Factors Influencing The Success For Brand Value Of Ford Company In Australia

Analyzing the Factors Influencing The Success For Brand Value Of Ford Company in Melbourne Australia

Detail description of the Research Problem Statement

Branding has emerged to be one of the most successful corporate strategies in the growing and competitive business environments. Many corporate businesses have therefore embraced the plan in almost all sectors as a way of building their business identity (Ramaswamy & Ozcan, 2016). It is a strategy driven by the leadership and management of an organization including the CEO along with the senior management and the marketing heads. The high adoption and believe in branding in the modern corporate world is driven by the fact that there have been well established proving the fact that it is possible for specific brands to make or break in the markets.  Brand value is defined as the financial worth of a company brand and in most cases is depended on the company reputation (Karababa & Kjeldgaard, 2014). The current market leadership and profitability of individual companies globally have been realized through the brand value. Lack of effective strategies for product development has led to the increased failure of branding for most company products and services. In most cases launching of new products is always seen as a desirable growth strategy however it has been attributed to many market risks. Therefore various factors influence the success of brand value for any company.

  The automotive industry has rapidly grown, and increased competition currently characterizes the industry. The success of any company in the sector is depended on the development of brands which are competitive, meet customer demands and needs (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014). Particularly in Australia, the industry has significantly grown concerning competitiveness with essential companies developing or manufacturing quality brands and increasing their innovative capacity to gain a competitive advantage. This study, therefore, aims at providing an understanding of the factors influencing the success for brand value for Ford Company in Australia.

The organization of this research proposal in terms of arrangement and analysis details will include a number of chapters. The first chapter of the proposal will focus on a brief introduction of the key issues covered in the analysis; Chapter 2 will be used to provide a detailed research problem statement while Chapter 3 highlights the aims, objectives as well as the research questions. Chapter 4 will provide a detailed analysis of justifications and the potential outcomes of the research while Chapter 5 outlines the conceptual frameworks of the proposed research as well as hypothesis development. Lastly, Chapter 6 which provides a detailed analysis of the research methodology.

Brand Value is the financial worth of a brand and depends on the company reputation. Every company has developed a strategy to successfully develop its brand value. However, for a company to develop its brand value there is a need to understand the consumer perceptions about the acceptability of brand extension (Luxton et al., 2015). Many managers have capitalized on brand recognition, goodwill and any other positive associations to enhance their organizational brand value. Therefore, the managers have adopted the recent popular approach of brand extension as a strategy to reduce the risks involved in launching new products in the market. Many scholars have therefore developed their studies surround the concepts of branding as a marketing strategy and in providing understanding of how branding has become a new corporate strategy to gain a competitive advantage in the modern competitive corporate world (Tajvidi et al., 2017). Brand value and brand equity in many studies have been studied as one and the same thing and their impact has considered being the same in growth and development of a business strategy. Limited research has however been done to establish or analyze the factors influencing the success for brand value in different companies. This research proposal is therefore aimed at providing an understanding of the factors influencing the success of a business brand value. This is because most organizations have not recognized the contributions of brand value to the company financial performance and success of other products under the same brand (Merz et al., 2018). The findings of the research will contribute greatly to improvement of management decisions in developing their brand marketing strategies and contribute to increased brand value, increased competitive advantage and productivity.

Proposed Research aims and objectives

 The main aim of this research is to analyze the factors influencing the success for brand value for Ford Company in Australia operating in the automotive industry (Liu et al., 2017). With the increased competition and growth of the automobile industry as well as increased consumer demands on quality automobile products and services, there is a growing need for companies to understand the factors influencing their brand value since these factors are critical in determining the consumer perception on the company brand, influencing their consumption behavior. Below are some of the factors influencing the success of company brand value or brand equity.

Source; https://biggerlogos.wordpress.com/tag/factors-affecting-brand-value/ 

For active research development, the study will be guided by some objectives which will help us get a deeper understanding of the concepts of brand equity and brand value as the new corporate marketing strategies (Newman & Brucks, 2018). The first objective of the research is to provide an understanding of the Ford Company brand value strategies or the current market positioning of the company brand and its value in the Australian Automobile industry. The research will also seek to determine the company strategies and how they are organized to sustain their leadership in the industry by enhancing their brand image and reputation. The reach will also investigate the accounting of brand value under the company balance sheet and how these factors are affecting the cost of the company productivity in the balance sheet (van Doorn et al., 2017). Lastly, the research will also investigate the relationship between a company reputation and brand value as well as the relationship between the company marketing strategies and brand value.

Research Questions

    RQ1. Does the company brand value determine the company competitiveness in the industry?

    RQ2. Does the company reputation influence or determine the brand value?

    RQ3.  Does customers brand perceptions influence a company brand value?

    RQ4.  Does the perceived risk associated with a brand influence the brand value?

     RQ5.  Does a company innovativeness capacity influence the brand value?

Understanding the various market dynamics has become very significant in developing effective brand marketing strategies. Researcher and scholars have engaged in analysis of the current marketing strategies with more focus been designed around the social media marketing strategy. The development of brand extension strategy which is based or grounded on the already existing brand reputation has always been overlooked by many companies (Bravo et al., 2017). Competitiveness in the industry and especially in the automotive industry has been a critical driver to development of effective strategies to remain competitive in the industry. Branding has been embraced as the new corporate strategy by many businesses or organizations, but most companies have not gotten deep into the analysis of the whole concept in a bid to understand how they can utilize the strategy for their benefit by differentiating their products and services (Vajarodaya & Fernando, 2017). This research will, therefore, be critical in helping us understand the different factors influencing the success for brand value of the Ford Company and how the elements can be analyzed to develop effective marketing strategies to enhance the success of a company brand in the market. The research will help in filling the literature gap existing by widening the scope of the concept of branding and its impact on business performance (Aziz et al., 2017). It will help the management of the company as well as the marketing department of the company to position them strategically by understanding the factors influencing the success of their brands in the market and maximizing on the positive elements and developing strategies to counter the risks associated with the negative influences.

Research Questions

The expected outcome of the research will be based on the findings guided by the research questions. Through the research question the research proposal should be able to help us understand the factors influencing the success of Ford Company brand value (Mohseni et al., 2018). The research should also help us understand the different marketing strategies which can be deployed by the company to influence the success of the company brand value in the Australian Automobile industry. Lastly, the research should provide different marketing strategies which can be used to develop the brand strategies such as brand extension strategy which offers uniqueness than adoption of the most competitive social media marketing strategies which each and every organization is trying to pursue. Below is a graph showing Ford Market share in different markets;

Figure2. Ford Motors Market Share; source; https://corporate.ford.com/company.html 

 The development of a company brand value can be understood as the development of strategies aimed at improving the worth of a company. This is because brand value which has also been referred to as brand equity describes the financial worth of a company or a brand. The development of a successful brand is depended on the reputation of the company. The success of Ford Company brand has been influenced currently by the company marketing strategy (Barhorst & Wilson, 2017). The company has been able to establish itself as a leader in the automobile industry in Australia through innovative products and services to their customers. The automobile industry has become very sensitive in that it offers exclusive services and the target market for consumers is characterized with many factors which influence the consumer purchase decision for a certain brand. In most cases the customers are more interested in the value they get from their spending since automobiles are associated with some huge amount of spending. At other times the consumer purchase decisions are influenced by their friends since some make decisions based on advice received from friends (Rahi et al., 2017). Therefore, due to these factors, it is important for the management of the company to understand the different factors influencing the success of the company brand among which include, the brand image, the company reputation, the perceived similarity, the brand perceived risks as well as the innovativeness of the brand. Developing a good strategy for these factors will provide the company with a competitive advantage.

A brand value will grow based on the perceived similarity with other company brands. If the company can build its reputation with the existing brand, then it becomes easy for other brands to become successful on the market just because the consumers will be buying because of the status or image established by prior brands (Raharjo & Amboningtyas, 2017). The consumers are of the perception that the brand is similar to the previous brand or maybe a better version of the other brand. Ford Company has been able to establish its reputation as a company that seeks to deliver quality, safer and innovative cars and other automobile services to their customers. The variety of their car brands can help you differentiate the brand from other car manufacturers globally. Such reputation has therefore enhanced the brand value since the customers buying from the company will in most cases be buying the company brand compared to the type of car they are purchasing (Zablocki et al., 2017). Every brand is associated with specific risks; the company aims to develop a brand that can minimize the risks incurred, and therefore the perceived threat of the company brand determines its value. The brand with less risk will attract more amounts in the markets compared to the brand associated with high risk.

Justification and Potential Output of the Research

Innovativeness of the company plays a significant role influencing the acceptability of brand extension strategy. Ford Company has used the innovative approach to develop or manufacture quality car which will satisfy their customer demands. The company has invested in innovation strategies which have also given the company a competitive advantage (Moin et al., 20117). Innovation helps in the production of goods and services depending on the consumer tastes and preferences. It, therefore, plays a vital role in influencing the success of a company brand value. The company brand value has also been successful due to the company efforts to develop innovative customer relationship strategies. This strategy was put in place after the realization that most buyers spend more time talking to the dealers after they have purchased a car. The company, therefore, developed various websites aimed at improving customer relationships, providing solutions to customer questions (Iglesias et al., 2017). Customers will buy more if their links with the company are useful and therefore the strategy helps in building brand loyalty and contributing to the increased brand value.

Hypothesis Development

Research Approach and sources of data

Active development of this research proposal will require the use of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The approaches used are dependent on the choice of the type of data used in the study analysis whereby we use both numerical and non-numerical data. Both primary and secondary data will be used in the development of the research proposal (Ong et al., 2017). The primary data will be collected through interviews from the company staff and customers while the secondary data will be received from journal articles, company publications and other internet-based source materials for the development of the research project. Both primary and secondary data collected will then be analyzed through the use of both qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques.

Proposed data collection and analysis techniques

Population

The target group for this research includes the staff working with the Ford Company, the different company customers as well as the other bodies involved in branding or brand value management. The population will be formed by a group of 100 participants who will participate in the interviews by providing their different insights on the factors influencing brand value. The community will be divided into different groups based on their characteristics.

Sampling

The analysis and findings of this research proposal will employ the use of cluster sampling technique as a tool for data analysis and decision making based on the reports of each cluster findings. The cluster sampling will involve the classification of our sample population into several cluster groups based on identifiable characteristics. Results from each sample cluster group will then be analyzed against the results from other groups and the secondary data information for making useful conclusions on the statement problem

Variables and Analysis

The primary objective of this research proposal is to analyze the factors influencing the success of brand value for Ford Company. The analysis will involve the understanding of the company dependent and depended on variables. The dependent variable, in this case, is the brand value for the company while the independent variable is the factors influencing brand value for the company. The useful analysis will employ the use of qualitative data obtained through interviews and will be analyzed through the use of exploratory study while the quantitative data from the secondary data sources will be examined through the use of correlation analysis techniques to present facts and figures.

Organization of the study

Chapter one; outlines or describes the research proposal as provided in this assignment

Chapter two; a description of brand value and the factors affecting or influencing the success of the company brand  

Chapter Three; will include the details of methodology – literature review, data series and surveys (data collection methods), observing critical indicators of correlation and data analysis methods.

 Chapter Four; Provides a report of Findings and Analysis of the proposed research.

 Chapter Five: provides a summary of the essential findings on the factors influencing the success of the brand value for Ford Compan

Proposed Budget

A review of the budget for the proposed research development is illustrated below;

Gantt chart

References

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