The Chinese University of Hong Kong

School of Business
MKTG4110 Strategic Brand Management
2024/25 Term 1
Final Test

Student ID: 1155144632

Save your work in Word or PDF format and submit it on both Blackboard and VeriGuide
(https://academic2.veriguide.org/portalcuhk/ , Assignment No. 2)

Case 1: Review the case “Body Shop: In Search of a Corporate Parent to Revive the Brand”
(IVEY Publishing, 2024) and answer the following questions:

1. Draw a brand identity prism (Kapferer,1986) for The Body Shop. (12 marks)

2. What were the changes in the ownership of The Body Shop brand between 1970s and 2024?
Complete the following table, cite the page number on the left upper hand corner of the
cases to support your answer. (15%)

Year Owner Brand extension level

1976 Anita Roddick (Page 2) Individual brand level

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 2006 L'Oréal (Page 2) Corporate / company brand level

2017 Natura &Co (Page 1) Corporate / company brand level

2023 Aurelius Group (Page 1) Corporate / company brand level

2024 FRP Advisory Group (Page Corporate / company brand level

1)

3. How did changes in ownership affect The Body Shop’s branding in a positive and/or
negative way? Critically discuss with THREE different concepts introduced in the course.
(12%)

Changes in ownership had far-reaching impacts on The Body Shop's branding, both
positively and negatively.

1). Brand Image: Keller's brand image concept (which includes brand awareness and
customer perceptions) is important in analyzing The Body Shop's history of different
ownership.

Positive impacts:

Initially spearheaded by Anita Roddick, The Body Shop built a powerful image as an
ethical, sustainable, and groundbreaker cosmetic firm. It was called "a Mecca of joy", "a
breath of fresh air", etc., and it produced a sense of unique and appropriate experience
for consumers.

Negative impacts:

Subsequent transfer of ownership and naming rights, and above all the purchase by
L'Oréal in 2006 which diluted the brand image. The 'buzz rating' and the satisfaction
scores of the company substantially decreased by the aftermath of the L'Oréal
acquisition, suggesting a decline of positive brand associations.

Under Natura Co's ownership, The Body Shop struggled to maintain its distinctive image
in an increasingly crowded ethical beauty market, with its market share dropping to 0.8%
in 2022 from 1.4% in 2020.

2). Brand Value and Equity: The concept of brand value and equity, the value added
to products and services, was greatly influenced by ownership transfer.

Positive impacts:

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 At the beginning, the power of ethical position and innovative positioning uniquely put
The Body Shop in premium position, so it became the greatly desirable brand within the
beauty market.

Negative impacts:

Successive ownership changes appeared to erode this brand equity. As described by

retail consultant Catherine Shuttleworth, "It lost its way, and suffered from moving from
owner to owner. It's been death by a thousand cuts. There's been a piece of its heart lost
with every step.”

The steep decline in The Body Shop's valuation through different transactions (from $1
billion when changing ownership from L'Oréal to Natura & Co, to just $260 million
when it was sold to Aurelius) points to significant brand value loss.

3). Brand Revitalization: The brand revitalization process, which means making
dramatic comebacks and redefining a brand's purpose in order to regain the position of
market leader, is especially important for The Body Shop's latter years under various
ownership.

Positive impacts:

Attempts at revitalization were made under different ownerships. For example, Natura
Co tried to implement a new range of stores with less product and refill stations, in order
to better respond to contemporary sustainability trends.

Negative impacts:

These revitalization efforts largely failed to resonate with consumers. The Body Shop
struggled to innovate sufficiently, missing key beauty trends like contouring and failing
to modernize its image. The company's efforts at resuscitation through the rebranding of
product lines (e.g., from "Drops of Youth" to "Edelweiss" appear to be marred with
uncertainties with negative consequences of estranging its current customer base.

4. What was the key factor that led to the failure of The Body Shop’s 2021 rebranding
campaign? (5%)

The underlying reason why the 2021 rebranding campaign of The Body Shop failed was
due to its lack of successful brand modernizing with preserved ethical values. This
failure was manifested in several interconnected aspects:

1). Controversial name change: The Body Shop reformulated its bestseller "Drops of
Youth"', into "Edelweiss" in 2021. This manoeuvre was "a massive commercial risk",
stated industry critics. The company attempted to address the beauty industry's stigma

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 associated with aging, but in doing so, they risked alienating existing customers who
were familiar with and loyal to the original product line.

2). Misalignment with consumer expectations: The rebranding process did not get the
Gen Z consumer attention focused by the younger generation. However, The Body
Shop's social media posts continued to largely center around the company's ethical past
and did not feature product development or respond to pressing consumer demands. That
strategy did not sit well with the younger shoppers who were attracted more and more to
brands that were more modern, and also more social-media savvy.

3). Lack of innovation: GlobalData analyst Charlotte Pearce found that, while The Body
Shop missed out on popular beauty trends such as contouring, the aesthetics of the Body
Shop brand imagery suggests a 1990s style iconography and fashion appeal. The
rebranding effort failed to fully gain a foothold on this perception and failed to bring any
new innovations to reasonably stay ahead of the very rapidly changing beauty industry
trends.

4). Ineffective digital strategy: Promotional activity, as one element of the rebranding,
did not effectively augment The Body Shop's website and use of online assets to engage
with a Millennial audience. Yet, lacking this consideration in this era of e-commerce and
social media marketing brought explosive success to the campaign.

5). Inconsistent messaging: And, although the rebranding tried to eliminate the stigma
against aging in the beauty market, it could have made consumers unclear. Because of
the shift from "Drops of Youth" to "Edelweiss" and the subsequent messaging, one might
have suffered from a universal loss of brand identity and lost repeat customers.

6). Failure to differentiate: Although The Body Shop launched a rebranding campaign,
it could have little differentiation in market, crowded with ethical and sustainable beauty
brands. The campaign fell short of highly effectively communicating the difference
between The Body Shop's proposition and those of competing companies, including
Lush.

7). Pricing issues: Rebranding did not solve the perception that The Body Shop products
are priced high relative to competitors. This resulted in a challenge in attracting price-
conscious consumers, specifically younger age-groups that were a key focus of the
rebranding effort.

5. Despite The Body Shop’s success in building “its image as an ethical brand” (p. 3), the
brand failed to attract the younger generation. If you are appointed as the brand manager
of The Body Shop to assist the brand for launching a new campaign next year (please
consider that the brand has filed for bankruptcy in 2024), propose ONE theme and explain
how the campaign will revitalize the brand through the use of digital media. (10%)

The Body Shop Revival Campaign: “Rooted in Nature, Empowered by You”

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The focus of the planned revival campaign for The Body Shop, known as “Rooted in
Nature, Empowered by You”, is that of a revitalized brand. This theme is geared towards
restoring the image of the brand on an ethical level while equipping the younger
generation for acting upon their consumer stand by making the right choice.

Campaign Strategy:

1). Leveraging Digital Media

To revive The Body Shop brand and to reach younger clients and consumers, this
campaign will depend heavily on digital media and key elements of the PESO (Paid,
Earned, Shared, Owned) model:

Paid Media:

Collaborate with popular social media Gen Z influencers on TikTok and Instagram to
create sponsored posts about The Body Shop's fair trade and products.

In the realm of sustainability and empowerment, invest in targeted social media

advertising (e.g., on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube).

Earned Media:

Launch a PR outreach campaign to highlight The Body Shops' new position in

sustainability and responsible sourcing, targeting digital media where Gen Z spend the
most time.

Motivate bloggers with high domain authority to post about The Body Shop experiences,
highlighting the positive effect not just on personal development, but also on the
environment.

Shared Media:

Benefit of using TikTok to launch a branded hashtag challenge and explore, thereby
enabling consumers to generate eco-friendly beauty regimen with the aid of The Body
Shop products.

Develop a series of Instagram Reels where customers talk about how The Body Shop’s
products are made, emphasizing transparency in the production process, and how it
benefits the environment and their beauty routine.

Owned Media:

Overhaul The Body Shop website and mobile app with interactivity features, such as a
"Sustainability Tracker" which visualizes the positive impact each buy makes.

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Starting a blog series that features case studies, examining ethical sourcing, community
trade, and the company's strategy in terms of environmental compensation.

2). Interactive Digital Experiences

To target a younger audience, in fact, the promotional campaign will be completed with
the following interactive digital formats:

Create an augmented reality filter in Instagram and TikTok that allows people to
"virtually plant a tree" for each product they try from The Body Shop.

Develop a gamified mobile app journey that allows users to discover sustainable
ingredients while earning points that can be redeemed for product discounts.

3). User-Generated Content and Community Building

Encourage active participation from the younger audience by launching a "Sustainability

Ambassador" program in which young activists are asked to develop products and
marketing campaigns together with The Body Shop.

Create a particular social media platform or customer community where customers are
actually capable of writing suggestions for sustainable living, and discussing the Body
Shop products, etc.

4). Transparency and Education

Stress The Body Shop's openness and educate the consumer, such as integrating QR
codes are into product labels that provide access to source, ingredient, and environmental
information about a product.

Produce a series of short, engaging educational videos for social media platforms,
explaining complex sustainability concepts in simple terms.

5). Collaboration and Partnerships

Forge strategic partnerships to enhance brand credibility, such as:

Work with environmental non-profit organisations on limited edition product ranges for
which all proceeds accrue towards conservation initiatives.

Collaborate with sustainable fashion companies on cross-promotion activities, with the

aim of promoting a comprehensive concept of ethical consumerism.

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6. How would you measure the effectiveness of your campaign suggested in Question 5?
Explain. (5%)

To determine the effectiveness of the promotional campaign "Rooted in nature,

Empowered by you" on The Body Shop, we will employ both formative (continuous)
and summative (after the campaign) assessment strategies that are in line with the
predicted outcomes as per the principles of campaign evaluation theory.

Formative Evaluation (Ongoing):

We would track and estimate its performance while campaigning in real-time, and use
that to make ongoing changes. This would involve:

Number who learn message content: We planned to employ brief, compelling quizzes
on social media websites and mobile app to measure the extent to which our target group
is aware and understands the core messages relating to The Body Shop's ethical and
sustainability policies.

Number who change opinions: Continuous sentiment analysis of social media

comments, social media mentions and on-line user-generated content could, however,
assist in tracking evolution of The Body Shop's sentiments among younger segment.

Number who change attitudes: We planned to perform regular surveys and focus groups
with our target population in order to assess changes in attitude towards ethical
consumerism and toward The Body Shop brand values.

Number who behave as desired: We also intend to track metrics for engagement such as
site visits, product page visits, and in-store visits (as appropriate) to provide an indication
of interest/consideration of our target group.

Summative Evaluation (Post-Campaign):

Following the completion of the campaign we would perform an evaluation assessment

to quantify the campaign's general impact:

Number who behave as desired: Our aim is to examine sales data, in particular,
acquisition of new customers in our target market and sales of products promoted
through the campaign.

Number who repeat behaviour: Customer retention rates and repeat purchase data would
be compared to assess whether the campaign resulted in long term behavioural
alterations in new and existing customers.

Social and cultural change: To do so, we suggest to commission a bigger market research
survey to explore whether and how values towards ethical consumerism and

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 environmentally sound beauty behaviour have altered in the target population, in
particular, in the millennial population.

Measuring Specific Campaign Impacts:

Number who learn message content: We would examine the efficacy of our educational
materials (for example, the audience reach for our sustainable Instagram Reels and the
user completion for our gamified mobile app experience).

Number who change opinions: We will also compare pre- and post-campaign brand
perception survey questions to assess changes in the perception of The Body Shops of
their ethical stance and appeal to Millennials.

Number who change attitudes: Our “Sustainability Ambassador” program would be

judged by the number of applications it generated and the level of involvement of the
chosen ambassadors in spreading sustainable beauty practices.

Number who behave as desired: We would monitor adoption of our AR filters on

Instagram and TikTok, as well as the number of people joining our branded hashtag
challenges in order to capture audience activity for the campaign.

Number who repeat behaviour: The future viability of our loyalty program and the
"Sustainability Tracker" functionality would be gauged through the examination of
recurring customer engagement and its relationship with repeat-purchase behaviour.

Social and cultural change: We would monitor industry trends, as well as consumer
behaviour trends, to identify any shifts towards more ethical and sustainable practices in
beauty ownership and consumption —some of which may be attributable to our work.

Case 2: Review the case “Mastercard and Sonic Branding” (IVEY Publishing, 2024) and
answer the following questions:

1. Analyze the brand image of the Mastercard, cite the page number on the left upper hand
corner of the cases to support your analysis. (8%)

Mastercard's brand image evolved considerably during the M. V. Rajamannar's tenure

as CMO from the year 2013. As this company has gradually transitioned from
transactional marketing to transcendental marketing in a progressive fashion, it has
become one of the top 10 most valuable brands in the world along with the number 1
audio brand worldwide for 4 years in a row (Page 1).

User profile / imagery:

The brand image of Mastercard includes a dimension of immense consumer base across
more than 200 countries. Transactions in currency exceeding 150 are processed by the

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 corporation (Page 1) as a consequence of a world community of users. The company
further specifically wants and is facilitating Black women entrepreneurship through
initiatives such as the Strivers Initiative, clearly demonstrating a focus on diversity and
inclusion (Page 6).

Purchase and usage situations / imagery:

The brand name of Mastercard is linked to a broad spectrum of purchase contexts, from
the everyday to the holiday. With the "Priceless" campaign, which has been running
since 1997, the purpose of this company is life moments that money cannot buy (Page
2). Mastercard has expanded the width of its usage imagery by collaborating with Live
Nation and providing with access to premium, exclusive music rewards and promotional
offers to cardholders across all nations (Page 11).

Brand personality and values:

Mastercard's brand personality features are innovation, inclusivity, and multisensory.

The sonic branding methodology that the company adopted in 2019, set as a collateral
of the company's campaign to create a recognisable and enduring brand experience (Page
5), serves as an example of the company's campaign to achieve all of this. Mastercard's
values are open doors to the stories of extraordinary experiences for one, and helping the
world of tomorrow, by supporting the 100 million trees reforestation of the Priceless
Planet Coalition (Page 9).

Brand history, heritage, and experiences:

Mastercard, acquired in 1966, is an old-timer in the credit card market. The company
went public in 2006, and has since exclusively dedicated itself to the refocusing of the
brand identity (Page 1). The history of its “Priceless” campaign, which has continued to
be a part of the business since 1997, has also become embedded across generations and
societies (Page 2).

Strength, Favorability, and Uniqueness:

The brand image of Mastercard brands suggests a power due to a highly effective global
presence, positions itself as one of the most valuable brands repeatedly. There is no
question that the category's dominant appeal is the use it makes of the financially
rewarding "Priceless" approach and its pioneering mark. The novelty of Mastercard is
most evident in its pioneering contributions to the field of sonic branding (a competitive
edge over rivals in the financial service sector).

2. Do you agree with the author’s statement that “Sonic branding is a comprehensive brand
identity with a clear architecture, not just a jingle or mnemonic” (p. 7)? Provide TWO reasons
to support your answer. (6%)

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 The author's statement, "Sonic branding is an overall brand identity with an evident
architecture, not just a tune or rhyme" (p. 7), is in agreement. There are two compelling
reasons to support this assertion:

1). Mastercard's multi-layered sonic branding approach:

Mastercard's sonic branding is not limited to a catchy phrase or a short jingle.

Mastercard's strategy broadly extends beyond the sonic branding concept. As described
in the case, Rajamannar and his team developed a comprehensive sonic architecture
consisting of multiple layers. This involves 30-second melody, 3-second mnemonic
(sonic signature), and 1.3-second acceptance sound during confirmation of transactions.
This multi-faceted design shows it is clear that Mastercard's sonic branding is an
intentional, total system, which aims at achieving an integrated sonic identity through its
interfaces.

2). Integration across multiple contexts and platforms:

The study demonstrates the design of Mastercard sonic branding as flexible and
adaptable in various contexts. Rajamannar then pointed out that the sound should be "
native in different contexts "—from football sponsorship or ballet to personal romantic
evenings and electronic dance music festivals. This amenability guarantees that the sonic
mark can always be used over different marketing channels, events, to even customer
contact. Besides, the sonic brand being built together with Mastercard's commercials,
events, and consumer engagement illustrates how the sonic brand is both deep and
extensive, going beyond a single audio logo or melody.

3. Discuss ONE potential challenge in building Mastercard’s brand in each of the following
campaigns—Priceless (p.1-2, p. 8), Sound On (p. 2-8), and Strives Initiative (p. 6). (12%)

Priceless Campaign:

A possible pitfall of implementing the Priceless campaign to build Mastercard's brand is

keeping it current and emotionally charged in the long run. Implemented since 1997 (p.
2), the Priceless campaign is a longstanding foundation of Mastercard's brand identity.
Although its lifespan tells us it has been a success, it also makes an argument for the
need to keep the message contemporary and engaging for connecting with new
generations of consumers. With regard to changes in consumer values and expectations,
Mastercard must always rediscover and modify the Priceless concept so that it continues
to resonate and does not simply become stale or outdated.

Sound On Campaign:

Maintaining consistent execution and brand presence across all the different
international markets in the process of, for example, developing Mastercard's brand

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 during the Sound On campaign is a big challenge. Page 5 says that Mastercard's
ultrasonic branding has a 30-second melody, a 3-second mnemonic, and 1.3-second
acceptance sound. The challenge is to achieve universal understanding and applicability
of these sonic elements in the more than 200 countries where Mastercard operates (p. 1).
There are cultural differences in musical preferences and its connotations, so one should
try to find a universal emotional chord that is localizing at the same time which,
unfortunately, is a serious work, the local adaptation should be still done.

Strivers Initiative:

Maintaining a balance for the Strivers Initiative effectively would be a potential

challenge for Mastercard. As reported on page 6, the Strivers Initiative seeks to enhance
the visibility of Black female business owners. While this work demonstrates
Mastercard's commitment to diversity and inclusion, it may also lead to the disadvantage
of the other customer / racial segments to feel stereotyped or unimportant. Mastercard
cannot escape the challenging exercise of mediating the discussion and practice of this
for a diversity perspective to address the needs of (Black) female entrepreneurs at the
same time preserving a positive relationship with the overall customer base and avoiding
potential pushback from those who might interpret this offer as a pandering to a specific
group of customers.

4. If you were invited to propose a new campaign to strengthen Mastercard’s “priceless” branding
in Hong Kong or your home country, choose a campaign proposition and explain how
experiential OR relationship marketing could be strategically implemented in this campaign.
(15%)

Regarding a new campaign for strengthening the “priceless” brand image of Mastercard
in Hong Kong I suggest a new campaign called “Priceless Hong Kong Moments”. This
campaign would focus on creating unique, memorable experiences that showcase the
city's rich cultural heritage and modern vibrancy, aligning perfectly with Mastercard's
“priceless” concept.

For the ability to run this campaign using experiential marketing, Mastercard should, at
a minimum, strategically target the following:.

Curated Cultural Experiences: Mastercard could partner with local craftspeople, chefs
and museums to offer its cardholders exclusive access and access to special, behind-the-
scenes experiences. For example, they can organize private dim sum baking classes with
celebrity chefs, or conduct night-time visits to some of Hong Kong's most well-known
museums and arts organisations. Such experiences would enable the cardholders to
meaningfully experience Hong Kong culture in a way that is money can't buy.

Urban Adventure Series: With the unique urbanity of Hong Kong's urban fabric,
Mastercard is able to create a variety of city-scale treasure hunts or augmented reality
experiences. Participants would swipe their Mastercard to open clues and find special

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spots around the city, and stumble upon secret treasures in and out of the city centre. Not
only it would be an innovative, interactive experience, but also it would allow the use of
cards at a variety of vendors.

Seasonal Festival Experiences: The festivals of Hong Kong, such as the Mid-Autumn
Festival and Chinese New Year, are well known in the world. Mastercard may create, in
respect to such events, limited observation areas or VIP benefits for the cardholders. For
example, cardholders on the Symphony of Lights can board a harbour cruise with
gourmet dining with a breath-taking panorama of the effect.

Sustainability Initiatives: In view of the growing importance of environmental issues,

Mastercard could be contracted to deliver cardholders with environmentally sustainable
activities with which to contribute to local sustainability. This might include unique
access to conservation areas, involvement in beach clean ups followed by engaging
picnics, or participatory learning groups on sustainable living facilitated by members of
the local community.

Tech-Meets-Tradition Experiences: Confirming Hong Kong as a technology hub and as

a place with roots in ancient history, Mastercard is ideally placed to develop and share
experiences encapsulating the unique combination of these two. For example, they might
schedule virtual-reality tours of historic houses that would in turn result in formal, guided
visits to similar buildings, or even, to say in a more direct way, tech-enhanced, "retro"
craft-making.

For the sake of tying these experiences to the “priceless” brand, Mastercard would
highlight that the experiences are all available using a Mastercard, but it is the memories
and the emotions they generate that is truly priceless. Every experience will be designed
so that the participant could experience something that he/she could not experience by
himself, with the purpose of demonstrating the value of being a Mastercard holder.

Marketing communications for this campaign will primarily be around storytelling,

using real cardholders with their "Priceless Hong Kong Moments. Some of this type of
content may be uploaded to social media platforms, particularly social media platforms,
in Hong Kong such as WeChat and Instagram, to generate interest and anticipation for
these limited events.

During the process of carrying out this experiential marketing programme, Mastercard
would not only increase its "priceless" brand awareness in Hong Kong, but favourably
affect the relationship with card holders both because it strengthens it and because it
increases the feelings they bear regarding the product. The campaign would reframe
Mastercard not only as a payment solution, but as the key to accessing unprecedented,
rich, and meaningful experiences in one of the world's most vibrant cities.

The End

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