Introduction & Literature Review: The historical evolution of brands has shown that brands initially have served

the roles of differentiating between competing items, representing consistency of quality and providing legal protection from copying. Apart from providing the offering with the badge of its maker, thereby indicating legal ownership of all the special technical and other relevant features that the offering may possess, the brand can have a powerful symbolic significance. The Role of Brands Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers either individuals or organizationsto assign responsibility to a particular manufacturer or distributor. Consumers may evaluate the identical product differently depending on how it is branded. Consumers learn about brands through past experiences with the product and its marketing program. They find out which brands satisfy their needs and which ones do not. As consumers lives become more complicated, rushed, and time-starved, the ability of a brand to simplify decision making and reduce risk is invaluable. Brands also perform valuable functions for firms. First, they simplify product handling or tracing. Brands help to organize inventory and accounting records. A brand also offers the firm legal protection for unique features or aspects of the product. The brand name can be protected through registered trademarks; manufacturing processes can be protected through patents; and packaging can be protected through copyrights and designs. These intellectual property rights ensure that the firm can safely invest in the brand and reap the benefits of a valuable asset.

Different characteristics of brands A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods or services of one seller from among a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of the competitors. Thus, a brand identifies the seller or manufacturer. Under trademark law the seller is granted exclusive rights to the use of the brand name in perpetuity. This differs from other assets such as patents and copyrights that have expiration dates. If a company treats a brand only as a name, it misses the point of branding. The challenge in branding is to develop a deep set of meanings for the brand. Perhaps the most distinctive skill of professional marketers is their ability to create, maintain, protect, and enhance brands. Two principal approaches to branding can be identified: 1) manufacturer brands and 2) private label brands which are also called own label, distributor, retailer, dealer or store brands. Manufacturer brands usually contain the name of the manufacturer. These brands appeal to a wide range of consumers who desire good quality and a low risk of poor product performance. Manufacturers, which brand their products, face a decision of whether to use individual or family brands or a combination. Manufacturers sell their brands in many competing retail outlets, spend large sums on promoting them and frequently run co-operative advertisements with retailers so that costs can be shared. Recently, there has been considerable growth in private label brands, whereby channel members such as retailers are able to sell products using their own brand name or label. By doing so these retailers do not incur the large promotional cost normally associated with manufacturers brands. Part of this cost saving is usually passed on to the consumer in the form of a lower price. Private label brands mean that retailers have greater control over the supplier, since private labels have become more powerful.

Comprehensive framework for managing Brand Equity The intangible assets of brands create the basis of brand equity. Brand equity consists of five different asset dimensions. These assets include: 1) Brand loyalty 2) Brand awareness 3) Perceived quality 4) Brand associations 5) Other proprietary assets such as patents, trademarks and channel relationships. If managed well, these assets add value to the product or service and create additional customer satisfaction, which, in turn, provide a number of benefits to the firm. Brand Positioning Brand positioning is one of the oldest marketing topics. Traditionally, firms have concentrated on the benefits that set them apart from the competition their points of difference. However, two other aspects deserve attention: competitive frames of reference and points of parity. Points of parity are the shared values between the target brand and its competitors. These values are the common denominators that define the category. Points of parity can be leveraged to negate competitors points of difference, as demonstrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Nike Mental Map

Brand Valuation Brand equity needs to be distinguished from brand valuation, which is the job of estimating the total financial value of the brand. Certain companies base their growth on acquiring and building rich brand portfolios. Nestle has acquired Rowntree (U.K.), Carnation (U.S.), Stouffer (U.S.), Buitoni-Perugina (Italy), and Perrier (France), making it the world's largest food company. The below graph displays the world's most valuable brands in 2004 according to one ranking. With these well-known companies, brand value is typically over one-half of the total company market capitalization.

2004 Brand Value (Billions)

$80.00 $70.00 $60.00 $50.00 $40.00 $30.00 $20.00 $10.00 $0.00 Microsoft GE McDonalds Coca-Coca Intel Disney Nokia IBM Marlboro Toyota

2004 Brand Value (Billions)

10

Figure 2 the worlds 10 most valuable brands graph. U.S. companies do not list brand equity on their balance sheets because of the arbitrariness of the estimate. However, brand equity is given a value by some companies in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Australia. "Marketing Insight: What Is a Brand Worth?" reviews one popular valuation approach, based in part on the price premium the brand commands times the extra volume it moves over an average brand.

Background on Walmart (branding perspective) American public Multinational Corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. It also operates under its own name in Puerto Rico. It operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the United Kingdom as Asda, in Japan as Seiyu, and in India as Best Price. Its operations in the United Kingdom, South America and China are highly successful, while it was forced to pull out of Germany and South Korea when ventures there were unsuccessful. On September 12, 2007, Walmart introduced new advertising with the slogan, "Save Money Live Better," replacing the "Always Low Prices, Always" slogan, which it had used for the previous 19 years. Global Insight, which conducted the research that supported the ads, found that Walmart's price level reduction resulted in savings for consumers of $287 billion in 2006, which equated to $957 per person or $2,500 per household (up 7.3% from the 2004 savings estimate of $2,329). On June 30, 2008, Walmart unveiled a new company logo, featuring the nonhyphenated name "Walmart" and in place of the star, a symbol that resembles a sunburst or flower. The new logo received mixed reviews from some design critics, who questioned whether the new logo was as bold as competitors, such as the Target bullseye or as instantly recognizable as the former company logo, which was used for 18 years.

Hypothesis: Brands have gained renewed interest in recent years. Brand managers realize that after years of look-alike advertising and over-coping with too brands, they now live in a world of product parity. Hard competition ensured through short-term price promotions reduces the profitability of brands leading manufactures to examine ways to enhance loyalty toward their brands. In addition, faced with the increasing power of retailers manufacturers of consumer products realize that having the strongest brands is vital to strengthening their presence with retailers Discussion:

Outcome of this research will be applied as its findings are recommendations for Walmart to give proper vision on how firms could manage and build strong brand equity, in addition to the effect of building strong brand on customers and firm. Significance with Demographic 1 ANOVA Sum of Square s VAR00003 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00004 Between Groups 1.361 40.805 42.167 .002 df 1 28 29 1 .002 .002 .962 Mean Square 1.361 1.457 F .934 Sig. .342

Within Groups Total VAR00005 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00006 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00007 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00008 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00009 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00010 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00011 Between Groups Within Groups Total

29.864 29.867 .490 59.810 60.300 .022 6.778 6.800 .164 14.136 14.300 .377 40.290 40.667 2.257 22.708 24.964 .060 18.606 18.667 .473 31.394 31.867

28 29 1 28 29 1 28 29 1 28 29 1 28 29 1 26 27 1 28 29 1 28 29

1.067

.490 2.136

.229

.636

.022 .242

.090

.767

.164 .505

.325

.573

.377 1.439

.262

.613

2.257 .873

2.584

.120

.060 .665

.091

.765

.473 1.121

.422

.521

Significance with Demographic 2

ANOVA Sum of Square s VAR00003 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00004 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00005 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00006 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00007 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00008 Between Groups Within Groups Total VAR00009 Between Groups Within Groups Total .100 42.067 42.167 .267 29.600 29.867 8.317 51.983 60.300 .200 6.600 6.800 .983 13.317 14.300 3.350 37.317 40.667 1.098 23.867 24.964 df 2 27 29 2 27 29 2 27 29 2 27 29 2 27 29 2 27 29 2 25 27 .549 .955 .575 .570 1.675 1.382 1.212 .313 .492 .493 .997 .382 .100 .244 .409 .668 4.158 1.925 2.160 .135 .133 1.096 .122 .886 Mean Square .050 1.558 F .032 Sig. .968

VAR00010

Between Groups Within Groups Total

1.350 17.317 18.667 2.133 29.733 31.867

2 27 29 2 27 29

.675 .641

1.052

.363

VAR00011

Between Groups Within Groups Total

1.067 1.101

.969

.392

1. Gender Male Female 17 13 57% 43%

Table 1 shows that total male respond was 57% and female was 43%. 2. Age 21-30 31-40 More than 41 7 2 21 23% 7% 70%

Table 2 shows that, 30 received responds were from 7 customers between 2130 years old , 2 customers between 31-40 and 21 customers more than 40 years old.

3. Brand recognizing methods By sign By symbol By design By name All above 0 5 4 2 19 0% 17% 13% 7% 63%

Table 3 shows that no customer were able to recognize their brand sign, 5 customers know product through brand symbol, 4 customers define their product through brand design, 2 through brand name and 19 customers through brand (sign, symbol, design and name) 4. Brand loyalty Have brand loyalty Do not have Not always 14 0 16 47% 0% 53%

Table 4 shows that 14 customers out of 30 have strong brand loyalty, 16 customers don't have. 5. Position of brand name in a customer mind Brand name product are high quality Brand name product are guaranteed Brand name product provide after sales services All above Others 0 19 3 0% 19% 3% 8 0 27% 0%

Table 5 shows that 19 customers believe that strong brand name products should have high quality, guaranteed, provide after sales services and other services,8 customers believe that these products should have high quality 6. Brand name Have a preferred brand Dont have a preferred brand Never mind 25 4 1 83% 13% 3%

Table 6 shows that 25 customers have their own preferred brand name products and services and 4 customers don't have preferred brand name products. 7. Walmart product and service awareness Walmart is Fast food industry Walmart is Telecommunication industry Walmart is Clothes industry Walmart is a retail industry 1 4 24 3% 13% 80% 1 3%

Table 7 shows that 24 customers were aware and knows Walmart. 8. Walmart Brand color awareness Walmart Carrefour Spinneys Hyper 1 12 1 12 5 40% 3% 40% 17%

Table 8 shows that 12 customers were aware and able to identify Walmart brand color (Yellow). 9. Walmart Slogan , "Save Money Live Better," Walmart Carrefour Spinneys Hyper 1 22 2 4 2 73% 7% 13% 7%

Table 9 shows that 22 customers out of 30 identify Walmart slogan and 8 customers were unable to identify it. 10. Walmart Logo Identify Unable to Identify Not sure 16 8 6 53% 27% 20%

Table 10 shows that 16 customers out of 30 identify Walmart logo and 14 customers were unable to identify it. 11. Brand name effects customers purchase behavior Strongly agree 10 33% 12 40% 5 17% 2 7% Agree normal Disagree Strongly disagree 1 3%

Table 11 shows that 22 customers were affected with the products or services brand name while purchasing.