likable, Meaningful, Adaptable,
Transferable, and Protectable.
Answer 2:
When brands associate themselves with other entities or objects to create or enhance their
brand image, it is referred to as secondary brand association. The motive of this is to pass on
the good qualities of secondary entity to the brand, build trust among the consumers,
enhance credibility and reach out in an appealing way to the consumers. For Bella’s venture
to flourish, leveraging secondary brand associations can be beneficial in following ways;

 Collaborations-Their credibility can be enhanced by partnering with eco-friendly

brands for plant related products such as saplings, pots, packaging, etc., they can
collaborate with well-known gardeners (TV show stars or celebrities), or they can
even form an association with the environmental organizations to promote their
brand. Collaboration with educational institutes can also have a positive impact on
the business as an authority in plant education, which can eventually attract
customers interested in learning.
 Social media influencers/Expert’s endorsements- The Brand’s reach and trust
building can be boosted by partnering with gardening influencers and renowned
vloggers on YouTube and Instagram among their followers. They can ever partner
with famous botanists, horticulturalists or garden designers to make their business
more credible. It will generate brand awareness and potential sales.
 Certifications and recognition- The brand’s reputation can be further enhanced by
obtaining certifications related to organic gardening or receiving awards for
sustainable practices can enhance the brand’s reputation. It can be used as a USP for
her sales as consumer have the perception to trust certified products as they seem
to be safe to them.
 Garden shows and events- A strong secondary association can be created by
participation in renowned garden shows and garden tours. Sula Vineyard, for an
instance now includes a tour into it’s Vineyards and entire cultivation for the
consumers to enhance their experience. Similarly, Bella’s business can also attract
customers on these grounds and give then an uncommon experience in the form of
a garden tour, which is also relevant for her product range. They can even organize
Gardening theme workshops to promote the business further.
 Partnerships with Eco-Friendly brands- Bella’s commitment to sustainability can be
strengthened by Collaborating with other businesses that emphasize eco-friendly
products. The brand’s values can be reinforced to imprint brand’s green image on
consumer’s minds by partnering with a company that produces eco-friendly product
for instance tools, raw material, packaging, processes etc.
A strategic leverage of the above strategies on secondary brand associations can help Bella’s
business to expand its customer base, enhance credibility, build trust, eco-consciousness
and become a reliable source for plant related needs and gardening.
Answer 3 a:
A brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers and is beneficial for both
consumers and firms. In simple terms, branding a product means teaching the consumers
who the product is by providing it an identity, by naming it and using other brand elements,
and also teach them what the product does and why they should consider it. It creates two-
way benefits by giving a label to it for consumers and providing meaning for the brand
which makes it stand out.
Whenever consumers are deciding between options available in the market, brands play an
important role in this decision-making process by being identifiable and making customers
perceive a specific image of their products by deploying various branding strategies and
correctly defining what all can be branded.
Branding is not just limited to the name and logo in a business context. It includes a package
comprising of customer experience, the product or service offering, packaging, customer
service and employee interactions. For gardening business like Bella’s, it is more about
creating a unique identity and emotional connect with its customers, building trust and a
community of gardening enthusiasts.
As implied by its name, Bella's Botanical Haven offers a comprehensive brand experience.
Customers who visit the website and download the app are immediately taken to a world
where gardening is a way of life rather than just a hobby. Nature enthusiasts can relate to
the visual identity created by the branding elements' consistent use of earthy browns and
relaxing greens, which extends from the logo to the packaging. Bella's dedication to
sustainability is apparent in every facet of the company—it's not simply a slogan. The firm
aggressively encourages ecologically friendly practises, from the organic gardening
workshops to the eco-friendly packaging materials.
Branding in this case includes the following;
1. App interface- This is going to be the most visibility product of the start-up, hence
the most essential on to be branded. Logo and colour pallet and going to be common
brand elements for all the things that we are considering to brand.
2. Subscription box packaging- Once subscribed, the customers would be benefitted
with the regular supply of boxes containing plants selected based on your choices,
plant care and gardening accessories. The box delivered to the customers can be
branded as it is going to be curated for the customers based on data gathered by
their preferences from the app.
3. Design studio UX- This platform is especially for gardening enthusiasts who want to
design their own dream gardens. The user experience for the design studio should
be such that it is simple in operation with all the tools visible and proper guidelines
popping up wherever required, in addition to the plant recommendations and
layouts as per the user’s requirement, can be branded.
4. Workshop content- The content and material which can be in the form of
Presentations, videos, manuals or books can be branded by promoting the use of
eco-friendly and sustainable gardening practices.
5. Behaviour of staff during events- The code of conduct of the employees of her
business can be framed which will decide the behaviour of staff during the events
such as garden tours, or workshops. The dressing of employees can give away a
message of her brand’s values such as sustainability and eco-friendliness. This will
come under the branding of the workforce resource.

Answer 3 b:
Following are some of the major brand challenges in the contemporary world;
1. Vulnerability on Social-media- The brands are constantly exposed to public
scrutiny on social media platforms and are hence vulnerable to slanders that can
take place by just one single negative incident. The hard-earned reputation can
be burnt down to ashes if public does not approve of anything done by the
brand. It can be in the form of bad service, or poor-quality product, the
consumers can take it up on their accounts online and make it viral, impacting
the followers of brand’s social media handles.
2. Spamming- Online Platform is the number one source of marketing your brand
and reaching maximum number of people, especially after COVID and lockdown,
people prefer surfing and shopping online. Due to this, all the businesses are
going online and want access to consumer’s accounts, which leads to spamming
and information overload. Consumers are constantly bombarded with brand’s
information, even unsolicited sometimes. Creating a memorable brand presence
by cutting through the noise is a challenge.
3. Sustainability concerns- As the core value of her brand is nature and
sustainability, it needs to be demonstrated nut just in marketing but also in
practices, because consumers are increasingly becoming environmentally
conscious. Maintaining a sustainable approach in product as well as processes
can be a challenge.
4. Upgrade in technology with upgrade in expectations- Technology and trends
evolve on daily basis and today’s consumer is aware about all the news in the
market as the access in on their fingertips. Hence, they expect quick response,
customized experience as per their needs, and social responsibility from brands.
Keeping up with these expectations consistently can be challenging.
The above challenges can be addressed only with commitment to delivering on the
brand promise constantly, having a proactive approach, maintain transparency and
genuinely engaging with the customers.