The Course Project: A Professional Application

A list of the 100 Best Global Brands each year is released each year. Click here for the 2014 list. http://interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2015/

Sort the list by "Country of Origin." Select a brand with the United States as the country of origin. This brand will become the competition for a fictional brand you create in a later unit, which will be used throughout this course.

If your brand represents a large number of products or services, it will be necessary to select one major business or product line for the assignment. If you have questions regarding the choices, please contact your instructor by Friday of this week so that you will have enough time to complete the week's project.

Part 1: Competitor Selection

Using articles from the library's full-text databases and the company's Web site, introduce the brand.

Provide an analysis of its marketing mix (products, price, distribution, and promotion).

This section of the paper should be 1 page in length and use research from the library's full-text databases and the company's Web site.

Part 2: Brand Background

Using a variety of sources, including the company's Web site, provide an overview of how the products or services are marketed, branded, and sold by the company.

Identify all brand elements (logos, slogans, symbols, trademarks, characters, and packaging)

Profile 2 direct or indirect competitive brands for points of parity and difference.

This section of the paper should be 2 pages in length and use research from a variety of sources including the company's Web site.

Part 3: Primary Research

Perform primary buyer-behavior research about the brand. Develop a focus group (at least 5 people) or survey (of at least 10) that will elicit consumer perceptions of the target brand as compared to the 2 competitors from Part 2.

Describe the data collection process.

Include the survey or focus group questions (with appropriate respondent demographics).

Share the results in tabular format, and explain them.

Analyze the results, and apply them to the research completed in Parts 1 and 2 of this project.

This section of the paper should be 3-4 pages in length.

Your assignment should contain a cover page, an abstract page, and a reference page, in addition to the body paragraphs. The body of the paper should be 6-7 pages in length, starting with a brief 1-paragraph introduction and ending with a short conclusion. The entire submission will be 9-12 pages in length.

Please submit your assignment.

Please submit your assignment as a Word document in APA format using the attached TEMPLATE below. Notice that the grading criteria components match up with the headings provided in the template. Do NOT change the font, page breaks or margins. Using the template without deleting the headings ensures that you cover each segment of the assignment.

Describe and understand the benefits of branding, brand attributes, and significance of brand equity.

Execute a working knowledge of designing and developing successful brands.