DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING, PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY CHAIN

MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

PROPOSED TOPIC

ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF BRANDING ON CONSUMER LOYALTY CREATION.

(CASE STUDY: GUINNESS GHANA LIMITED – KUMASI BRANCH)

BY

AGYEMANG GEORGE STEPHEN

1036009

A PROJECT PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING,

PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION

(MARKETING)

OCTOBER, 2010.
THE BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Despite the importance of brands in marketing, there is no generally agreed definition of what is
a brand is. However, if you locked three marketers in a room and ask them to described the
characteristics of a brand, they will probably emerge with an agreed press release. Most
marketers would not disagree with Peter Doyle’s definition or a brand as a specific name,
symbol, which is used to distinguish a particular seller’s product (Doyle, 1994).this is very
similar, for example, to the American Marketing Association’s definition adopted by Kotler
(1994). Doyle qualifies his definition by describing successful brands as having both a product
that satisfies the functional needs of customers, and also added values which make them
customer feel confident that the brand is of higher quality or more desirable than similar brands
from competitors. Branding, the marketing process of creating brands, is the great achievement
of twentieth century marketing. For the marketer, branding is the basic method for differentiating
one market offering from another, and without it, modern marketing we know it would not exist.
As Kotler (1996) has said “Brands are extremely important”.

In fact the art of marketing is partly the act of branding because without brands you are in a
community market and price is essentially the key determinant. According to Lewis (1991) the
brand is the aura of beliefs and expectations about a product (or service) which make it relevant
and distinctive. It stretches beyond the physical and into the psychological and is extremely
powerful.

Kotler (1994) goes some what further than this, and focuses on the relationship of trust between
a seller and a buyer, describing a successful brand us ‘essentially a seller’s promise to
consistently deliver a specific set of features, benefits, and services to the buyers.

Other authors, such a Lambin (1993), prefer to approach brands in terms of the level of
awareness of customers and their ability to recognize or recall a brand. According to Smith et al.
(1997). The brand is the point of interaction between the marketer and the customer which
customer activity melds with the communications and marketing mixes developed by the market.
A brand is therefore a statement of a psychosocial relationship and dependency between a
customer and a marketer. As a statement, it is conveyed in unique language, visual and verbal
(the communication mix will include branding symbols, names, marks, colours and graphics).
According to them, the brand provides social meaning, and will be adapted by the marketer to
the social needs of the customer as those needs become apparent. It in psychological, in that it is
a subjective cognitive experience for a customer. The marketer is as dependent on the acceptance
and adoption of the brand by the customer as is the customer dependent on the marketer’s
competence to modify the brand when the customer’s needs change. It is a relation ship built on
both information and experience, on an amalgam of meanings and style. Above all, it is
relationship of reliability and trust.

Upshaw (1995). A brand is likely to have a set of intangible values accumulated overtime. This
set of values equates for the brand’s image. Brand image in the total set of expectations and
intangible values which are created in the customer’s mind by all marketing communications and
other points of company or product contract a customer is exposed to.

De Chernatany and McDonald (1992) came further by saying, consumers tend to choose
products or brands which appear to be consistent with the perceptions of themselves and reject
those that are incongruous with them. Creating a brand image in line with the target customer
group’s self-image or inspirational self-image is an effective why of refraining the brand in the
consumer’s mind. They also describe the relationship between the consumer’s self-image and
brand’s image as consumer’s personalities can be inferred from the brand, they use, from their
attitudes towards different- brands and from the meanings brands have for them. Consumers
have a perception of themselves and they make brand decisions on the basis of whether owning
or using a particular brand which has a particular image, which consist with their own self-
image. They consider whether the ownership of certain brands communicates the right sort of
image about themselves.

Brands are only bought if they enhance the conception that consumers have of themselves, or if
they believe the brand’s image to be similar to which they have of themselves.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research will assess the effects of branding on consumer loyalty creation on the
performance of the beverage industry in Ghana today most especially Guinness Ghana Limited.
In order to come out with a relevant information through the study current brands of Guinness
Ghana Limited – Kumasi Branch will highly be evaluated.

An interview of questionnaires will be employed for the collection of information from the
Guinness Ghana Limited. Open-ended and closed questionnaires will also be designed. The aim
of this is to make things easier for the respondent when it comes to answering the questions.
Primary and secondary data will be also employed for the research. Sampling method can not be
forgotten in the collection of data. This will make it easier to study a segment of the population
and establish my objectives.

Some part of the population will be randomly selected for the research work and questionnaires
will be distributed to the population for answers. The internet, trade journal, library newspapers,
sales data from Guinness Ghana Limited, Kumasi, will also be another source to gather data, to
evaluates the effects of branding on loyalty creation on firms or organizations.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

The scope of the study will be on Guinness Ghana Limited, Kumasi. The research will cover the
response from the marketing department of Guinness Ghana Limited Kumasi, since they have
fair knowledge about how their branding is designed to create customers loyalty.

LIMITATION

Finance and time constraints; time constraints is the serious one to talk about here, the exercise
will be carried out during working hours, some of the managers of the company might not
consider anything serious apart from their to do list as first thing first and this has the effect of
managers rushing through questionnaires because of time constraints. However diligent effort
will be made to get accurate data as possible to make the work very rich and reliable.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Elaboration will be done on the importance of branding to the company and how today
marketing managers can effectively use it to increase sales and retain sophisticated customers.
The research go a long way to help Guinness – Kumasi, since it is design to find solution the
problems they face when using brands to create customer loyalty.

Brand manager are also forced to modify or rebrand their products because of competition. The
study therefore will not only be of benefit to Guinness Ghana but all companies who use
branding as one of their strategies to achieve their goals more importantly, the study will also
help today managers to known the negative and positive effects of brands to an organization.

ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

Chapter One - will present the background of the study, statement of the problem,
research questions, objectives of the study, the methodology, significance
of the study, scope and limitations as well as organization of the study.

Chapter Two - This will be the Literature review. This will talk about the various relevant
published works of other authors which I will source for on the subject;
the effect of Branding on consumer Loyalty creation on the performance
of the beverage industry especially Guinness Ghana Limited.

Chapter Three - This chapter will also present, the history, profile and conceptual frame-
work of the firm.

Chapter Four - This is the chapter, the Data presentation and Analysis will be presented.
Assessment and evaluation of my findings of the general study will
covered this chapter as well.
Chapter Five - Will present the summary, conclusion and recommendations. It will more
importantly, summarized findings, analysed them and recommend them
for the Guinness Ghana Limited.

WORK PLAN

October 29th - November 5th 2010 - Preparation and presentation of proposal

November 5th - November 15th - Review of related literature.

November 16th - 10th December - Review research methods literature and

Agree on research methodology to be used

for the study.

December 11th - December 22nd 2010 - Compile, Pilot and revise questionnaire.

December 22nd - January 24th - Administer and final collection of

questionnaire.

January, 24th - February 28th - Completion of first draft of project report.

March 15th - June 15th - Final writing of project report.

References

 Engel et al, (1995)

 De chernatany and McDonald (1992)
 Mary Lewis (1991) Essentials of marketing 8th edition.
 Peter Doyle (1994) Principle of marketing
 Palmer, Advian (200), Principles of marketing, published by Oxford University Press
 Peter and Olson, marketing value for customers (1995)
 Philip Kotter (1994), (1996) marketing management
 Lambin (1993) principle of marketing
 Upshaw K. (1995) contemporary marketing
 Smith et al. (1997) introduction to marketing 4th edition.