Strategic Marketing Consortium 3

Brand Audit Quiz

To determine the health of your company’s brand management practices, take this free Brand Audit Quiz. The “quiz” was developed as part of an industry study that involved 30 Silicon Valley technology companies in 2002. You will be able to compare your results with norms for other companies that have taken the quiz. More importantly, SMC3 will be able to diagnose where you need the greatest help. (This consultation is “no charge.”) The quiz will take about ten minutes and your results are totally confidential. A detailed final report is available and the magazine article summarizing the results can be seen here.

Taking the “quiz”
To grade your company's branding practices, make a copy of this “quiz” and complete the questions below, using the school letter grading system. After grading each question, make additional comments in the space provided.

• Score: "A" means the statement very accurately describes your company.
• Score: "B" describes your company somewhat accurately
• Score: "C" describes your company with only moderate accuracy.
• Score: "D" indicates this is not an accurate description of your company.
• Score: "E" is a failing grade and suggests this aspect of branding has been overlooked and needs immediate attention.


INTERNAL, ORGANIZATIONAL BRAND ISSUES

1. Our brand is far more than what we say in our ads or other media. It is
a promise, symbolizing the way we conduct business, how we treat customers,
prospects, suppliers and each other.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

2. My company has an assigned and recognized brand champion – or brand team – with authority to effect policy. Plus, we have identified stakeholders
in each public "contact" department such as marketing, sales, technical
support – and H.R.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

3. The brand champion (or team) has clearly defined the company brand
strategy and regularly articulates it throughout the organization,
especially to the appropriate internal stakeholders and "contact"
departments (above).

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

4. The company has internal communications and employee training (either
staff or contracted) that can teach brand practices across the organization,
especially to key stakeholders and new hires. This gets people on the same
page and facilitates buy-in.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

5. The company has set up an "internal" system of metrics to measure
progress in meeting brand goals, by department and for the entire company.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:


EXTERNAL, CUSTOMER-ORIENTED BRAND ISSUES

6. Our company has a structured, quantitative means for knowing our
customers. This means understanding their needs related to usage and sales,
in a competitive context. In turn, this enables us to determine what drives
the business.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

7. We also have a formal process for auditing our competitors, their
positioning and brand messages, where they place these messages and
estimates of their share of marketing spending (or voice, SOV), compared
with share of market (SOM), i. e. S.O.V. versus S.O.M.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

8. Our brand strategy has been integrated across all outbound media such as
ads, collateral, direct, P.R. and our Web site, for a consistent
presentation to customers.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

9. Since our brand really rests within our customers, we steward that
relationship with a team of committed internal and external stakeholders.
In particular, our communications suppliers (P.R., advertising, direct, Web,
etc.) all work cooperatively toward the common brand goal.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

10. We have a tracking system that reports progress being made in brand awareness and ratings (for our company and competitors) on the attributes that drive the business.

Your Grade: A B C D E

Added comment:

OVERALL COMMENTS ON YOUR BRAND OR THE QUIZ


Name:
Company:
Address:
City: State: Zip:
Phone:
Email:



The detailed Final Report for this Brand Audit of 30 companies is already completed so we can do your evaluation very quickly. When I receive your completed "quiz", I'll prepare a "report card" for your company. Then we can meet (no charge for this) and compare your scores against other companies. Our focus will be on those areas that can improve your brand, both strategically and cost effectively. Your quiz results are kept Strictly Confidential.

Thanks for contributing to this industry “brand practices” study.