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Brand Audit Research Paper. Brand Name: Oral-B. Academic research paper with scholarly resources. APA format.
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Running head: BRAND AUDIT PAPER
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Brand Audit Paper
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Institutional Affiliation
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A brand audit is highly recognized as an effective health check of a brand as the means to
identify as well as address problem areas with the sole intention of helping an organization turn
things around and grow its bottom line. It is worth realizing that brands are like living entities
with life cycles and they usually start with much excitement and also promise potential growth.
However, these brands may with time start losing relevance as consumers start shifting to the
latest hot new thing in the market. A brand audit health check plays a significant role as it helps
an organization to monitor this cycle hence keeping the brand fresh as well as relevant and know
when to revitalize or reinvigorate before sales start to slip. Again, a brand audit is the way to go
as it makes it possible for the company to identify new areas for growth and innovation (De
Chernatony, 1999). It is always of considerable significance to remember that competition is
fierce these days, and if a business wants to stay on top of things, it is imperative to know how it
positions itself against its competitors. This may be a tough task especially when the company is
forced to juggle a lot of things such as improving communication methods, developing new
features for the product as well as hiring new workers. To make things easier, a technique
recognized as a brand audit is considered because it helps the business stay agile as well as
innovative, and as seen earlier; it provides a health check of the organization. This paper is
focused on an evaluation of Oral-B as the brand, offering suggestions for changes as the means
to bring this brand to the next level or to reinvigorate the brand.
Brand Introduction
It is essential to note that Oral-B is utilized to refer to a brand of oral hygiene products,
and this is including toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwashes, as well as electric toothbrushes.
However, Oral-B has been identified more with the electric toothbrushes. The brand has been
part of the Procter and Gamble Company since the year 2006. The brand faces competition from
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other brands such as close-up, Colgate as well as Philips Oral Healthcare among many others. To
ensure that the organization is not kicked out of the market, Oral-B has to a great extent focused
on how it brands and markets its products. Oral-B as a brand has been launched in various
countries across the globe controlling about ten percent of the oral care unit volume in these
nations, and the company hopes to see more consumer awareness as well as some growth when it
comes to the market share. Oral-B brand is recognized as a worldwide leader, and this is in the
over five billion dollars brushing market (James, Lyman, & Foreman, 2006). Being part of the
Procter & Gamble Company, Oral-B now consists of manual and power toothbrushes for
children and adults, oral care centers, oral irrigators, as well as interdental products, such as
dental floss. It is of great significance to note that Oral-B toothbrushes are being utilized more by
dentists than any other brand across the globe.
In the year 2017, the global oral care market size was reported to be valued at $28 billion,
and this is projected to grow over the forecast period. The organization works on spreading
awareness regarding dental hygiene and proper oral health an approach that is highly directed to
marketing the brand. Oral-B also has in several instances collaborated with organizations such as
the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) and Crest in generating awareness regarding
good oral care habits especially among orthodontic patients, something that continues to generate
more revenue for the organization through the sale of its products. Oral-B is highly recognized as
a brand that has got a diversified product kitty and comprises of Oral-B toothpaste and
mouthwash, manual toothbrushes, replacement brush heads, dental floss as well as electric
toothbrushes. It is important to note that Oral-B has a powerful distribution channel that
felicitates quick as well as easy distribution to the company’s outlets. The organization also to a
great extent takes the aid of its parent company to distribute its commodities in the consumer
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market (James, 2005). Again, Oral-B ensures that the products are distributed directly through its
own sales representatives or even directly through independent distributors. The organization
also considers other secondary distribution channels as it usually ties-up with sales personnel
from other organizations as the means to market its products in the consumer market. This is to
imply that the distributor plays a significant role when it comes to the distribution channel of
Oral-B. For a long time, Oral-B has targeted middle as well as the upper-middle-class section of
the society as its target consumer, who is seeking after qualitative and innovative items. By
doing all this, the organization has been in the position to place itself as a global leader in the
toothbrush market and as the first choice of any dentist. However, this is not to say that it does
not face its own challenges.
Brand Audit
Oral-B uses various visual and written descriptors to make its products stand out or in
other words, unique. For instance, in its advertising, Oral-B electric toothbrushes slogan is, ‘The
power toothbrush more dentists use. Recharge your smile.’ Again it is common to come across
the slogan, ‘Brush like a dentist. Better bristles, beautiful teeth,’ when talking about Oral-B
toothbrushes. A red light is also highly utilized in Oral-B electric toothbrush, and this may
indicate low battery especially when placed near the bottom of the handle, or it may be a visible
pressure sensor. The color blue is mostly associated with Oral-B as its logo is usually in that
color. The company strives to pack its products well before being released in the market as
hygiene is the number one objective of the organization. It becomes of great significance to
remember that there exists more than a few kinds of electric toothbrushes on the market
something that makes it confusing when it comes to navigating all these features and models. It
becomes necessary to be aware of the features or in other terms the characteristics of Oral-B. As
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far as Oral-B rotating, oscillating style toothbrush is concerned, there are the 3000, 4000, as well
as the 5000 models which are all believed to have the same brushing power and also speed.
However, these models may have different travel time without charge and considering this
before a purchase is highly recommended. For instance, the 3000 model is believed to have all
the features the consumer might want, but the model highly reduces battery life (Sampathkumar,
2003). Again, the flat-trimmed convectional toothbrush of Oral-B is embraced as it helps in
cleaning all parts of the oral cavity, meaning that it is not merely a toothbrush. Oral-B has
considered the use of softer bristles as the American Dental Association highly recommends
them. The company understands that the type of toothbrush handle depends on an individual’s
personal preference. As a result, the handles of the company’s toothbrushes are designed in such
a way that there are those that are more flexible than others with others having no-slip grip. OralB focuses on features that are thought to be ideal by most dental professionals.
It is proper to note that even though Oral-B is quite simple as well as old age; it has
highly designed its pricing policy considering the middle and also upper-class customers. The
organization to a great extent justifies its prices by offering extra benefits with its items. As a
result of its competitors, Oral-B sometimes gives discounts or even offers with its products as the
means to maintain its consumer base. It is a pricing system that maintains trust among the
customers about the brand. Therefore, it is apparent that the organization bases its pricing
strategies towards approaches that are focused on ensuring that the products are always
affordable to the consumers. As far as the price is concerned, the main focus of the company is
always turned on the consumers. This is based on the idea that customers should at all-time get
the most for each coin they use. Therefore, by offering superior items that provide more qualities
when compared to other items from the competitors at the same time makes it possible for
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consumers to consider the purchase of Oral-B. The pricing differentiation strategy embraced by
the organization is meant to ensure that there are more quali...