Brand Elements in Strategic Group for Pooch Pantry

Marketing Pooch Pantry- Unit IV - Brand Elements, Positioning and Strategic Group Brand Elements The branding of the product will play an important role in the marketing and sale of the Pooch Pantry. A brand may be defined as the creation of a recognizable image that can be recognized and help to differentiate one product range or firm from its competition (Doyle, 1990).

Aaker & Lane (1990) state that a brand may be perceived as a mental box, in which there are a set of assets or liabilities associated with a particular brand. This is a useful approach towards the consideration of branding, as it is noted that the mental box will be impacted by a wide range of elements, including the purposeful brand elements, such as name, brand text, the symbols that are used, colors and intangible associations (Aaker Lane, 1990).

However, it also indicates there is the potential for negative associations, which may subtract value from the brand, which may be gained unintentionally through the way the branding is designed, or from externalities that become associated with the brand. The tangible brand elements will include the name, which is "Which Pantry," which may be easily identified with a new unique stylized text, which makes it easily recognizable.

The value of a unique font has been seen with many other brands, for example is possible to recognize the Coca-Cola brand, or the McDonald's brand, when it is observed in other languages, simply from the text which is used (Kotler & Keller, 2011). The text will be recognizable due to the use of a bright color, and a scripted home style text, similar to the text which may be expected on a home cookbook.

The text will be in a yellow/gold color; this will help you to stand out against the images, and will also help you stand out against the competition. The color itself will be designed to be unique in terms of other brands on the marketplace. The brand logo will be in image that will engender positive sections, with an animated friendly brown dog, standing up looking lovingly at an owner. This would be a relatively small image, shown by the side of the brand name.

The brand text, color and logo will all be copyrighted. The branding will be supported by the wording and the images on the box. The tagline underneath the brand will read "feeding your dog with love." The image on the packaging will show the device and the way that it is able to see the animal. On the back there will be a very simplified set of pictures, using the dog from the logo, demonstrating how the device is used.

These are not designed before instructions, but demonstrate the ease-of-use of the product. The brand will be designed so that it can be adapted in the future for the creation of a similar product for cats, were the same text will be used, the logo may be changed slightly with the image of the, and the tagline will become "feeding your With love." The image of the brand will be repeated in all of the marketing, to increase exposure.

Dev (2008) has argued that a firm is able to create a unique and memorable brand image, they will facilitate identification of that brand when they are in the shop, reduce the potential information search if it is taking place in the store, and support the purchase decision. Positioning The positioning of the product will reflect its use. Therefore, it will be targeting the upper to middle mass-market.

The product pricing will be at a premium level, but as it has been demonstrated the love pets reduces elasticity associated with the pricing of pet products, the placement of the product in a premium position just appeal to the mass market due to the emotional elements of the purchase decision. Strategic Group There are a number of ways of determining strategic groups within the pet care market. A strategic group approach requires the identification of competing products based on the differences in the firm strategies.

This is a generalized approach towards examining the marketplace (Kotler & Keller, 2011). Within the pet care market, there are a number of strategic groups. There are the large firms which pursue the mass-market, and undertake multiproduct strategies seeking to serve all needs of the market. For example, Pedigree falls into this market. These have a high level of market power, and may have the potential to influence suppliers, and they compete not only on a national, but an international basis.

A second strategic group is the large but more focused organizations, which provide specialized products, such as foods for different breeds of animals, which may be sold directly as well as through stores. The third strategic group is firms that sell only single groups of products, usually some type of accessory into the pet market. This is the strategic group that most of the firms that sell pet feeders fit into.

These groups fell through a range of markets, including pet stores, grocery stores, and also through online suppliers such as Amazon. The Pooch Pantry will fit into this third strategic group, as the organization is new, and will be specializing in only one area of pet products. In order to compete effectively in this market, it is necessary for the organization to be able to differentiate itself effectively.

The product is already highly differentiated; it will be the only product on the market that is able to automatically open a can so that a pet has fresh food. Other automated feeding systems use either dried food, or if they use wet food needs to be taken out of the packaging or can before the unit is set.