BBMK504 Brand

ManagementIndividual

Critical
Reflective
Assignment
Name:

Student number:
Oral-B was established in 1930s and then was merged by Procter and Gamble (P&G). It is
the toothbrush brand that dentists recommend most that is also the brand’s positioning.
Based on the research of Oral-B’s brand building strategy, this critical reflective report is
to illustrate all the concepts which have been introduced and analyze how they are
applied into the study case of a toiletry’s category - Oral-B electric toothbrush. Therefore,
the reporter can reflect on the study from the lecture and conclude to what need to be
applied for any project in the near future.

The first and foremost brand building strategy is personalization strategy. Keller stated that
“Personalization marketing celebrates the power of individual consumer and expression of
individuality”. The brand needs to understand its customers to customize its products and
convey the unique messages which show up the care of brand to its audiences. Firstly,
Oral-B gathered historical data of users to discover customers. Target customers of the
Oral-B electric toothbrush are those people living in the urban areas. They are young works
who aims to take care for their image through the smile and white teeth. They are too busy
and exhausted to spend physically effort for brushing teeth. Oral-B segmentation is people
who medium purchasing power and are keen on the good quality and innovative
toothbrush. Due to the positioning, the slogan is “the brand more dentists use themselves
worldwide”. [ CITATION Ora20 \l 1033 ]. The brand created targeted customer experiences
and run several campaign activities to learn about its customers. The products are
customized and there are more innovations and differentiated advertising methods to
attract customers. For example, Williams (2019) introduces a renovation of Oral B eletrical
toothbrush that it Oral-B connects AI-powered toothbrush to mobile apps for personalized
tips. The objective is to assist peole improve their brushing habits. The application collects
data from users which can be drawed to apply for any other renovation of electric
toothbrush.

Figure 1. Oral-B electric toothbrush application

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Since the lack of information about the process of creating customer experiences and
campaings, the personalization stratgey of Oral-B is partly right to the unit about this
strategy in the lecture. The most challenging part is how the brand can analyze the
collective data and transfer it into practical execution. The brand also needs to evaluate
the interaction of customers to its campaign for the adjustment in extend. The example of
innovative products is the reflection of how company reponses well to the target
postioning and that is applied in the near future.

Aside from Personalization strategy, Marketing communications strategy is the second

main strategy for brand building. “Marketing communications strategy defines the entire
range of activities you will do to market your products. This includes everything from paid
marketing to media relations (PR).” [ CITATION Dim19 \l 1033 ]. It is the foundation strategy
for any company and individual to reach their target audiences. There are many types of
marketing communications such as advertising, sales promotion, social medias, websites,
mobile marketing, event and experiences. In the case of Oral-B electric toothbrush, the
advertising on TV or magazines always come up with the image of a dentist or model
holding the toothbrush and smiling. This message conveys a positive energy to the
customers.

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 Figure 2. Oral-B electric toothbrush advertising

The Facebook fan page gains a significant amount of followers and always is active on
posting content. Other social media platforms of Oral-B vary from Youtube, Instagram,
Twitter and so on. The website is friendly to users with theme colors (white and blue_ and
easy to search for a product. The brand also launched an application on mobile to guide
people brushing teeth correctly. Oral-B also holds social events not just for promoting
products but also sharing dental knowledge to the community. The electric toothbrush is
usually discounted with affordable price through several channels form retailer to e-
commerce. Needless to prove, via a wide range of marketing communication tools, Oral-B
is definitely a well-cognized brand among 60 countries. The concept of Oral-B
communication reflects the knowledge of Marketing communications strategy. However,
the rise of digital transformation has driven the brand the mean that Oral-B should
communicate best to it audiences. Therefore, it is the most challenging part to Oral-B also
as the most noticed lesson to apply for any future project.

Figure 3. Oral-B Facebook page

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There are various ways to leverage a brand equity not just marketing communication.
Secondary brand association is another channel for building brand. “A mental connection
between a brand and a concept is a brand association. Brand associations pop to mind
when a person thinks about a brand.” [ CITATION Col18 \l 1033 ]. It is a convenience way to
transfer the knowledge of an existing brand to a new product or sub-brand and then to
raise awareness of audiences about the secondary entity. The first mean is by a family
brand which is a source of brand equity. Oral – B is acquired by P&G in 2006 and the fact
that people have been already acknowledged P&G as a major American multinational
consumer goods company. Therefore, with the logo of P&G on Oral-B product and
advertisings, people easily memorize the brand recognition. Besides, Oral-B is wholly
distributed via supermarkets and retail stores where can indirectly affect the brand entity
by its own set of image. Next is co-branding that “when two or more existing brands are
combined into a joint product or are marketed together in some fashion” ( [CITATION htt \l
1033 ]. An instance is the collaboration of Crest and Oral-B, the two sub-brands of P&G. The
fourth one is licensing such as Disney cartoon figures on electric toothbrush for kids. Other
extremely effective ways are celebrity endorsement and media platforms (Alexa Podcasts),
third parties or dentists’ recommendations.

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 Figure 4. Oral-B and Toy Story collaboration

Secondary brand association has played a crucial role to extend the brand building of Oral-
B. Likewise, the benefit of this branding strategy cannot be denied or neglected. All the
Oral-B marketing execution is linked to the academic knowledge of building brand equity.
Seven means of secondary associations along with country of origin could be applied to
plan for any branding project in the future.

“Brand Architecture is the strategic method of organizing all the sub-brands under a larger
brand, or also called as the main brand. It shows the relation between them both and
shows how a business organizes and manages its brands in the market.” [ CITATION Adm19 \l

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1033 ]. It identifies targeted customers and market of each single umbrella brand and hence
ensures the smooth management of a business. Particularly, Protect Gamble or P&G has
many sub brands such as Oral-B, Olay and Tide, etc under its umbrella. According to
Ellefsen (2018), the brand structure of P&G is “House of brands, where all brands are
independent stand- alone”. This structure takes a hand on expanding the impact of Oral-B
on its own toothbrush market with a clear positioning strategy without being worry about
being conflict with other parent brand associations.

Figure 5. Oral-B architecture branding

Moreover, there are advertising campaigns which are the collaborations of umbrella
brands. For example, Cresh is a famous toothpaste brand of P&G that sometimes it is
featured on the same screen with Oral-B. The intention of P&G is to impress the customers
with the existence of Crest and Oral-B as a duo of toothpase and toothbrush. Therefore, it
directly raises the sales quantity of both Crest and Oral-B when offering them as
discounted kit and gift box.Consequently, this collaboration generates some pressure on
Colgate, the leading U.S tootpaste maker.

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 Figure 6. Oral-B and Crest collaboration

The case of P&G has shown up the positive impact of brand architecture strategy since it
creates the clarity from chaos. It clarifies targeted audiences and positioning strategy
within sub-brands and Oral-B. When there is no confuse in the main brand, brand
architecture strategy genuinely reduces the general marketing costs with opportunities for
cross-promotion between brands such as Oral-B and Crest. Thirdly, it enhances customer
awareness by capturing the power of parent band and highlighting the distinct
specification of Oral-B. As a result, it gains the confidence and expectation of stakeholder
on the P&G’s future. Besides, brand architecture strategy has always been a vital backbone
for Oral-B to exist vigorously despite of the emergence of any other rivals.

The brand architecture strategy is such an interesting concept due to all the benefits as
mentioned above. The most captivating part is the cross promotion of sub-brands which is
an initiative and double-effect strategy. The brand architecture case of Oral-B totally ties
with theoretical content which has already been introduced in the course. Additionally, the
case assists the learner a real outlook to apply and have a comprehensive preparation for
any analysis and practice related to development of a main brand and its umbrella brands
or any other types of architecture branding.

In conclusion, the report has analyzed the Oral-B toothbrush case study with the execution
of four brand building stratgies. Briefly, Oral-B is execellent in applying all of these
strategies to promote its presence. The outcome is exceptional that Oral-B is one of the
most well known eletric toothbrush besides Phillips and Colgate. Through this analysis, the
writer has a chance to revise all the lessons and ….

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Table of figure

Figure 1. Oral-B electric toothbrush application.....................................................................................1

Figure 2. Oral-B electric toothbrush advertising.....................................................................................2
Figure 3. Oral-B Facebook page..............................................................................................................3
Figure 4. Oral-B and Toy Story collaboration..........................................................................................4
Figure 5. Oral-B architecture branding...................................................................................................5
Figure 6. Oral-B and Crest collaboration.................................................................................................6

Reference
1. Admin. (2019, September 18). Retrieved May 2, 2020, from Interics:
https://www.intericsdesigns.com/blog/brand-architecture-strategy-and-why-your-business-
needs-it/

2. Dragilev, D. (2019, September 23). Retrieved May 2, 2020, from Criminally Prolific :
https://www.criminallyprolific.com/marketing-communications-strategy/

3. Ellefsen, B. T. (2018, November 13). Retrieved May 2, 2020, from taksu digital:
https://www.taksudigital.com/blog/choosing-the-right-brand-architecture-strategy

4. Finkle, C. (2018, October 5). Retrieved May 2, 2020, from Brand Marketing Blog :
https://brandmarketingblog.com/articles/branding-definitions/brand-association/

5. Keller, K. L. (n.d.). Chapter 7: Leveraging secondary brand associations to build brand equity . In
Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity . Pearson .

6. Lischer, B. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2020, from Ignyte : http://www.ignytebrands.com/brand-

architecture-creating-clarity-from-chaos/

7. Oral-B SWOT Analysis, Competitors, Segmentation, Target Market, Positioning & USP. (n.d.).
Retrieved May 3, 2020, from mbaskool: https://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/fmcg/810-oral-
b.html

8. Williams, R. (2019, February 26). Retrieved May 2, 2020, from Mobile Marketer:
https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/oral-b-connects-ai-powered-toothbrush-to-mobile-
apps-for-personalized-tips/549182/