Petbarn is one of Australia’s leading pet supply retailers, and stocks a range of pet supply products and provides pet advice (Petbarn, 2014). Petbarn understands the love people have for their pets, and have dedicated their business to serving pet lovers and their pets (Petbarn, 2014). Petbarn wants to make the shopping experience easy and have employed pet loving staff to assist their customers (Petbarn, 2014). 

This report will outline two of Petbarn’s brand elements; identify sources of brand equity, the key issues with brand equity, and finally, provide recommendations to improve brand equity for Petbarn.

Brand elements are trademark devices that act to differentiate a brand (Keller,2014, p. 140). These mainly include brand names, logos, URL’s, symbols, characters, spokespeople, slogans, jingles, packages, and signs (Keller, 2014,p. 140). There are six criteria for brand elements; these include the memorability, meaningfulness, likeability, transferability, adaptability, and the protectability (Keller, 2014, p. 140).

The ‘Petbarn’ name is memorable, as it directly relates to ‘pets’, and it is likeable because it is easy to remember and the name represents what type of store it is. The name could easily be transferred to other countries, as it is simple, but it would be important to research if ‘barn’ has another meaning in a different country. The name could be adapted over time, possibly by changing the word ‘barn’ to something different. The Petbarn name is copyrighted so it is protected against competitors.

The Petbarn logo is distinctive with the bold, black text, golden yellow background, and the cartoon images of pet faces. The logo is memorable as it is displayed all over the exterior and interior of all Petbarn stores; the entire building is painted in the Petbarn color with the bold logo present. The logo is also meaningful and likeable, having the pet faces in the logo creates an emotional connection with pet lovers, and it is also easily transferable as it is simple, with images and one word text. The logo can be easily adapted over time, as it is kept simple, and small changes could be made, such as the text or images.

Brand equity is the extent to which a brand has a positive effect on consumer’s decision to purchase the brand.

Brand awareness is the extent to which a brand is recognised by consumers (“Brand awareness”, 2014). Petbarn have majority of their stores in regional towns, but still maintain a presence in metropolitan areas. The store locations would influence brand awareness, because there is less retail competition in regional towns, compared to metropolitan areas. For example, in the town of Orange, most people know there is a Petbarn in town, and when in need of pet supplies, they shop at Petbarn, as it is the only pet supplies store in Orange. Petbarn doesn’t have high activity in the online environment. On their Facebook page they post every couple of days, and spending for Google ads is low compared to their competitors. Although Petbarn is currently running a Facebook photo competition ‘pets that make you say awww’. The competition currently has over 2000 entries; the social sharing of this competition would be increasing their brand awareness (Petbarn, 2014).

Perceived brand quality is customer’s perception of the quality of a product or service in comparison to alternatives (Keller, 2014, p. 195). Petbarn are pet specialists with experienced and knowledgeable staff with a range of pet products from leading brands, and this demonstrates the quality of Petbarn.

Brand associations are anything in the consumer’s memory that is linked to the brand (George, Low Charles, & Lamb, 2000, p. 350). Consumer’s associations with pet barn could be a wide range of things because they cater for various pets. Any situation that involves pet supplies, pets, and pet advice, would be the main types of associations on consumer’s minds that link to Petbarn.

Brand loyalty is how often and how much the consumer will purchase the brand (Keller, 2014, p. 72), and is the strongest aspect of brand equity (McMullen, 2014, slide 22). Because Petbarn is a specialty pet supplies store, Petbarn would have allot of loyal customers, but many consumers may purchase pet supplies from supermarkets for convenience. The Petbarn loyalty system would measure their brand loyalty.

Other brand assets include Trademark, Copyright, and Registered Trademark (McMullen, 2014, slide 25), and Petbarn has an ‘all rights reserved’ trademark.

1. Pet owners are increasingly purchasing their pet supplies from supermarkets. It is convenient for pet owners to purchase their pet supplies while they are at the supermarket purchasing their own grocery items, rather than going to another store.  
2. Petbarn has a lack of social media activity. Petbarn only has a Facebook and Twitter account. Petbarn have a Facebook page, but don’t post frequently. Australian’s love to share their pet photos and tips on social media sites such as Instagram, Pinterest, and online blogs. Instagram has over 11 million hash tags for ‘pets’, and a quick Google search brings up pages of blogs about pets. It is evident that people are talking about all things pets in the social media space.

3. Petbarn’s online advertising isn’t very competitive. Petbarn’s online advertising spend is relatively low, in comparison to their leading competitors. This issue can also impact Petbarn’s brand awareness, brand associations, and perceived brand quality.

1. Further develop the Petbarn loyalty program. The Petbarn Friends for Life Club gives members exclusive access to offers and special events, and earn reward points (Petbarn, 2014). With the increasing competition from the convenience of supermarkets, changing the customer loyalty process will ensure Petbarn customers receive more value for money and will improve Petbarn’s brand equity. Currently, for every 10 bags of dry food member’s purchase, they will receive the 11^th bag free. Petbarn could reduce the number of bags purchased to receive a free bag. Another recommendation to the loyalty program is decrease the number of points required to receive a $10 voucher. Making simple changes to the loyalty program will increase the value for money. The elements of brand equity that will be improved will be perceived brand quality and brand loyalty. If members are getting more value, consumers will view the brand as a quality brand, with a quality loyalty program, rewarding customer loyalty. The loyalty program can also impact on brand associations, as Petbarn could be viewed as the brand with a fantastic and rewarding loyalty program. A new loyalty program will involve new processes for rewarding customer loyalty, and promotion of the revised program will be required to make customers aware of the benefits of the Petbarn Friends for Life Club. It is also important for Petbarn to promote their new and improved loyalty program to ensure the new process to improve brand awareness. 
2. Further develop Petbarn online brand communities. Petbarn has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Pet owners are sharing photos, discussing their pet issues, stories, and advice through a range of social sites. Creating a brand community will allow pet lovers to engage with the Petbarn brand and other pet enthusiasts. Opportunities exist on Instagram, Pinterest, and a professional brand community on LinkedIn. Creating more brand communities will further promote the Petbarn brand and generate more brand awareness in the market. Further developing Petbarn’s brand communities will involve creating a new process for their brand communities, ensure trained professionals are managing the brand communities, and further promotion of the Petbarn brand.  
3. This recommendation focuses on increasing spend for online advertising to further promote Petbarn and actively compete against their competitors in the online environment. If increased online ad spends results in more business, Petbarn may need to change their distribution processes for their online store, due to increased sales.

Brand awareness. (2014). In Business Dictionary online. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-awareness.html

Keller, K. (2008). Strategic brand management: Building, measuring and managing brand equity  (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson Education.

George, S., Low Charles, W., & Lamb, Jr. (2000). The measurement and dimensionality of brand associations. Journal of product and brand management, 9(6), 350-370. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/full/10.1108/10610420010356966

McMullen, K. (2014). Lecture 5: Developing and building brand equity  [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from Charles Sturt University website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/MKT235_201460_B_D/page/cacc34d9-a43b-4afc-00f5-fa35dd545c8a

Petbarn. (2014). Loyalty program. In Petbarn. Retrieved September 18, 2014, from http://www.petbarn.com.au/loyalty-program/