Master of MSC marketing - Essay Example

?MASTER OF MSC MARKETING Module MSc Marketing Dissertation Assignment An investigation into the impact of IT on branding in the teenagetechnology market Report by LINLIN DUAN January 2011 Contents Contents 2 Background 3 Aims and Objectives 4 Literature Review 4 Methodology 8 Primary Research 8 Gantt Chart 9 References 10 Dear writer: Please highlight the changes by using the yellow colour, and do not delete the comments if you can. Background The recent surge of the social media and networking sites such as facebook and introduction of smartphones as well as tablets like Apple IPAD has made the teenage market as one of the fast expanding and lucrative markets. Since most of these products are affordable falling within the range of under ?3501 therefore they are within the reach of the youngsters therefore making them more attractive. It is however, also critical to note that many organisation have actually started to use these new innovations to increase the advertising and exposure of their products to their chosen market. The marketing through apps is emerging as one of the fastest growing area in the digital advertising and organizations are taking full use of this. (Rowley, 2004). How organizations can actually take benefit of the information technology is probably still an ongoing question because new technologies are being designed and developed to take advantage of the information technology. (Randall, 2010). Branding is one such area where the impact of IT can be significant and especially with reference to the youth market, this can be relatively stronger. Aims and Objectives This study aims to investigate the impact of IT affordances on branding in the teenage technology market: 1. Review of current trends in the branding for the youth market in relation to current market theory. 2. How information technology (IT) can be used in branding for the youth market. 3. Outlining recommendations as to how teenage market can be better exploited commercially.. Literature Review Branding is considered as one of the hottest topics in the business field as its overall attraction and significance has become more important in the recent past. With the rise of the web and other I.T. technologies, the need to have effective branding strategy has became more significant. Further, the emergence of e-commerce has made it critical for the brand managers to develop effective and innovative branding strategies for their consumers.( Gammoh, Koh, & Okoroafo, 2011). Over the period of time, organizations have used branding as one of the important strategic tools to improve and consolidate their relationships with the customers. However, more importantly, branding has provided the organizations a strong chance to further penetrate into their chosen target markets. The strategic use of branding therefore is considered as one of the key strategic variables for organizations to manage and control effectively. An effective branding strategy therefore allows organizations to become competitive and generate and deliver the kind of competitive advantage which allow them to better utilize the power of their brands. (Ille, & Chailan,2011). (Kippenberger,2000). It is also important to note that the emergence of the globalization and the spread of Western values across the globe have increased the exposure of international brands to really diversified range of markets. In such a situation, it has become more critical for the brand managers to actually to use their branding strategy to achieve the competitive advantage at global level (Buggie, 2001), One of the important and emerging themes regarding the impact of IT in branding, generally, is the ease with which marketers can actually communicate with their customers. The advent of the different digital media and the spread of internet have allowed brand managers to improve the coordination between the customers and the organization itself and hence the brands are getting better exposure in their target markets. e.( Davey, 2010). Some studies suggested that the use of information technology in the product marketing and branding has resulted into the savings of time as well as reduction in the error. The use of different techniques such as spreadsheet analysis, graphics as well as other rich graphic media has allowed the brand managers to become effective in terms of their reach and penetration into the existing markets.( Marren, 2011) ( Buggie, 2001) Since teenagers often like to have a lifestyle which is based upon hip-hop and excitement therefore the use of IT can actually provide the necessary mechanism to the brand managers to actually develop the richer and effective brand message for the target market. The use of different graphics and sound media as well as the 3D are some of the ways in which brand managers are developing and communicating the new message to their target markets. Viral Marketing can also be used as a tool to generate the right kind of excitement and suspense around the products and brands to actively involve the target market for successful launch and management of a brand.( Ferguson, 2006). Another important role and the impact which the use of IT can have on the branding is the depth and magnitude of information provided by it. The use of information technology and tools such as website tracking actually allow the brand managers to understand the geographical and demographical profile of their customers. Organizations using their websites as a tool to provide better brand image to their customers often use the website tracking allow them to actually track who accessed their websites and from which location. This feature therefore can effectively provide them the critical insight necessary to understand the different patterns about their customers and their location. A careful analysis of such data therefore can allow brand managers to actually re-evaluate their branding strategies and readjust them to better suit their needs. (Marren, 2011)..( Bergstrom,2000). Organizations also increasingly use social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and different blogging sites to improve the visibility of their brands as well as build the stronger image for their brands. Since most of these sites are used by the young consumers therefore such websites offer an enormous opportunity to design and develop tailored messages for the target market in order to ensure that the brands get maximum exposure to the target market. What is also significant to note that the use of such websites and technology is relatively cheap and the overall reach and access to the market is really large?[This is assumed given the fact that young consumers can access internet from their own homes, collages as well as universities almost free of cost) The above literature review has identified different themes which have been discussed in the past. This research study will therefore attempt to understand the gaps left behind by earlier studies and will try to develop a broader understanding of how the IT can actually have an impact on the teenage market. Methodology Primary Research The researcher also aims to perform the primary research in order to further get insight into how the teenage market is actually being affected by this new introduction of IT into branding. In order to achieve this objective, the researcher will select a convenience sample of respondents from the university and provide them with a questionnaire to answer some close and open ended questions. The overall objective is to raise some vital questions and explore preferences and choices of the target market of the different organizations in order to understand as to how the target market perceive and respond to such changing nature of the branding. It is also intended that the researcher may conduct personal interviews with branding managers of local organizations in order to obtain their views on the use of IT in branding and how it is practically being utilized by these organizations. However, if personal interviews with the brand managers could not be possible, researcher may review the secondary resources such as industry journals, academic articles, newspapers as well as magazines to explore and understand how IT is being used for branding with special reference to teenage market. Gantt Chart Tasks to be completed Jan 24 Jan 31 Feb 7 Feb 14 Feb 21 Feb 28 Mar 7 Mar 14 Mar 21 Mar 28 Easter Vacation Apr 19 May 30 June 30 Meeting with supervisor Proposal Submission Submission of ethics form Literature Review Reading Development of Questionnaire Approval & drafting of questionnaire Questionnaire printing Identification of organizations for the interview Delivering questionnaires to respondents Collecting Responses Analysis of responses Write up References 1. Gammoh, B, Koh, A, & Okoroafo, S (2011). Consumer culture brand positioning strategies: an experimental investigation. Journal of Product . 20 (1), pp.69-78. 2. Bergstrom, A (2000). Cyberbranding: leveraging your brand on the Internet. Strategy . 28 (4), pp.10-15. 3. Biggam.J (2008) Succeeding with your masters Dissertation-A step by step handbook. McGraw-Hill Education, England 4. Buggie, F. (2001), “The four phases of innovation”, The Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 22 No. 5 5. Cohen.L, Manion.L & Morrison K(2007) Research Method In Education.6th edition. Routledge, London 6. Davey, N (2010). Branding and social media lessons from Gap’s logo backlash [online]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2011]. Available from: . 7. Dawson.C (2009) Introduction To Research Methods: A Practical guide for anyone undertaking a researchproject.4th edition How to Books Ltd, Oxford. 8. Fan, Y (2005). Ethical branding and corporate reputation. Corporate Communications: An International Journal. 10 (4), pp.341-350. 9. Ferguson, R (2006). Word of mouth and viral marketing: taking the temperature of the hottest trends in marketing. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 25 (3), pp.22-31. 10. Ille, F & Chailan, C (2011). Improving global competitiveness with branding strategy: Cases of Chinese and emerging countries' firms. Journal of Technology Management in China . 6 (1), pp.15-22. 11. Kippenberger, T (2000). Co-branding as a new competitive weapon. The Antidote. 5(6), pp.12-15. 12. Marren, P (2011). Brand spanking. Journal of Business Strategy. 32 (2), pp.3-5. 13. Randall, K (2010). How to Measure Brand Value: Likes, Followers, Influencers, Views? No, Social Currency [online]. [Accessed 21st Jan 2011]. Available from: . 14. Rowley, J (2004). Online branding: the case of McDonald's. British Food Journal. 160 (3), pp.228-237. 15. Saunder, M, Lewis P, Thornhill A (2007) Research Method for Business Student 4th edition. Pearson Education. Essex Read More