North & Company

A Marketing Analysis

Jacquelyn Walker

Kirsten La Plume

Chris Kapusta

Megan Boss

Kaun-Chen

University of Lethbridge

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..

Remarkability Analysis…………………………………………………………………………...

Hygiene Factors……………………………………………………………………………

Motivation Factors………………………………………………………………………..

Brand Identifiers…………………………………………………………………………………..

Comparison/Contrast……………………………………………………………………...

Suggestions/Improvements……………………………………………………………….

Goal Development ……………………………………………………………………………….

Goal One………………………………………………………………………………………….

Campaign………………………………………………………………………………….

Budget…………………………………………………………………………………….

Goal Two…………………………………………………………………………………………

Campaign………………………………………………………………………………….

Budget……………………………………………………………………………………..

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………...

We as a group were given the challenge of choosing a company, and analyzing this company, with a particular focus on their current and potential future marketing strategy. With this challenge, we have chosen North & Company Law Offices, and after much analysis and discussion, have managed to put together a report summarizing our own personal findings as well as additional remarks that North & Company have provided us with. This report also includes our own personal suggestions or recommendations that we believe North & Company can take into consideration when planning their future marketing strategy.

Remarkability Analysis

The following analysis measures the remarkability of North & Company in comparison to the top two competitors we found. When taking into consideration all the factors we have in our table below, there must be a justification for how we as a group ranked each of the factors in comparison to the other companies. There are two rankings in the chart below. Firstly there is the ranking of importance for each of the attributes. We ranked the hygiene and the motivation attributes separately, and both of these categories fall on a scale of one to four, one being most important to the consumer and four being least. These rankings are under the heading “Rankings”. The second ranking is the rankings for each of the attributes in comparison to its two competitors. This scale falls on a one to ten scale with one being below satisfactory and ten being exceptional. Finally we researched both the primary company (North & Company) as well as the two competitors (Stringam and Davidson & Williams) in each of the attributes and ranked them in comparison to each other. For example, in the Qualifications attribute, the chart shows that Davidson & Williams has a score of nine in comparison to North & Company at a score of eight, and Stringam at a score of seven. In our research we found that a higher percentage of lawyers within Davidson & Williams have a higher level of schooling, or increased level of law experience in comparison to the other two, and therefore have received a higher score than its competitors. While most were simple to locate within our research, the price attribute was a harder one to find as it is not a definite number and is more context dependent. This is an attribute that depends on each individual case and therefore was more estimated than the qualifications attribute mentioned above. It is important to note that this is our group’s best estimate for the majority of these attributes, and more adequate research may provide different results.

Additionally, we have provided definitions of what we believed each attribute meant in terms of North& Company. Those are found below the table.

Attribute Type

Ranking

North & Company

Stringam

Davidson & Williams

Expertise

Hygiene

1

9

8

9

Efficiency

Hygiene

2

8

9

8

Atmospherics

Hygiene

3

7

8

6

Qualifications

Hygiene

4

8

7

9

Reputation

Motivation

1

9

7

8

Customer Relationship

Motivation

2

9

6

8

Reliable

Motivation

3

9

7

8

Price

Motivation

4

8

8

8

Efficiency: How quickly the law firm gets work done, how long they draw proceedings out. How they communicate with clients and others. What methods are used, and how they contribute to outcomes.

Atmospherics: The atmosphere of the offices. This includes cleanliness, professional manners of workers, and general look and professionalism of the workers and offices.

Reliability: How much a company communicates and completes work as well as expected. Additionally, this includes doing what the company says they will complete, and to the caliber that the client expects.

Expertise: Includes the connections, knowledge, and help that a lawyer can provide that other lawyers may not have access to. This also includes methods that are used that complete a job the best that a lawyer can do for a client. In chart above we rate expertise based on years within the field.

Qualifications: Qualifications outside of the qualifications needed to become a lawyer. Examples include - graduating from Harvard.

Customer Relationship: Relationship with the community including community involvement as well as the relationship with each client. Especially important because much law work involves repeat customers. A strong customer relationship encourages good word of mouth.

Price: costs of all services in comparison to all competitors. This includes billing/hour price as well as all other services.

Reputation: Based on the community thoughts and the numbers of their branches. Includes the reputation of each lawyer within the firm as well as the reputation and good deeds of the firm as a whole within the community.

Hygiene Factors

North & Company has the advantage when it comes to expertise. They have lawyers who have been in the industry for many years, and therefore, are viewed as being more knowledgeable. This is something that they can stress in their marketing. However, North & Company lags behind its competitor, Stringham, on some other key hygiene factors. First of all, they are not up to par in terms of efficiency. Efficiency is important to clients and the more it can be increased the more remarkable North & Company will be. Also, the atmospherics of their office building are slightly below that of Stringham. However, North & Company is currently renovating their office to compete with the industry. This renovation is a disadvantage for North & Company due to all of the construction but in the long-term these changes will improve North & Company’s rating in terms of atmospherics. In regard to qualifications, they can only improve that if they hire new lawyers. However, because hiring new lawyers has other implications, such as impacting the customer relationships that lawyers have with clients, it would be best if they differentiate themselves in other ways. In regards to Stringham they can differentiate themselves by emphasizing how they have more expertise and qualifications. In regards to Davidson & Williams, the best way for them to differentiate themselves to emphasize how they may have similar expertise, but the clients can visit a more professional, modern looking office.

Motivation Factors

In terms of motivation factors, North & Company has the definite advantage. They have a very good reputation among those that know of them. Their main competitor, Stringham, however has the reputation of being ‘ambulance chasers’. This makes them seem to be less remarkable as they appear to be taking advantage of the hard times customers may be facing. Also, they have changed their specialty as a law firm every time the money seems to be in a different area. Because of this, they do not have the years of experience in any particular category of law. Davidson & Williams has a good reputation, especially because of its longevity. However, we believe that North & Company has a better reputation, especially because it is a larger firm and can handle more cases. In terms of customer relationship, again, North & Company has very strong relationships with their customers who have been there for many years. Davidson & Williams has similar relationships with their clients, but Stringham, because they have changed their focus and lawyers so often, has weaker relationships with their clients. It is for this same reason that they are not viewed as being as reliable as North & Company and Davidson & Williams. North & Company, however, is viewed as being even more reliable, mostly on the basis that they have a lot of experience and are a large enough firm to handle the workload. In terms of price, all firms have relatively similar prices due to regulations imposed by the Law Society. Because of these motivational factors, North & Company has the greatest opportunity to differentiate themselves by emphasizing how they are reliable and friendly. This will lead to them having a good reputation.

Brand Identifiers

We identified four brand identifiers, which our company and their two main competitors all use; name, tagline, logo and a consistent color scheme. The following will contain an in depth analysis of each company’s brand identifiers and how they enhance communications to the target audience (Lethbridge businesses).

North & Company LLP

Name: Over the past couple of years, North & Company has placed an emphasis on their company name. During discussion with Jacquelyn, our team discovered that North & Company are focused on creating a strong brand name to enable potential customers to quickly identify the company and products/ services they offer. Although the name North & Company is easy to pronounce and translates well, the name is fairly long, and not very suggestive or distinctive. After analyzing North & Companies name against the five qualities of a strong brand name, there could be room for improvement.

Tagline: North & Company uses the phrase, “Law Offices”, as their tagline in an effort to communicate the product categories that the company operates within. When the tagline is associated with the company name it enables the name to become suggestive. Therefore we determine there is value associated with the current tagline. This tagline does not communicate any remarkable features about the law firm.

Logo: The North & Company logo features the company's legal name in black text in front of a blue decorative compass. This logo is timeless, appropriate, unique, simple and memorable. The logo is appropriate because its color scheme and format give it a sense of professionalism, which is the message a law firm should be portraying to its target audience. The logo’s complex design prevents it from adapting to different mediums; the compass begins to take away from the “Nor” in the company's name.

Color Scheme: North & Company uses a consistent color scheme across all of their communication materials; black, white and blue. Research has determined that when a company utilizes predominantly blue color scheme is associated with the following characteristics; secure, calm, honest, strong, caring, and trustworthy (See Reference 1). All of these characteristics are consistent with the motivational attributes consumers are looking for when determining which law firm to use. Therefore, the color scheme North & Company utilizes is beneficial during communication.

Stringam

Name: The name Stringam is simple, short, easy to pronounce, distinctive, and translates with ease. However, it is not suggestive. A consumer would not be able to easily identify what Stringam offers by just looking at the name. After analyzing Stringam's name we have concluded that if the organization is familiar with the target audience their name could be an asset.

Tagline: Stringam does not currently have a tagline on their promotional material. Logo: Stringam’s logo is fairly unique with the orange arrow and font. The wide gaps

between letters and simplistic design makes it adaptable to different mediums. Stringam’s logo is also simple, memorable and timeless. All of these elements makes Stringam’s logo a strong tool for brand identification. Color Scheme: Unlike the average law firm, Stringam utilizes a orange color scheme. This color scheme is often associated with the following characteristics; happy, social, friendly and affordable. These characteristics are in line with some of the motivational attribute identified earlier, however it may give consumers an inaccurate perception of the brand. For example; customers may think Stringam’s services cater towards family & divorce law instead of business law. As a result Stringam may need to spend more time and money informing their target audience about their business and corporate law practices.

Davidson & Williams

Name: The name Davidson & Williams is long and hard to pronounce. In addition, the name doesn’t imply an inherent quality of the product and is not very distinctive when compared against the names of other law firms. Davidson & Williams would translate well, if need be, since the words are based off of names and in most cases will not have a different meaning.

Tagline: Davidson & Williams does use the tagline “Lawyers Est. 1885”. This tagline suggests the product/ service that Davidson & Williams offers is related to law, while also establishing a sense of credibility. By including the date the company was founded in their tagline, Davidson & Williams is drawing on many positive associations. For example, a consumer may think that Davidson & Williams is a good law firm because they have been around for one hundred and thirty one years. The consumer can then infer that if the company has been around for many years they must be doing something right. Comment by Jacquelyn Walker: Should this be: 131?

Logo: While looking at the Davidson & Williams Logo the following inferences may be made. The logo is appropriate for communicating the company’s brand to the target audience in a professional manner. The logo is timeless and simple. Although Davidson & Williams created a simple logo, it does look a little too generic which may prevent it from becoming memorable. In addition the logo does include many smaller elements, such as the “LLP”, which will make adapting the logo for different mediums difficult. Color Scheme: Aside from their logo, Davidson & Williams use a blue color scheme similar to North & Company. This color scheme is suitable for the law industry and is associated with my attributes that appeal to the target audience; such as secure, calm, honest, strong, caring, and trustworthy.

Name

North & Company LLP

Stringam LLP

Davidson & Williams LLP

Logos

TagLine (Slogan)

Law Offices

N/a

Lawyers Est. 1885

Color Scheme

Blue, white and gray

Yellow, orange, white

Dark green, black, white

Compare and Contrast use of Brand Identifiers.

Name: When looking at the three law firm’s names as a brand identifier, the focus tends to lean towards highlighting key attributes. All of the firm’s communicate their strong reputation by highlighting the name of the partners of the firm. Stringam’s and North & Company’s logos are both designed in a manner that makes them distinct. They both have common elements, text in a clear legible font, while also incorporate a few shapes and colors to help the target audience identify the brand from others.

Tagline: Out of the three companies only two of them use taglines as a brand identifier; Davidson & Williams and North & Company. With that said, only Davidson & Williams utilizes their tagline to communicate their remarkability to the target audience. Davidson & Williams communicate their remarkability, the number of years they have been in business, with the tagline “Lawyers Est. 1885”. Although North & Company has a tagline, “Law Offices”, they do not communicate anything that makes the company remarkable, distinctive or highlight any of their key attributes. Therefore, after looking at the three firm’s taglines the only company which uses tagline as a brand identifier effectively is Davidson & Williams.

Logo: All three firms have simplistic logos created in a professional manner which highlights their ability to meet one of the most basic hygiene attributes the target audience is looking for; professionalism. Professionalism, although important, was ranked less important versus other hygiene and motivational attributes. The simplistic design of each firm’s logo does allude to a sense of efficiency; based on the understanding that a complex logo design would require constant work to adapt it to different mediums.

Color Scheme: Davidson & Williams and North & Company have similar color schemes, while Stringam uses a color scheme that is much different. Stringam’s color scheme utilizes an orange pallet; this pallet is often associated with being happy, social, friendly and affordable (Reference 1). Therefore it could be inferred that Stringam is using their color scheme to communicate their customer relationship focus and affordability, which is aligned with two important motivational attributes; customer relationship and price. On the other side North & Company and Davidson & Williams use a blue pallet for their color schemes, which is associated with security, calm, honesty, strength, caring, and trustworthy (Reference 1). Therefore, it can be inferred that the two companies are communicating their ability to meet motivational attributes as well; customer relationship and reliability. With that said, Davidson & Williams does not use a consistent color scheme, their logo, website and other materials use different colors, which may reduce the impact that color scheme brand identifier has for the company.

Suggested Improvements

After analyzing the key brand identifiers used by the three law firms, we identified some improvements North & Company could make in order to increase their brand recognition and recall. We recommend that North & Company revisit their company name and logo.

Name: While conducting our investigation it was made apparent by members of North & Company that they are currently considering a name change. We recommend they do change their name and take the following into consideration during their decision making process. The new name should be short and simple, although the current name is fairly simple it is long. In addition, we recommend the new name include some suggestive elements, such as law or law firm. With regards to creating a distinctive name, we feel that as long as the name is simple, suggestive and made familiar with the target audience it will become distinctive. One of the name ideas we brainstormed was, North Law. This name hits all of the qualities of a good brand name; it is simple, suggestive, distinct, timeless and easy to pronounce. In addition this name is independent from any lawyer at the firm, which prevents the company’s brand strength from tarnishing if a lawyer leaves the firm.

Logo: North & Company's current logo is good, however with a few minor changes the logo can become more effective. If the logo was made a little simpler with fewer overlapping elements it would enable the logo to adjust to different mediums (sizes, and colors, and marketing materials) without losing quality or messaging. The edits could include moving the compass from behind the “No” in the company's name, to another location. As a result if the logo needed to become all one color or smaller in size; none of the elements would be lost which would improve the effectiveness of the logo.

Goal Development

This section was specifically set aside to determine two goals as well as corresponding campaigns or activities in order to achieve both of these goals. The achievement of both of these goals will result in long term success for the company.

The first goal is as follows: Increase brand remarkability by 5% from the current standing within one year. This will be analyzed using a benchmark study conducted at the beginning of the first quarter. This ultimate result from the completion of this goal is to increase the company's remarkability. In order to achieve this goal, my team and I have set up a six step process to better understand and execute the campaign.

Step One: Determine the core message.

For this goal, this means determining what the company stands for, as well as what you want consumers or clients to see and understand about your company. After extensive research as well as discussion with the company, it has been decided that the core message lies with the people. North & Company prides itself on the all the people that work within its walls. This means the lawyers, the administrative staff, the interns, and everyone else the works behind the scenes to ensure operations run smoothly. Additionally, these are the people that provide the professional and friendly experience that North & Company wants to be known for. The core message that North and Company is looking to portray is that they are a company that have the right people, who want the best for you, and want to provide the best experience with a friendly and professional atmosphere.

Step Two: Determine the profile audience.

In order to better complete this step, North & Company provided us with several specific areas of law they work in. This list includes litigation (bodily injury, estates, divorce, etc.), real estate, and corporate law. These three areas of practice have three very different clientele, and therefore it is important for North & Company to profile the audiences within each of these three areas of law. It became apparent to North & Company through discussion that much of their work is done through referral and not through direct contact with the clients. Therefore the key to attaining more clients, is to attain more referral sources. These referral sources come from very different areas depending on the different area of law. Litigation referral sources can come from funeral homes, emergency rooms, and even reaching towards hairdressers. These are the areas where bodily injury, or other issues such as that are found or discussed. Real estate referral sources are more likely to come from banking establishments, or from the real estate agents themselves. Finally, corporate law referrals also come from banking establishments or other corporations. It becomes extremely important for North & Company to make these connections with these referral sources in order to better attain and maintain a bigger and better clientele.

Step Three: Determine most effective communication channels.

This step requires North & Company to determine which method of communication with either these referral sources, or with the clients themselves works best in terms of a marketing strategy. After analyzation and discussion, we determined that the best communication channel is face to face communication. While we understand this method of communication does have the potential to have a smaller reach, it also has the most freedom. This is the channel that most consumers will feel the most connection with, and personal connection within the law industry is very important, especially in correlation with North & Company’s core message that was stated earlier. This communication channel can be achieved through several activities such as tradeshows, or in-house events located in their offices. Activities such as these allow individuals within North & Company to create a personal experience with other individuals. Another communication channel option for North & Company is the Face to Many option. This means that North & Company can be seen as one cohesive company to the public, rather than many specific lawyers. This can also be achieved through in-house events.

Step Four: Establish a timetable.

It is important for North & Company to not only plan these events, but keep them on a specific schedule to ensure that all their activities are effective. Customer relations activities would be a weekly occurrence, happening on a specific day of the week, for example Wednesdays. In house events would happen on a pulse schedule. This means that they would happen in increments further apart, but still equally spread from each other. During discussion with North & Company we have determined three events that they already partake in, or should look into developing in order to achieve this specific goal of increasing remarkability. The first is an event that North & Company already participates in. Street Wheelers falls on July 8th of this year, and North & Company already hosts an event outside of their office in the parking lot to compliment this Lethbridge event. This event is focused on client appreciation and is a very casual friendly event. There is a barbeque and band that play throughout the evening as the Street Wheelers event is taking place. This event helps increase North & Company’s Customer relations and also allows the staff to interact with clients on a more personal/relatable level. Additionally we suggested putting on a “Meet North and Company” event. This gives referral sources as well as potential clients and other corporations the opportunity to enter the newly renovated offices of North & Company, and meet the people that North & Company take pride in. This event would take place February 3, 2017. It is placed here strategically because it is near the beginning of the year, and is also placed in between the Street Wheelers event as well as the Appreciation Dinner, which is our final event within the timetable provided. The Appreciation Dinner is directed towards potential and current clients. After discussion with North & Company, we were told many of their clients are in or entering the agriculture industry. Therefore we placed this event on October 20, 2017. This date is also strategically placed so that harvest is over and the agriculture clients are able to attend. Altogether, these events are organized and timed so that they have the maximum impact that they can.

Step Five: Develop Prototypes.

In order for all the events mentioned above to be successful, it is important to North & Company to market these events properly. We have developed a rough prototype for the “Meet North & Company” event mentioned above. While this is a rough copy, it is still important to note that these prototypes have the potential to be extremely effective, and that this prototype is easily adapted to many different events that can be put in place.

Secondly, we as a team recommend an office viewing at some point in 2016. This is an opportunity for new clients as well as current ones to see the new updates to the offices as well as discuss with the office staff of North & Company what they want to see from the company. Meetings and events such as these allow North & Company to adapt their activities to those that clients want to see, as well as keep a close customer relationship with current and potential new clients.

Step Six: Evaluation

The final step within this process is to develop and execute a means of evaluation for the company, specifically in terms of the goal stated above. These means of evaluations may include surveys, in particular a satisfaction survey. This can be given during the in-house events, after a job is done with a particular client, or even online. These surveys can become very important to North & Company in regards to determining what they are doing well within this plan, and what needs to be revised. It would also be beneficial to North & Company to refer back to the test of Brand Strength. This takes nine statements, and divides them into three each for familiarity, remarkability, and attitude. If North & Company can respond to each of the nine statements in a positive manner, and other clients can also respond to these statements as well, then North & Company is well on its way to achieving the goal set for them earlier in this section. Below are the nine statements that would be within this evaluation.

Familiarity

1) I am knowledgeable about North & Company’s activities.

2) I am able to describe North & Company to others.

3) I have a good understanding of what North & Company has done in the past.

Remarkability

4) No organization is better than North & Company at doing what it does.

5) North & Company really stands apart as being exceptional.

6) North & Company stands out in comparison to others.

Attitude

7) I have positive thoughts when I think of North & Company.

8) I like North & Company.

9) I have a positive impression of North & Company.

Finally, the last evaluation would be the increase (or lack thereof) of referrals. Ultimately this is the sign of success. An increase in the number of referrals does lead to the idea that the goal of increasing remarkability has been achieved.

Budget

Below is a budget we have developed that we believe is a close representation of the costs associated with the above activities. We do note however that with more extensive research, some of these numbers may change slightly, and that this is an approximate estimation.

Upon more research it became apparent that a second goal needed to be stated.

The second goal is as follows: Increase brand familiarity so that North & Company is recalled as one position higher within a year than they are currently (ie. brand 4 in a consideration set of 5). We will determine if this goal has been achieved by conducting a benchmark study to determine the current familiarity of North & Company at the beginning of the first quarter. Once again, my team and I have set up a six step process to help North and Company better achieve this goal.

Step One: Determine the core message.

Like the first goal stated above, the steps to achieve this goal are similar. It is once again important to determine what message North & Company wants to portray. While the steps for each goal remain the same, the answers for each step will change. The core message to increase familiarity is different than the core message stated above for remarkability. North & Company now wants to portray what they do. They want their potential clients to know that they are a Southern Alberta law firm that does many different types of law. For potential clients this means that they are able to cater to all the needs that may arise, as well as adapt their resources to better serve the client. Additionally, the concept that they are an original Southern Alberta company gives the feelings of community to potential and current clientele.

Step Two: Determine the profile audience.

Like the process for goal one, it is important for North & Company to determine their target audience for the second goal as well. This was a point we discussed with them when working with them for our presentation. It is important to note that North & Company has a very difficult potential market to penetrate. This market ranges from individuals between the ages of 24-50. These individuals most often have a higher post-secondary education, and have high ambitions. Many are business professionals or are budding entrepreneurs. Some already have families. Individuals such as these can be North & Company’s potential new clients, as well as their new referral sources. It becomes extremely important to North &Company to achieve maximum effectiveness in their marketing towards these individuals as they are a very large group of people that can spread the word of North & Company. This means that the great people, great service and great experiences provided have the potential to be spread through the community.

Step Three: Determining Communication Channels.

This becomes a very important step for North & Company, as they are attempting to reach a very large group of people with the achievement of this goal. The most effective methods we have found in our research for a large group of people is the face-to-many method. This requires individuals at North & Company to speak in front of larger groups of people in order to get their message and purpose across in the most effective manner. We proposed doing short presentations within University and College classrooms. These are the individuals who will need lawyers in the near future, but may have no idea how to find one. Individuals such as students would benefit from seeing lawyers face to face, hearing what goes into finding the right lawyer, the services that lawyers can provide and finally, realizing that seeking out a lawyer isn’t as intimidating as it is made out to be. It is important to visit both the University and the College because North & Company wants to target different study areas. While the university will hold the potential business owners, the college provides students that are entering another large industry for North & Company - that being agriculture. Another communication channel that North & Company should take advantage of are charity events. This includes the potential to hold charity events of their own, as well as presenting or sponsoring other community charity events. Community involvement is a very important factor to consider especially in a smaller city such as Lethbridge. Community involvement is considered a valuable asset to have as a company, and potential clients will appreciate the community involvement that North & Company has. Finally, we determined that North & Company needs to focus resources on their online outlets as well. Continuous website optimization as well as the creation of a blog, articles, or videos allows clients to pursue information online that North & Company personally creates or organizes so that the information is the best output towards the consumers.

Step Four: Establish a timeline.

While this step is slightly more adaptable than the timeline for goal one, it is still important to establish. The pulse timeline is also applicable to this step as well. Presentations at schools and businesses should be set within a timeline that works for those particular establishments. We recommend however, that presentations within Universities or Colleges to be in the month of February. This is desirable because this is the time students are just getting into the swing of the second semester. Christmas is over, and the focus is back on school work. Additionally, the New Year brings in new slates. For students this can often mean the purchase of new housing or other situations which require the help of a lawyer. Additionally, the upkeep of the website and blog should be maintained. While this doesn’t need to be done on a short term basis, it does need to be kept organized, and a specific schedule should be created for the upkeep of these items as well.

Step Five: Develop Prototypes.

While the prototypes for this goal are less intensive, they are still required. Below we have created a blog template for North & Company. Topics for blog posts can include “The Top Ten Reasons You Need A Lawyer”, “This is When You Need A Lawyer”, “The Benefits Lawyers Can Bring To You”, as well as others. It is important to note that while North & Company wants to maintain an air of professionalism in these posts, they also don’t want to air on the side of boring either. North & Company will need to work hard to ensure that a sense of relationship is projected through these posts while still maintaining the professionalism needed.

Step Six: Evaluation.

The evaluation methods for this goal are slightly more intensive. We recommend that North & Company take advantage of aided recall and unaided recall tests. These are methods used to bring back memories of experiences that North & Company may have provided. Aided will have questions/picture/past experiences to aid in answers, while unaided will not have these cues. These can be valuable methods of evaluation because they determine if the brand familiarity has indeed increased. This can directly answer if the goal has been achieved. This also brings into consideration the brand and the brand associations that consumers have with North & Company. It becomes important to North & Company to learn what their brand associations are. This allows them to determine if the message consumers are receiving is the message they want to portray. This also allows them to improve their brand accordingly.

Budget

Much like the goal above, we have created a budget for all activities associated with this goal as well. While this budget is much less intensive, it is important to note that much of costs associated with the achievement of this goal are time related. We have no way to calculate opportunity costs of time lost to North and Company lawyers, and therefore they are not calculated within our budget. We as a group do recognize these costs exist.

Conclusion

References