Question 1

Cash cows, or fighter brands, include products like Busch Bavarian and Intel Celeron, which are positioned with respect to the competitors' brands so that more important and profitable flagship brands can retain their desired positioning.

Accepted Answer

Cash cows are not the same as fighter brands. Cash cows are products or business units that generate a steady return of profits that far exceed the initial outlay for investment. Fighter brands, on the other hand, are created or positioned specifically to combat or deter competitors, often by protecting the market share of a company's higher-end products without necessarily being major sources of profit themselves.

Question 2

Flankers are brands that may be kept around despite dwindling sales because they manage to maintain their profitability with virtually no marketing support.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Flankers are brands that may be kept...

Question 3

When a parent brand covers a new product within a product category it currently serves, it is called a line extension.

Accepted Answer

This is the definition of a line extension.

Question 4

A brand ________ is the set of all brands and brand lines a particular firm offers for sale to buyers in a particular category.

Accepted Answer

A brand portfolio is the set of all brands and brand lines a particular firm offers for sale to buyers in a particular category.

Question 5

Research indicates that high-quality brands stretch farther than average-quality brands, although both types of brands have boundaries.

Accepted Answer

Research shows that high-quality brands have a larger geographical and price boundary than average-quality brands. However, both types of brands have limits in terms of reach and price.

Question 6

Two advantages of ________ are that they can facilitate new-product acceptance and provide positive feedback to the parent brand and company.

Accepted Answer

Brand extensions can benefit the parent brand and company by leveraging its brand equity and providing positive feedback through successful product introductions. This can also lead to increased customer loyalty and trust.

Question 7

Brand extensions can reduce the costs of introductory launch campaigns and make it easier to convince retailers to stock and promote a new product.

Accepted Answer

Brand extensions leverage the existing brand equity and awareness, which can result in lower costs for introductory launch campaigns and increased acceptance from retailers.

Question 8

________ brands are positioned with respect to competitors' brands so that more important (and more profitable) flagship brands can retain their desired positioning.

Accepted Answer

Flanker brands are positioned to protect and support a company's flagship brands by targeting a specific market segment or niche. They are designed to compete with and divert attention from competitors' brands that may be encroaching on the flagship brand's positioning.

Question 9

A ________ is a set of all brand lines that a particular seller makes.

Accepted Answer

Brand mix refers to the set of all brand lines that a particular seller makes. It includes all the product categories and individual brands that the company offers.

Question 10

A firm's branding strategy is also called the brand architecture.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. A firm's branding strategy involves the development and management of its brand architecture, which includes the branding hierarchy, brand portfolio, and brand extension strategy.

Question 11

Brand differentiation occurs when consumers no longer associate a brand with a specific product or highly similar products and start thinking less of the brand.

Accepted Answer

Brand differentiation occurs when consumers associate a brand with unique and desirable attributes that distinguish it from its competitors, leading them to think more positively of the brand rather than less.

Question 12

According to Ries and Trout, Cadbury suffered from ________ when the company allowed its brand to become diluted by putting their name on such variants as mashed potatoes, powdered milk, and soups, apart from chocolates and candies.

Accepted Answer

The scenario described in the question refers to the line-extension trap. This happens when a company dilutes the strength of its brand by using it to introduce too many variants or product lines, causing confusion among consumers and reducing the brand's overall appeal. In the case of Cadbury, the brand's association with chocolates and candies should have been preserved, and the introduction of unrelated food products caused confusion among consumers.

Question 13

Intrabrand shifts in a company's sales are always undesirable.

Accepted Answer

Intrabrand shifts can be strategic or reflect consumer preference changes, potentially leading to higher overall brand loyalty or targeting new market segments, which can be beneficial for the company.

Question 14

The hallmark of an optimal brand portfolio is ________.

Accepted Answer

An optimal brand portfolio should consist of brands that can maximize their equity collectively while complementing each other. This means that each brand should have a unique positioning while maintaining brand coherence and avoiding cannibalization. By maximizing equity in combination with other brands, the firm can achieve a balance between differentiation and unity, which can lead to better market coverage and customer loyalty. Therefore, Choice A is the hallmark of an optimal brand portfolio.

Question 15

The role of a relatively high-priced brand in a portfolio is often to attract customers to the brand franchise or to "build traffic."

Accepted Answer

A high-priced brand in a portfolio typically serves to enhance the brand's prestige and profitability, rather than to build traffic or attract customers to the brand franchise, which is usually the role of lower-priced or entry-level products.

Question 16

Even if sales of a brand extension are high and meet targets, the revenue may be coming from consumers switching to the extension from existing parent-brand offerings - in effect ________ the parent brand.

Accepted Answer

When sales of a brand extension meet targets, it does not necessarily mean that the brand's revenue is growing. One possibility is that consumers are simply switching from existing parent-brand offerings to the new extension, which means that the company is "cannibalizing" its own sales. This can lead to a short-term bump in revenue, but it ultimately weakens the parent brand by eroding its customer base.

Question 17

In Hershey Kisses candy, Hershey would be considered a branded variant.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In Hershey Kisses candy, Hershey would be...

Question 18

When Honda expanded its brand into such areas as automobiles, snow blowers, and marine engines, it was pursuing a strategy called line extension.

Accepted Answer

Honda expanding into automobiles, snow blowers, and marine engines represents diversification, not line extension. Line extension involves adding new variations or sizes to an existing product line, not entering entirely different product categories.

Question 19

Increasing shelf presence and retailer dependence in the store is one of the reasons for introducing multiple brands in a category.

Accepted Answer

By introducing multiple brands in a category, companies can increase their shelf presence and become more important to retailers, which can lead to increased sales and market share.

Question 20

Marketers must judge each potential brand extension by how effectively the brand leverages existing brand equity from the parent brand, as well as how effectively, in turn, it contributes to the parent brand's equity.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. Marketers need to carefully assess how a brand extension can capitalize on the existing equity of the parent brand while also adding value to it. This ensures that the brand extension is not only successful on its own but also enhances the overall strength of the parent brand.

Quiz 11: Creating Brand Equity