Draft on Bose Corporation

Introduction

Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar G. Bose, then professor of electrical
engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While doing graduate work at MIT
in the 1950s, Dr. Bose decided to purchase a new stereo system. He was disappointed to find
that speakers with impressive technical specifications failed to reproduce the realism of a live
performance.
This led to extensive research in the fields of speaker design and psychoacoustics the
human perception of sound. Dr. Bose's findings resulted in significantly new design concepts
that help deliver the emotional impact of live music.
Bose established itself by introducing the 901 Direct/Reflecting speaker system in 1968.
With this introduction, Bose achieved international acclaim by setting a new standard for
lifelike sound reproduction.

Brand Strategy For Bose Music Systems

The challenge facing the Bose Corporation is not a lack of innovation but rather of
one of saturation. The recent surge in consumer electronics particularly in the home theater
market has had a significant impact on sales for Bose products. Brand equity for Bose is
quickly eroding due to this market saturation. Boses Brand Strategy will layout brand
development objectives and brand tactics that Bose needs enact in order revitalize the brand.

Determine Customer Based-Brand Equity (CBBE) Development Objectives

The best way to determine these objectives is to use the CBBE model. The CBBE
model is a four step sequential approach, which will aid in building, measuring, and
managing brand equity. The premise of the model is that the power of the brand lies in what
customers have learned, felt, see, and heard about he brand as a result of their experience
over time.

I. Establish Brand Identity of Bose

Establishing the identity of the Bose brand is the foundational building block of the
CBBE model. At this level the first objective is to establish a connection with the needs of the
consumer. The reason for purchasing a Bose product is to fulfill an audio solution need. The
consumer is looking for superior quality, functionality and performance, which is the
connection to the consumer for Bose.

The second object at this foundation level is to position the Bose brand in away that it
is top-of-mind for the consumer. Building this brand salience is done through memory
association of the brand elements as well as their overall prior experience of the brand. When
a consumer is looking for an audio solution the Bose brand needs to come to mind.




II. Establish Brand Meaning of Bose

Establishing brand meaning is the second essential step in realizing the Bose brand.
Brand meaning is made up of two main components- brand performance and brand imagery.

Brand performance is broken into five tangible attributes:
1. Ingredients and Features
2. Reliabilty, durability, and serviceability
3. Service effectiveness, efficiency, and empathy
4. Style and design
5. Price
Bose has excelled at the majority of these, which is why this small company is
currently positioned as one of the leaders in the consumer electronic markets. The
price point for Bose products places these products out of reach for the average
consumer. Bose should explore expanding products categories to include a product in
each line aimed at the average consumer. Bose will be able to increase the
performance of the brand by adding a lower price point to the major product
categories.

Brand imagery is broken into four intangible attributes:
1. User profiles Bose should move to position themselves for a younger
audience. Specifically college students or recent college graduates.
2. Purchase and usage situations Making Bose products more available not just
limiting the majority of sales through direct purchase but creating mall kiosks,
stores-within-stores and even Cineplex setups.
3. Personality and values Bose currently comes across very modern and
sincere. Bose should explore adding excitement to the personality of the
brand. This could be accomplished through print, TV, and Internet advertising.
4. History, heritage and experiences Bose has a very strong heritage of
innovation through research. Bose should continue to leverage their strong
heritage and history to show how far they have come through research as well
as where the research is taking the company in the future.


III. Create Responses to Bose

Creating brand responses is the third essential step in revitalizing the Bose brand. Brand
responses are what customers think or feel about the brand. Brand responses are derived
from either the head or the heart.

Brand feelings are the emotional responses the consumer has to the brand. There six
types of brand-building feelings warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval, and
self-respect. Over the last forty-five years Bose has successfully been able to evoke the
latter three emotions from their core consumers security, social approval, and self-respect.
What's lacking is the first three emotional responses warmth, fun, and excitement. The
focus for Bose in this revitalization process needs to be on how they create opportunities for
these emotional responses from the consumer.


Questionnaire

1. Name the brands of headphones/earphones/speakers you can think of?
a. ________________
b. ________________
c. ________________
d. ________________
e. ________________

2. Which brand of headphones/earphones/speakers do you own?
______________

3. Which brands of headphones/earphones/speakers have you used before?

__________________


4. Have you heard about the brand Bose?
a. Yes
b. No

5. Have you ever used a Bose Product?
a. Yes
b. No


6. Do you know about the Bose products for the aviation industry and the military?
a. Yes
b. No

7. Attitude towards Bose

Unappealing 1 2 3 4 5 Appealing
Low Quality 1 2 3 4 5 High Quality
Unknown 1 2 3 4 5 Popular
Ordinary 1 2 3 4 5 Prestigious
Plain & simple 1 2 3 4 5 Smart and stylish
Affordable 1 2 3 4 5 Expensive
Reliable 1 2 3 4 5 Unreliable
Easily available 1 2 3 4 5 Not easily available


8. Is the following true about Bose (only for those who have used Bose products)

a. Always maintains a high level of quality
b. Worth its price
c. I prefer this brand
d. I recommend this to others
e. It has something that other brands do not
f. It gives a feeling of pride and confidence to its users
g. Its a very special brand and has some unique feelings about it
h. My kind of people like this brand
i. I am fully satisfied with this brand
j. I intend to go on buying this brand in future
k. I trust this brand very much


9. Do you have any plans to buy a Bose product in the near future?
a. Yes
b. No


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Gender :

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