state what qualities and/or emotional connections you believe the company wants the target market to have with this brand.This will be a relatively short description. To arrive at this description use your own thoughts, along with what you read on the brand’s website or in articles about the brand.

1. Name of the company/organization. Be sure to identify the parent company. For instance, you might use “General Mills” as the company.
2. Name of the brand you are analyzing. If you chose, “General Mills”, you might select “Yoplait” or “Cheerios” as a specific brand to analyze.
3. Description of a specific target market. You may not find this listed on a website, and you may have to make a logical guess of who the target

market is, based on what you know about the people who use the brand you choose. If you choose a brand that targets individual consumers, refer to pages

161 – 176 for approaches to describing a market segment. Recall that multiple segmentation approaches are often used simultaneously (see, p. 176), so

your description should incorporate multiple approaches. If you choose a brand that targets business customers, refer to Exhibit 6.14 on p. 177 for

additional assistance.
4. The brand’s brand identity – state what qualities and/or emotional connections you believe the company wants the target market to have with this

brand.This will be a relatively short description. To arrive at this description use your own thoughts, along with what you read on the brand’s website

or in articles about the brand.
5. Two ways the company tries to establish its brand’s perceived quality – state two examples of things the company does to build the target

market’s perception of the quality of this brand.
6. Two influences outside the company on how consumers perceive the brand’s quality – Companies are not the only entities that influence their

brands. Popular culture (such as trending stories on Twitter), other consumers (friends and online reviews) and un-paid media outlets (such as late

night television hosts) can all influence how we perceive a given brand. List two ways an outside entity has influenced (intentionally or not) the

perceived quality of the brand you choose.
7. Benefits of brand equity – The book describes how three benefits of positive brand equity (perceived quality, brand connections, and brand

loyalty) link to strategy (pages 245-247). Provide two specific examples of how the benefits of brand equity for the brand you choose links to the

company’s strategy for that brand. Your descriptions can be relatively short, similar to the examples given in these respective sections of the

textbook.

Formatting Guidelines.
Please type your answers into the Writing Assignment 2 Worksheet, provided in Class Module 3.
Example
1. Name of the company/organization. General Mills
2. Name of the brand you are analyzing. Yoplait
3. Description of a specific target market.
The Yoplait brand has many products that target different segments. As an example, a specific target market for the Yoplait Greek Yogurt products is

most likely young adults (millennials or younger Gen X), middle-to-upper-middle class income earners, seeking a healthy lifestyle.
4. The brand’s brand identity –Yoplait’s brand identity appears to be “A flavorful, joyful, trusted yogurt” To arrive at this description I used my

own thoughts, along with what I read on the brand’s website and here, http://www.brand-image.com/work/strategy/yoplait.
5. Two ways the company tries to establish its brand’s perceived quality –
a. Example 1:Packaging – vivid, playful colors with a simple design and clear details about calories, fat content, etc. (especially on the Greek

yogurt products)
b. Example 2:Advertising – showing confident, happy, people who fit each product’s respective target market (example, the “You Got This, Mom On”

Yoplait commercials), with a positive message about the person and the product (“You Got This, Mom On” ads end with “and the kids love it!”).
6. Two influences outside the company on how consumers perceive the brand’s quality –
a. Example 1: Social Media – pins on Pinterest are one source, and the company website shows that they try to be a part of that media to influence

how they are being discussed/represented.
b. Example 2: Other Consumers – word of mouth (good or bad) about the product from friends or family.
7. Benefits of brand equity –
a. Link 1: Brand Connections – the overall familiarity with the Yoplait brand is likely a key factor allowing the brand to market such a broad line

of yogurt products.
b. Link 2: Perceived Quality – While the brand’s perceived quality was historically a benefit, changes in the yogurt market are decreasing this

benefit. For example, as consumer preferences change towards more wholesome ingredients and new competitors move faster to target these preferences,

Yoplait sales are sliding in 2017 (http://fortune.com/2017/05/22/general-mills-yoplait-greek-yogurt/). This is causing the company to rethink its

overall position and marketing strategy in various yogurt market segments.

Table 1: Writing Assignment 2 Rubric
Poor Acceptable Excellent
Formatting 0 Points
Some formatting guidelines are not followed and/or the submitted work is not uploaded using the Writing Assignment 2 Worksheet. 1 Point
Writing Assignment 2 Worksheet is uploaded and the formatting guidelines are followed.

Company and Brand Name 0 Points
Either company name, brand name, or both is (are) missing.
1 Point
Both company name and brand name are identified
Description of Target Market 0 Points
Target market is not described or it fails to correctly utilize any approaches listed in the textbook. 2 Points
Target market is described on the basis of only 1 approach. 3 Points
Target market description properly incorporates more than 1 approach to describing a target market.
Brand Identity 0 Points
Answer does not provide aplausible brand identity.
1 Point
Answer provides aplausible brand identity.
Company’s Influence on Perceived Quality 0 Points
Answer does not provide any clear example of how the company tries to influence perceived quality.
2 Points
Answer provides only 1 clear example of how the company tries to influence perceived quality. 3 Points
Answer provides 2 clear examples of ways the company tries to influence perceived quality.
Outsider’s Influence on Perceived Quality 0 Points
Answer does not provide any clear example of howoutsiders can influence perceived quality.
2 Points
Answer provides only 1 clear example of howoutsiders can influence perceived quality. 3 Points
Answer provides 2 clear examples of ways outsiders can influence perceived quality.
Benefits of Brand Equity 0 Points
Answer provides no clear example of howbenefits of brand equity link to the company’s strategy. 2 Points
Answer provides only 1 clear example of howbenefits of brand equity link to the company’s strategy. 3 Points
Answer provides 2 clear examples of howbenefits of brand equity link to the company’s strategy.

Writing Assignment 2 Worksheet

Name (please type your name):
Instructions Type your answers into this worksheet and upload your completed worksheet to the “Submit Writing Assignment 2” link in Class Module 3.

Please type your answers in a non-bold font following each respective portion of the assignment, outlined below. This worksheet provides headings, in

bold, to help you organize your answers. Please keep these headings in bold.

Connecting Targeting, Branding, and Brand Equity
1. Name of the company/organization:

2. Name of the brand you are analyzing:

3. Description of a specific target market:

 

4. The brand’s brand identity :

 

5. Two ways the company tries to establish its brand’s perceived quality :

a. Example 1:

 

b. Example 2

6. Two influences outside the company on how consumers perceive the brand’s quality:

a. Example 1:

 

b. Example 2

7. Benefits of brand equity:

a. Link 1:

 

b. Link 2