MRKT 3001 Week 5 Brand Equity Analysis Example

Climbing Keller's Brand Equity Pyramid for Hearthside Pet Food From the Product Up: Lines, Bag Sizes, Life-Stage Formulas and a Return Promise, and Whether Stocking It Helps Second Paw's First-Year Adopters

Student Name

Walden University

MRKT 3001: Marketing

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

Climbing Keller's Brand Equity Pyramid for Hearthside Pet Food From the Product Up: Lines, Bag Sizes, Life-Stage Formulas and a Return Promise, and Whether Stocking It Helps Second Paw's First-Year Adopters

The Brand and the Question

Hearthside is a composite regional pet food brand made in the Upper Midwest and sold mainly through independent pet stores. Second Paw Pet Supply, the two-store Madison retailer that aims to be first-year adopters' store of choice, is deciding whether to give Hearthside a full bay, which would mean dropping two slower-selling national lines. This analysis describes what Hearthside sells, climbs Keller's brand equity pyramid layer by layer using product decisions rather than advertising, and asks what the brand would mean for the store's first-year adopters.

What the Brand Sells

Table 1

Hearthside Product Range as a Shopper Finds It

Composite brand; details as summarized from its product catalog and packaging for this analysis.

Salience: Does the Brand Come to Mind?

Keller (2001) places brand salience at the base of the pyramid: whether buyers think of the brand at all, and in which situations. Hearthside has low salience with the general public because it does no national advertising and is absent from grocery and warehouse stores. But among people who shop independent pet stores, its distribution choice creates salience in a specific situation, when a buyer asks a store employee what to feed. The brand is designed to be recommended rather than discovered. That makes its salience depend on stores like Second Paw: if staff do not mention it, a new adopter walking past the shelf has little reason to pick it over a familiar national name.

Performance and Imagery

Performance concerns how well the product meets functional needs. Hearthside's product decisions speak directly to a new adopter's practical worries. The 1-pound trial packs let a household test a food without buying a large bag the dog may refuse. The printed transition chart addresses the most common first-month problem, an upset stomach after a sudden food change. The separate large-breed puppy formula signals attention to growth needs. Imagery concerns what the brand says beyond function. Hearthside's regional manufacture and its absence from big-box stores signal a smaller, more careful maker, which suits buyers who see their pet as family (American Pet Products Association, 2024).

Judgments and Feelings

Judgments are buyers' opinions of quality, credibility and superiority. The return promise, a full refund if a pet will not eat an opened bag, is the decision that most affects credibility, because it removes the risk a new adopter feels in trying an unfamiliar food. Feelings are the emotional responses the brand evokes; for a household anxious about a new dog, the relevant feeling is security, and the trial packs, guide and refund all point toward it.

Resonance

At the top of the pyramid is resonance: loyalty, attachment and engagement. Hearthside cannot build resonance through advertising, so it depends on the store. If a staff member recommends it, the dog does well and the household returns for the next bag, the loyalty is partly to the brand and partly to the store. Aaker (1991) described this kind of loyalty as one of the main sources of a brand's value, because loyal buyers cost less to keep than new buyers cost to win.

What It Means for Second Paw

Hearthside fits the store's position. Its trial packs, transition chart and refund promise give staff concrete tools for the conversation the store wants to own: helping a new adopter through the first months. Because it is not sold at the warehouse club or by the main online retailer, it does not invite direct price comparison. The risk is the other direction: a brand sold only through independents might strengthen the store's identity but leave buyers with nowhere else to buy it if they move, which some may see as a drawback. On balance, stocking Hearthside strengthens rather than muddies Second Paw's position, and a full bay is justified on a six-month trial (Kotler & Armstrong, 2018).

References

Aaker, D. A. (1991). Managing brand equity: Capitalizing on the value of a brand name. Free Press.

American Pet Products Association. (2024). Pet industry market size, trends & ownership statistics. https://americanpetproducts.org/industry-trends-and-stats

Keller, K. L. (2001). Building customer-based brand equity: A blueprint for creating strong brands. Marketing Management, 10(2), 14-19.

Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2018). Principles of marketing (17th ed.). Pearson.