ASSESSMENT TASK: DESCRIPTION [MARKETING CASE STUDY]

Analyse the paper: Stratton, G., & Northcote, J. (2014). When totems beget clans: The brand symbol as the defining marker of brand communities. Journal of Consumer Culture, DOI: 0.1177/1469540514528194.

The paper discusses the role of brands and brand communities. Analyse the paper and the implications for brand managers. What lessons can be learned from this paper?

Analysing case studies provides you with insights into real-world companies' and the problems and challenges they face with marketing and general management decisions. These challenges provide you with an opportunity to diagnose problems, analyse and evaluate the situation and develop strategic decision choices based on the conceptual frameworks learned in this subject.

Subject concepts should form the basis of analysing case information, developing alternative solutions and making recommendations. You should read the paper a number of times and attempt to address the items above independently. This will highlight areas that you need further information on and you can then conduct the necessary secondary research, including academic papers, reports and media coverage. You should then apply marketing concepts, theories and empirics covered in the subject to the problem. 

You may find sometimes that cases have incomplete information from which to make decisions, or that managers have made decisions based on incomplete information. In this instance, you may need to (a) make some assumptions about why they made these decisions and describe these, or (b) research the company, industry or issue and determine the appropriateness of your assumptions or you may wish to conduct some additional research into the industry or similar type of companies or issues for ideas and trends. Some cases do not focus on one firm or decision maker but may take an industry perspective.  In this specific case, take the view of a consultant analysing the issue and consider what organisations may be involved and how you would analyse the situation from their perspectives.

From past experience, the most difficult aspect of case analysis for students is the idea of "analysis". Most students simply repeat what's in the case in their own words or simply re-arrange the same information. While the latter is definitely desirable and helps students to break up the case into smaller components that can be analysed, analysis takes one further step and that is to explain, using the language of marketing, the implications of this information for the firm and the key decision makers. For many students, case analysis may be new at this stage of the subject.

Following are some general guidelines on presentation and essay writing. Respond to the issue in essay format with a short introduction, body and conclusion.

This assessment piece requires you to work individually to research and then present your solutions to the problem in a formal written document that is well structured and appropriately referenced.

This written assessment task will help you attain the following learning outcomes: 

• understand relevant marketing concepts and explain the concepts through application to the specific marketing problem;
• analyze and evaluate information in a marketing context;
• using appropriate information sources, analyze information gathered to provide depth and breadth to recommendation; and
• demonstrate effective written communication skills and use of correct referencing method.

Ensure that answers are adequately justified where required and that APA referencing method is used.

Do:

• Present the recommendations in essay format. This requires well-structured paragraphs.
• The word limit of 1,000 words is a maximum for ALL essays in total.
• Use tables, diagrams and further analysis of data to clarify, illustrate and supplement analysis and support your recommendations.
• Use page numbers, double spacing for ease of reading and feedback.
• Use citations from original sources when they are used, using APA style referencing.

Do not:

• Use bullet points unless you are simply presenting a list which is self-explanatory. Bullet points do not lend themselves to discussion and explanations (Note that you are now reading a bullet point which is totally self-contained and requires no further explanation!).
• Copy material from other sources without acknowledging the source. Failure to acknowledge the source will be interpreted as plagiarism which is a serious offence.

1000 words

6 references.