Brand Auditing
In simple terms, a brand audit is a checkup that evaluates a brand’s position in the market and industry and suggests ways to strengthen it.
A brand audit is important because it helps a company understand how its brand performs in the market and how customers perceive it.
Here are a few simple reasons why conducting a brand audit is crucial
Identify Strengths & Weaknesses
It helps a company see what is working well and what isn't. This can guide improvements and changes needed to strengthen the brand.
Improve Marketing Strategies
By understanding current brand positioning and customer perceptions, companies can customize their marketing strategies more effectively to reach their audience.
Align Brand with Market needs
It ensures that the brand stays relevant to its target audience. As markets and consumer preferences change over time, a brand audit helps ensure that the brand evolves accordingly.
Competitive Advantage
By regularly assessing the brand against competitors, a brand audit can highlight opportunities for differentiation and innovation, giving the company a competitive edge in the market.
To illustrate the concept of brand auditing, I am considering an example of Mattel's Barbie brand. The Barbie brand, created by Mattel in 1959, is a global icon known for its line of fashion dolls and associated merchandise, symbolizing a wide range of roles and identities to inspire limitless potential in the minds of young children.
In recent years, Barbie faced a downturn in sales and public perception, driven by evolving consumer attitudes toward gender roles and body image. I wanted to audit the brand to understand what has been done and how to improve it to stay current among its consumers.
To effectively combine Mattel's Barbie's strengths, we can say that Barbie's iconic status, evolution with consumer preferences, and expansive product range highlight its sustained market relevance and embody critical elements of brand equity as defined by Aaker.
Barbie's widespread recognition (brand awareness), adaptability to societal changes (brand associations), and ability to engage consumers across generations (brand loyalty)—are the tangible significance of its brand equity. This shows how Mattel has strategically managed Barbie to maintain its prominence and appeal in the competitive toy industry.
Evolution with Consumer Preferences: The case study also highlights how Barbie has evolved, particularly in response to criticisms regarding diversity and representation. Initiatives like the Barbie Fashionistas line, which introduced dolls with various skin tones, hairstyles, and body types, demonstrate Mattel's commitment to inclusivity and adapting to societal changes. This responsiveness to consumer demands strengthened the brand by making it more accessible and appealing to a broader audience. Comparing the evolution of Barbie with consumer preferences as outlined in the lecture slides, Barbie's adaptation to societal changes reflects a deep understanding of evolving consumer expectations. This strategic move by Mattel showcases a shift from traditional marketing to a customer-centric approach, catering to the broader societal conversations around diversity, thereby enhancing brand appeal and relevance in an ever-changing social landscape.
Diverse Product Ranges: Another strength would be how the Barbie brand emphasizes the importance of differentiation and creating unique value propositions to stand out in a crowded market. This directly correlates with Barbie's approach to expanding its product range to include dolls representing over 150 careers and various accessories, playsets, and digital content. This strategy differentiates Barbie from competitors and aligns with creating experiences and value beyond the physical product.
Now that we have seen what were their strengths, let’s explore their weakness as well-
Lack of Diversity: Initially, Barbie was criticized for promoting a narrow standard of beauty centered around a single body type and predominantly white, blonde dolls. This lack of diversity in representation could alienate diverse consumer segments, limiting the brand's appeal across different cultures and societal groups.
Positioning: Historically, Barbie has been positioned with a strong emphasis on traditional femininity and beauty-centric roles, which could be interpreted as reinforcing outdated gender stereotypes. This positioning might not resonate with modern consumer segments that value gender neutrality and diverse representations of interests and capabilities.
Challenges with Digital Landscape: While Mattel has tried to expand Barbie's presence into digital platforms and content creation, navigating the rapidly changing digital landscape poses a significant challenge. Maintaining relevance with younger audiences' evolving digital consumption habits presents an ongoing challenge for Barbie, necessitating strategic digital innovation. Relating to the concepts of the importance of resonating with a diverse and evolving consumer base (Consumer Analysis), differentiating in a competitive landscape while remaining authentic (Competitive Analysis), and ensuring that company capabilities can support the brand promise (Company Analysis).
How did it position itself?
I wanted to relate this to the Barbie movie, which repositioned Mattel as a toy manufacturer and as a holder of valuable intellectual properties, indicating a strategic shift towards broader entertainment and cultural significance. The marketing efforts surrounding the movie included a wide array of pink-themed collaborations and suggested an effort to appeal to a wider demographic beyond the traditional child consumer base. The movie also repositioned the brand by leveraging diverse partnerships (like Xbox & Balmain) to appeal to a wider audience beyond kids, fostering a cultural movement (Barbie-core) that made Barbie a trendsetter as a broader cultural icon. This movie also highlighted the efforts to modernize Barbie's image by addressing contemporary issues of diversity, gender roles, and inclusivity. This approach aligns with storytelling and emotional branding concepts by creating emotionally resonating narratives, deepening the brand's engagement with its audience.
Post Re-branding
As we envision Barbie's future directions, expanding into augmented reality (AR) offers exciting possibilities. AR can bring physical dolls to life with interactive and educational content, bridging traditional play and digital engagement and appealing to tech-savvy young consumers and their parents looking for educational content. In response to a greater focus on inclusivity, Mattel has introduced a range of dolls with diverse abilities and backgrounds, reflecting the global diversity of Barbie's audience. This move broadens the brand’s appeal and aligns with modern values of representation and inclusivity. Mattel could explore strategic partnerships with leading technology firms and institutions like the Toy Association to realize these digital innovations fully. Such partnerships could help accelerate the development of new products and ensure they meet the highest standards of quality and engagement, keeping the Barbie brand at the forefront of toy technology and interactive play.
Furthermore, partnering with modern brands, especially companies focusing on sustainability and education could reinforce Barbie's role in promoting positive social values. Collaborations with eco-friendly brands or educational platforms can enhance Barbie's image as a forward-thinking, responsible brand.
Continuing to leverage platforms like TikTok and YouTube for content creation allows fans to engage with the brand dynamically and interactively, which is ideal for promoting the Brabie trend and turning Barbie into a symbol of fashion and cultural influence.
By adapting to technological advancements and cultural shifts, Barbie can maintain its relevance and appeal, ensuring its place in the hearts and minds of new generations.