Assignment subject marketing communication 1


The brand name that I feel was very successful is Secret Recipe.
Secret Recipe is a 100% Malaysian brand name. Secret Recipe a popular lifestyle café chain has become a household name following its debut in 1997. Secret Recipe has successfully established its brand name in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Philippines, Brunei, and Australia by virtue of its fine quality cakes, fusion food and distinctive service.

A leading and largest café chain in Malaysia, with Halal certification awarded by Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM), Secret Recipe is committed to continue to adhere to the standards of preparation of all food and processing plant in the restaurant in accordance to the regulatory guidelines including HACCP and VHM guidelines. Customers can always enjoy in confidence from more than 20 types of fusion food, 40 cake creations and pastries, with a flavorful range of ice cream and beverages offered in all Secret Recipe outlets. It locations offer a simple, uncluttered setting, featuring dark wooden tables and chairs, where customers can enjoy the pleasant, relaxed vibe. In a short period of thirteen years, Secret Recipe has experienced a rapid growth of over 250 cafes throughout the region. Secret Recipe continuously strives to surpass its own accomplishments and to be recognized as a leader in the industry.

Secret Recipe successful distinguishes the brand from the competitor because the company focused on brand building early on. It created its own logo, corporate color, marketing strategies, uniforms, menu layout, interior design, and customer service standards. Differentiation, innovation, adaptability, research and development, consistency, identity, and brand promise have propelled the company’s growth. The success and growth of the chain suggest a well-designed creative strategy manifesting into an integrated marketing communications program. Failure to distinguish a brand from competitive offerings creates confusion and increases the chances that consumers will not remember the name or mistakenly select another brand.

The brand name that I feel not successful was a Cover Girl cosmetic. Cover Girl is a brand of women cosmetics consisting mascara, lipstick, facial powder, etc. Cover Girl was first introduced to the United States by Noxema in 1960 It is currently the best selling mass market cosmetic brand in the U.S. and is particularly prevalent in the teenage marketplace but in Malaysia market, it fail how to localize and adapt to the demographic. Cover Girl does not advertise its product through television commercial and consumer not aware of a product’s existence. This could help Cover Girl gain attention and communicates its message to the viewers. Local magazine also could help in promoting the brand product with sample offerings to the target market.  

Secret Recipe has adopt this in every country they go into is a different battlefield altogether - how to localize and adapt to the demographic. For example although China is opening up and is advancing, very few are exposed to Western food secret Recipe had to localize some of the products by introducing more noodle-based products. In Australia, they had to introduce local Australian dishes so they got some good Australian chefs to come in and produce great dishes. Having own production capabilities means they are able to cater to customers’ wants very quickly.

Secret Recipe and Cover Girl both are suggestive brand names, those that imply particular attributes or benefits in the context of a product category. Suggestive brand name facilitates consumer recall of advertised benefit claims that are consistent in meaning with the brand names. Suggestive names reinforce in consumers’ memories the association between the name and the semantically related information about the brand. For example Secret Recipe, customers wonder the “secret” that almost all Secret Recipe cakes are delicious and tasteful.  For the Cover Girl they use to teenage model to give perception that if customer used their product , they could look youngest than their age.

In today's most competitive atmosphere, it is critical for firm to maintain and build on their brand awareness, as well as reinforce the value proposition of their market. This is the area where major firm spend billions of dollars. Simply speaking, if consumers are not aware of the product, they are never going to buy the product. Secret Recipe offer a lot of promotion at this stage for example they treat the birthday girl / boy to a FREE meal and drink of their choice, they also link with credit card company for reward point such as if the cardholder purchase their products they can get 2X Rewards Points or Get RM100 Cash Rebate, they also offer a promotion if customers spend a minimum of RM40 on ala-carte menu at Secret Recipe, they will get  a slice of cake free, and customers will get free cup of Tea or Coffee for any dine-in of a Slice of Cake  at 3pm- 6pm. Cover Girl could also build on their brand awareness by using local actress such as Neelofa to introduce the brand. Beside that they could come out with special promotion event such as given discount coupon for the products.

The packaging is perhaps is most important component of the product as a communication device, they need to design their product packaging around the target market. Product packaging is a huge part of marketing. Most consumers are visually oriented, and people tend to recognize colors, shapes and patterns more quickly than they understand words. It's been proven time and time again that unique, eye-catching product packaging is an essential part of a highly successful product. For example Secret Recipe has choice red color as their main concept of their packaging, the most emotionally intense color, red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing and it also commonly associated with energy and passion. For food lovers, the sight of a red, square-shaped paper bag printed with the words “Secret Recipe” in gray conjures up the image of a cake.

In order to maximize profits, businesses must strive to attract new customers and encourage repeat purchases. This depends on the degree to which customers and a new market base are familiar with a brand. Brand consistency helps build product recognition and familiarity. Consumers who are regularly exposed to a brand develop a familiarity, which builds their confidence and trust in a product. When given a choice between products that they are familiar with versus ones that they have never heard of, consumers are more likely to select a familiar brand. A key characteristic to building brand familiarity is by developing an emotional connection between products and a customer base. For example Secret Recipe  they do a lot of market research in terms of lifestyle, cultural differences, food staples and food culture Secret Recipe cafes not only offer a wide variety of cakes; the cafe’s concept is flexible, hence different menu items are offered in different countries. That’s why you can find Malaysian favorites like nasi lemak and mee goreng in some of the overseas outlets.


Secret Recipe uses a price lining strategy on certain product categories. This is to simplify the customer's choices by introducing same pricing for foods of the same type. Secret Recipe's markup of 250% to arrive at menu price is at the industry average level range. This is to cover up the overheads generated to operate the business. However customers are simply willing to pay more for healthier, tasty food served in a clean, comfortable and pleasant environment. The pricing objective is to be as reasonable as possible for the average household income who demands a good dining experience.

To be successful in the local marketplace, Cover Girl must have a competitive edge through ongoing innovation and by providing local-taste products. For example to further engage users, Cover GirL can launch an online Model Search, empowering everyday woman to celebrate their unique beauty characteristics and win the opportunity to be the face of Makeover Magic as a featured default model image within the tool. Cosmetics improve the quality of life every day for billions of people, male and female, young and old. They enhance self-confidence, add pleasure and beauty, and deliver basic hygiene, all at affordable prices.

Marcom effort plays an important role in enhancing brand equity. Enhanced equity, in turn bolsters consumer brand loyalty, increase market share, differentiates a brand from competitive offerings, and permits charging relatively higher prices.

Brand equity is one of the most valuable assets that a firm can have, and brand equity measurement and management continue to be important areas of research in both academia and industry. Most of the extant research on brand equity has looked at the issue from the perspective of either the consumer or the firm. Brand equity research from a consumer’s perspective usually involves collecting data on consumer mindset measures of brand equity from the consumer through surveys or experiments, and using the data to assess the consumer’s perceptions, feelings, and attitudes towards the brand.
So it is concluded that the customer based brand equity discussed by considering the perceptions of brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand knowledge, perceived quality, brand association, purchase decision and post purchase behaviour are the most essential elements for forming customer based brand equity. As a result the manufacturers and marketers should build brand loyalty among the customers. The loyalty will be created by the through brand knowledge which consists of brand image, brand recall etc. So the customers will be aware about the brand whatever they are buying.

For example Cover Girl also should advertise its products through television commercial, and also sponsor through Malaysian Miss Universe Show (MMU) show. Since the models in MMU show are normal everyday women, Cover Girl’s sponsorship has created awareness of its products to consumers, persuading them that they can be as beautiful as these women in the show by using the products. The MMU’s winner also gets to be a main Cover Girl commercial. By helping a normal everyday woman achieve her dream, Cover Girl gain favorable publicity and build good company image.

Corporate responsibility also will create awareness to consumer, they could committed to meet fully the obligations of corporate citizenship by contributing to the well-being of society and the environment in which it functions as Cover Girl is the company for women, they could dedicated to the empowerment of women globally – fighting domestic violence. They also can provide scholarship to teenager who wanted to further studies in beautician fields. They also could work together with local film industry by sponsor Pro-team make-up artists to work back-stages with designers to establish their brand in the market and using fashion Icon as a spoke-person. As a part of promotion, they also can give free makeup consulting to the public.

For the Secret Recipe, high-quality brands acquire a larger market share and achieve higher profitability than low-quality brands. Customers’ confidence in the brand should reflect the firm. The quality should also be kept consistent. Any flaws or mistakes must be immediately addressed to prevent customers from adopting a negative perception of the brand.

The strongest and most successful brands have a distinct position in the marketplace. A brand position can be achieved by several means, including product superiority, added features, experience, service quality, innovation, product warranties, guarantees, packaging, brand name, image, service promises and many others. Communication plays a vital role in developing a brand. There are many ways to generate awareness of the brand, including newsletters, direct mailings, print ad campaigns, public relations and marketing campaigns, and Web sites.

Corporate social responsibility is very import to most companies, and Secret Recipe is no exception. For example they could help government by organize event for charity to help poor and actively involved in mentorship programs and educational lectures that help develop young Malaysian entrepreneurial talents.

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