Objective:  Brand Competitor Analysis
Choose a fashion brand competitor (for your brand brand) and create a presentation that describes, analyzes and evaluates the brand mission, identity, image, positioning and retail/e-tail execution of the brand. Conduct relevant primary and secondary research and use the wide array of analog and digital resources at your disposal. WHAT IS YOUR POINT OF DIFFERENTIATION?
**This project requires a visual presentation**
Evaluate Brand Strategy

• Brand Mission: In addition to the brand’s published statement about their mission, which you will likely find on their website, consider reaching out to the brand to conduct a short interview in store, via email or Skype. The larger the brand, the easier it may be to find existing information, while on the other hand, smaller brands will likely be more open and available to speaking to you directly.
• Brand Identity: Consider the brand’s touch points including but not limited to their website, social media channels and retail environment (see retail instructions below).
  1. Investigate how the brand talks about themselves
     1. What they say and how they say it (tone of voice)
     2. Stylistic and symbolic aspects of their visual and verbal communication.
  2. Go beyond the description to discuss what is significant about how they express their identity and what it may tell you about how they see themselves.
     1. Consider reaching out to the brand to ask them directly about their identity.
     2. Include a ‘brand onion’.
• Brand Image: For this section you will need access to consumer perceptions of the brand.

1. You may be able to find this information through secondary research but it is likely that you will need to conduct some original primary research
2. interviews, focus groups or social listening.

• Brand Positioning: Consider the brand in relation to its competitors,
  1. How the brands position themselves explicitly (e.g. how they describe their positioning)
  2. What you can surmise from reviewing their product offering, where they sell, who follows them on social media, etc. Include a brand positioning map.
• WHAT IS YOUR POINT OF DIFFERENTIATION?

Cite your sources (both text and image) Your presentation should be well-structured and designed in line with the brand’s aesthetic.

1. How has a commitment to corporate values contributed to Whole Foods’s success?
2. Describe how Whole Foods’s adoption of a stakeholder orientation has influenced the way it operates.
3. What are some ways that Whole Foods might have neglected certain stakeholders in the past?

4.2 You Did It!: Discussion

Overview

Throughout your journey, you’ve had many opportunities to learn and grow in your courses and you have networked with classmates and instructors. In this discussion, you will reflect on and share with your classmates some of the more significant and memorable learning experiences during your degree program.
Watch the video:Reflective Writing—A Very Brief Guide(1:46), VCC Baking & Pastry Arts, 2013.
After watching the video, discuss your thoughts on some of the questions below.

• Explain how your perspective of the entertainment industry has changed. Describe the evolution in your thinking as you’ve made the transition from being a fan to being an industry professional.
• Describe some things that you have learned during your program that have surprised you about the entertainment industry.
• Discuss the skills you have learned and/or developed over the course of your program. Which ones can be most directly applied to your chosen profession?
• Describe some projects you worked on that helped you to develop a better understanding or appreciation of the entertainment industry.
• In what ways has earning a degree helped you to develop problem-solving skills?
• What are the most important ways this degree will benefit you in your personal and professional life?