Assignment 2 – Co-creating value (35%)

When completing the second assignment, please use the same branded service as the first assignment. In this assignment, you will focus on co-creating value. In the first assignment, you looked at “value in the exchange” and in this assignment, you will be looking at value more deeply. You will look at the influences of customer value, and the ways to segment the market and position the branded service towards the target audience (you).
Your task
You are to develop a piece of communication that provides the service brand manager with information about their brand and socio-cultural and normative influences that affect and co-create value for the target audience (you).
Your assignment should be written in either second or third person and be limited to 1600 words or 15 slides in total. Please use the “notes section” for your words when using PowerPoint. When you are using MS Word, please place your illustrations in-text and close to the words describing the illustration.
You are to develop an assignment that has a similar structure to below a. Title page
b. Introduction
c. Brand-image
d. Brand congruency e. Brand attitude
f. Social influences
g. Rituals and artefacts h. Conclusion
i. Recommendations
1. The title page should have a catchy title limited to eight words or less. The title page should also include your student name and student number.
2. The introduction section should briefly introduce the assignment to your audience, which is the manager or the management team of the branded service you have selected (no more than one slide or one page).
3. Develop a brand-image. A brand-image is a way to describe your associative memory network, which includes various primary and secondary brand associations (or nodes) linked to the brand (in your memory). Brand-images are unique for each individual customer. The manager is interested in the “typical” brand-image for his/her brand.
To develop a brand-image, you may do this, by recalling everything you can think of, when you think about the branded service, and noting the order in which you recall information (see the materials and the learning activity associated with brand-image, you might find this useful in helping you to develop an accurate brand-image).
A useful brand-image is one that shows the relationships and the strength and weakness of the relationships between the various nodes linking to the brand and service (like the brand-image in your materials, where thick lines represent the strong relationships and dotted lines illustrate the weak relationships). Remember to label any diagram you create.
Explain the brand-image to the manager or management team. You might like to identify points-of- parity and points-of-differentiation in your brand image. Points of parity are nodes that are likely to be the same for other brands of services (e.g. weights room, spin classes, PT sessions are points of parity for many gyms). Whereas points-of-difference are likely to be unique to the brand of service (you have selected).
4. Discuss brand-congruency. In the section on brand congruency, please explain and reference the concept of congruency. In your explanation, discuss brand congruency. Explain the degree of congruency between the brand-image and the typical user’s-image, as well as the degree of congruency between your self-image and the typical brand-user’s image. Provide an overall summary of brand-image congruency. To complete this task, you may need to do some research on these various congruency terms. Reference any materials you find that help you to explain the congruency terms (or any other terms used in this assignment) using Harvard AGPS http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing/harvardagps-referencing-guide).
5. Explain the brand attitude of your target audience (you). When explaining the term brand attitudes, explain any beliefs (cognitions), affects (emotions or feelings) or behavioural intentions towards the branded service. Provide a summary explaining your overall brand attitude towards the service. You may also like to consider and write about whether any attitudes are positive/negative or strong/weak or indifferent.
6. Explain the social cultural influences of the branded service. Consider the informational influence, the normative influence and the identification influence. You might like to conduct some research on these concepts or refer to your notes or the course materials on these types of social-cultural influences to ensure you understand these and are able to write about them in your assignment. When writing about them, write about their impact (influence) on perceptions of value, and any ethical considerations.
Because as at times there are ethical considerations and implications for various target audiences (e.g., ethics of targeting minority groups, indigenous groups, because of gender and so on). Some of these targeted audiences are micro-cultural groups (see your course materials about social cultural influences) and as such there are ethical implications/considerations that may affect these groups. Some company’s consider the ethical implications others do not. When writing about the social and cultural influences for the branded service, discuss whether the company (brand) considered the ethical implications of their target audience (you).
7. Identify any rituals and artefacts associated with the branded service. Pick one ritual and explain each of the steps in the ritual. You may like to provide a diagram to assist your explanation. Discuss any artefacts associated with the branded service. Explain how the rituals and artefacts provide meaning and value to the branded service.
You might like to refer to your course notes about rituals and artefacts or search through consumer behaviour textbooks, e-books or online articles to help you to understand and write about the various rituals and artefacts that provide you with meaning and influence your perceptions of value about the branded service. When discussing the rituals and artefacts discuss them in light of the meaning and the value they provide the target audience (you).
8. Develop a conclusion section. The conclusion section should provide a summary of your assignment and finish by briefly discussing the key elements that provide the target audience (you) meaning and value.
9. Develop the recommendations section. You should base this section on the key elements of value that you have identified above (conclusion section). You are making recommendations to a manager about how s/he can co-create value.
This will require some novel thinking and creativity. Co-creating value requires a good understanding of customer value, what is meaningful and of value to the customer.
Start by brainstorming various ways to create value for the customer, and then prioritise which of those ways might be the best, and then develop some sound recommendations on ways to co- create value. These novel ideas might be ways in which service is improved or ways in which value is expanded or extended.
The recommendations section should be strong – and have a reasoned-based argument and be at least one page or one slide in length.
Save your assignment as follows:
Student number_MKT1002A2