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Brand Audit
Cole Ericson
Amy Hou
Sadie Malone
Randy Rosso
MKTG 3550
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3
COMPANY BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
CUSTOMER ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5
BRAND INVENTORY........................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Brand Elements................................................................................................................................................................................ 6
Current Marketing Programs and Strategies:.................................................................................................................................... 7
Targeting Higher Income Households........................................................................................................................................... 7
Growing Product Quality and Offerings......................................................................................................................................... 8
Experience Marketing ................................................................................................................................................................... 8
POPs and PODs .............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Points of Parity.............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Points of Difference....................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Branding Strategies Used............................................................................................................................................................... 10
Sub-branding .............................................................................................................................................................................. 10
Co-branding................................................................................................................................................................................ 10
Brand Portfolio Analysis ................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Walmart International.................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Walmart US ................................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Sam’s Club ................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Key Brand Strengths and Weaknesses .......................................................................................................................................... 12
Competitors’ Brand Inventory ......................................................................................................................................................... 12
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Competitor’s Brands ................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Competitor’s Strengths and Weaknesses.................................................................................................................................... 13
BRAND EXPLORATORY................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Brand Image/Associations.............................................................................................................................................................. 14
Brand Positioning Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................. 14
Key Opportunities and Threats Facing the Brand ........................................................................................................................... 15
Brand Equity Analysis..................................................................................................................................................................... 16
RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................................................................................... 17
WORKS CITED.................................................................................................................................................................................. 19
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since 2012, Sam’s Club’s reputation and revenue have been declining. Sam’s CEO, Rosalind Brewer, has been
trying to implement changes to reverse this trend but has failed to make any change in consumer perception. Therefore,
revenue continues to decrease quarter after quarter. Brewer proposed a new plan in December 2015 but it has not been
implemented yet.1
Walmart, who is the parent company of Sam’s Club, also affects the reputation of Sam’s Club. Walmart and Sam’s
Club share a similar target market, which cannibalizes sales from each other. The association with Walmart can
negatively impact Sam’s Club’s reputation, since Walmart is known for having low prices, which are often equated with
low quality as well. Since Sam’s Club should not be associated with low quality, it is recommended that Sam’s Club shifts
their brand perceptions away from Walmart’s.
After analyzing Sam’s Club’s brand elements against the six criteria, the brand proves to be strong. However,
repositioning the brand should help generate more profits. Sam’s current marketing programs focus on improving product
quality and offerings, elevating the target consumer, and enhancing the shopping experience. The CEO has recently
made a statement about ongoing plans to beat competitors through training employees on service skills and having more
of a variety of goods, including organic produce and higher quality items. Although these plans could help Sam’s Club in
gaining a competitive advantage over the competition, these PODs can be easily mimicked by competitors. The ideas to
be implemented from this audit are: to change the logo, alter the slogan, and to shift off of small business owners as the
target market.
1
"Sam's Club - Sam's Club CEO On Costco: 'We Plan To Win'". 2016. Corporate.Samsclub.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://corporate.samsclub.com/news-
press/videos/youtube/sams-club-ceo-on-costco-we-plan-to-win-4no3rhbobg8.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
COMPANY BACKGROUND
Sam’s West, Inc. is owned and operated under the Walmart name. It is part of the retailer category under the
warehouse club and superstore industry because Sam’s Club sells a variety of products. These products include:
healthcare, auto parts, produce, and banking.2 Beyond just the merchandise, Sam’s offers small business owners loans
and support.
Sam’s Club stock is an economic increase, but that is only because it is merged with Walmart revenue.3 Sam’s
makes up a twelve percent of Walmart’s revenue, and the decrease in Sam’s business has made Walmart miss their
target sales goal.4 Sam’s has fallen out of favor with targeted consumers and is therefore losing revenue from their main
consumers compared to other warehouse clubs.5
In addition to losing revenue from the two segments, Sam’s is also competing against two other big companies that
are also in the warehouse club industry: BJ’s and Costco. Costco has had a five percent increase of growth for the past
fiscal year while Sam’s Club has not moved from the previous year.6
2
"Samsclub.Com - Sam's Club". 2016. Samsclub. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/homepage.jsp.
3
Sozzi, Brian. 2016. "How Costco Is Winning Its Battle Against Wal-Mart's Sam's Club". Thestreet. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13166984/1/how-costco-is-winning-its-battle-against-wal-marts-sams-club.html.
4
Basu, Eshna. 2016. "The Sorry State Of Sam's Club, And Why Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Can't Give Up On The Warehouse -- The Motley Fool". The Motley Fool.
Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/25/sams-clubs-sorry-story-and-why-wal-mart-cannot-giv.aspx.
5
Wahba, Phil. 2014. "How Sam’S Club Plans To Push Back Against Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2014/11/14/sams-club-costco/.
6
Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Wal-Mart’S Sam’S Club Has A Bunch Of New Services To Woo Business Members". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://fortune.com/2015/04/22/walmart-samsclub-lendingclub/?iid=sr-link1.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
CUSTOMER ANALYSIS
TRENDS: The target market consumer of Sam’s Club is more
likely to buy unhealthy snacks for low prices than he or she is to
buy nutritious foods at a premium. This segment usually does
not care about quality, but rather quantity and price.7
NEEDS/WANTS: Customers are impatient or have small
windows of time for shopping and browsing.8
Therefore, this
segment needs to be able to purchase variety of goods at
competitive prices in a short amount of time.
MOTIVATIONS: The primary motivation for a consumer to
come to Sam’s Club is to buy low priced products in bulk.
Customers are impartial to having non GMO, organic, grass-fed,
or uncured items. The decrease in demand is due to the
recession causing the target customer to reduce their
discretionary spending.9
BUYING BEHAVIORS: The behavior of the target
segment is usually inactive, busy, and with low shopping
budget. Customers want to find what they need for a low price
and purchase it quickly. If they cannot find what they need, then
they will go to Walmart.7
PERCEPTIONS/ATTITUDES: Sam’s Club is often
perceived to be of lower quality than Costco because Sam’s
Club is owned and operated by Walmart.10
7 Renfrow, Jacqueline. 2016. "Sam's Club Looking For Wealthier Shoppers". Fierceretail. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fierceretail.com/story/sams-club-
looking-wealthier-shoppers/2015-12-15.
8
"Sam's Club - Sam's Club CEO On Costco: 'We Plan To Win'".
9
Wahba, Phil. 2014.
10
Lopez, Patricia. 2015. "Costco Vs. Sam's Club - Which One Should You Join?". ABC13 Houston. Accessed April 27 2016. http://abc13.com/shopping/costco-vs-
sams-club---which-one-should-you-join/550482/.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
BRAND INVENTORY
Brand Elements
The elements of the brand inventory that have been considered are the brand name, slogan, URL, and
signage/packaging: Sam’s Club, “Savings Made Simple,” www.samsclub.com, the signage, and the packaging.
MEMORABLE While nothing about the Sam’s Club brand is necessarily attention-getting, it is consistent through
the message and creative threads. The slogan is simple and speaks of the brand offering and their
association with Walmart aids in building brand awareness. To allow a greater chance of brand
recognition and recall, Sam’s Club is the only competitor in the category whose logo does not
include the color red as their primary color.
MEANINGFUL The Sam’s Club brand elements are trying to communicate a meaning of both descriptive and
persuasive content. When considering the slogan, Sam’s Club is conveying both “general
information about the function of the product of service” as well as “specific information about
particular attributes and benefits of the brand.”11 The “Savings” part of the slogan speaks to the
function of the brand. This function satisfies the needs of the target market. The “Made Simple”
part speaks to the attributes and positioning of the brand suggesting a key point of difference.
Another meaningful feature the brand are the sustainable initiatives of the brand summarized by
their secondary slogan: “Simple Steps to Saving Green.”12 This secondary slogan conveys a
message of saving money and the environment promoting their brand salience and image.
11
Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand
Equity. 4th Edition. New Jersey, 2013. 119.
12
2016. Samsclub. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageName=sustainability-symbol.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
LIKABLE While the brand elements would not be considered fun or interesting, they are aesthetically
pleasing as can be seen in Appendix A. However, the overall impression of these elements is more
formal than casual, which may impact the likability for some consumers. The name and slogan use
a verbal imagery which creates familiarity and simplifies the message.
TRANSFERABLE The Sam’s Club brand is highly transferable as it focuses on selling in many product categories
and services. Because the name is fairly unspecific in terms of a product category or service, Sam’s
Club has the flexibility to move into new product categories and add line or category
extensions.
ADAPTABLE The Sam’s Club brand is adaptable to change based on consumer values as it moves into the
future because the brand elements are flexible and simple. Because Sam’s Club’s brand elements
do not include characters or jingles and because they use unspecific category names, few changes
would be necessary to maintain modernity and relevance.
PROTECTABLE The “Sam’s Club” name and elements are protected in both a legal and competitive sense
because they are trade-marked and service-marked.
Current Marketing Programs and Strategies:
Targeting Higher Income Households
Sam’s Club has announced13 a change of direction through the following marketing strategies:
● Increasing the target median household of approximately $80,000 to $100,000.14
● Plan to open eight to ten new clubs in 2016 in wealthier locations to begin reaching these consumers.14
● Creating an in-store experience around these more affluent consumers through omni-channel marketing and
training associates to be highly knowledgeable of products and “high member service related.”13
13
Trefis Team. "How Walmart Is Revamping Sam's Club To Take On Competition?". 2016. Forbes.Com. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/03/01/how-walmart-is-revamping-sams-club-to-take-on-competition/#67fc73703e9b.
14
"Sam's Club - Sam's Club CEO On Costco: 'We Plan To Win'".
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Growing Product Quality and Offerings
While targeting a more affluent consumer, Sam’s has identified the need to improve their serviceability and product
quality, particularly in the produce and food categories,.15 The club has begun to implement the following strategies to
improve opinions of perceived quality:
● Focus merchandising on products and services that satisfy the new target’s wants and needs15
● Elevate merchandise offerings and assortment by focusing on the most needed segments and eliminating
categories that no longer pertain to the target market.13
● Offering more private label brands to increase perceived reliability and durability16
● Hiring regional buyers to focus building local and organic options that will meet the wealthier consumer's
expectations, cater better to regional tastes, and strengthen relationships of organic and healthy suppliers.15
Experience Marketing
As a way to strengthen the consumer’s unique experience and perception of the brand while gaining more control over
the consumer contacts, Sam’s has adopted a new experiential approach for their marketing program, which includes:
● Sense Marketing: Sam’s Club has implemented changes to the layout to strengthen the atmospherics.17
● Act Marketing: Sam’s Club is beginning to expand their e-commerce capabilities to better accommodate the
various consumer lifestyles and broaden opportunities for interaction. They recently launched a “Club Pick-Up”
service for placing orders online, which comes with an app for customers to create shopping lists that they can later
re-order automatically17
● Customer Experience Management: Sam’s Club uses big data to find patterns in customer behavior to inform
redesigns of their experience providers including the spatial environment. This improves customer experience
by creating an omni-channel strategy that integrates all of the Club’s customer communication channels.17
15
"Sam's Club Hires Regional Buyers, Sees 'Local' Food As Key In Upscale Shift". 2016. Reuters. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-
walmart-buying-idUSKCN0W34EE.
16
Wahba, Phil. 2014.
17
Wahba, Phil. 2016. "How Sam’S Club Is Widening Its E-Commerce Lead Over Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2016/04/18/sams-
club-ecommerce/?iid=sr-link7.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
POPs and PODs
There are three POPs in the Warehouse Clubs & Superstores industry: memberships, low-cost purchasing via
buying in bulk, and a wide range of products and services available. In an attempt to gain a competitive advantage over
their competitors and parent-store, Walmart, Sam’s Club has identified the following PODs:
Points of Parity Points of Difference
MEMBERSHIPS: Every large competitor within this
industry offers a wide range of memberships for both
personal and business use.
DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY AND EXPERIENCE:
Implementing an omni-channel strategy to communicate
and engage consumers at every touchpoint.18
BULK BUYING & LOW PER-UNIT COST:
Customers can purchase more product at a lower cost-per-
unit than at superstores.
BETTER MEMBER SERVICE: Focus on training
associates’ knowledge and service capabilities to improve
customer experience.18
A WIDE RANGE OF CATEGORIES AND
SERVICES: Products include produce, electronics,
health and financial services, auto, fuel, and travel for both
personal and business needs.
MERCHANDISE ASSORTMENT AND
OFFERINGS: Growing and refining the merchandise
offered to better appeal to the elevated consumer18 and
Using big data to inform consumer trends and
expectations.
18
2016. Samsclub.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Branding Strategies Used
Sub-branding
Sam’s Club’s private label brand, Member’s Mark, functions as a sub-branding strategy, because the brand
remains related to Sam’s Club’s associations and attitudes while being distinguished as a specific brand with a
specific position. Sam’s Club is able to increase profits by using the private label brand because it competes with other
popular store brand names in multiple product categories.
Co-branding
Sam’s Club allows for co-branding within the store via co-brand
exposure, packaging, and signage. The picture to the right depicts
co-branding using the gift card display, where customers can
clearly see the Sam’s Club logo along with all the gift card brands.19
19
2016. Fbnstatic.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fbnstatic.com/static/managed/img/fb2/markets/sams-club1.jpg.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Brand Portfolio Analysis
20
"UCCS Kraemer Family Library Login Page". 2016. Advantage.Marketline.Com.Libproxy.Uccs.Edu. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://advantage.marketline.com.libproxy.uccs.edu/Product?pid=8046847E-B325-4AF0-BC79-48100850E764.
Walmart International
- Operates retail in 26 countries as
supermarkets, supercenters,
hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, in
addition to banks that provide limited
financing programs.
- Operates through wholly-owned
subsidiaries, majority owned
subsidiaries, joint ventures and other
controlled subsidiaries internationally.
- Revenues of $136,160 million in
2015, which accounts for
approximately 28.2 % of the total
revenues for 2015.20
Walmart US
- Operates within all 50 states and
Puerto Rico through supercenters,
discount stores, neighborhood
markets and other small formats.
- Utilizes e-commerce through their
website, www.walmart.com.
- Offers branded and private label
merchandise across various product
categories and services, financial
services and related products.
- Revenues of $288,049 million in
2015, which displays a 3.1% increase
over the previous year and accounts
for 59.7% of total revenues.20
Sam’s Club
- Provides hard goods, some soft
goods and selected private-label items
under the Member's Mark brand and
two proprietary brands (Daily Chef and
Simply Right). Sam's Club
warehouses offer its merchandise
under the following categories:
grocery and consumables, fuel, home
and apparel, technology, office and
entertainment, and health and
wellness.”
- Revenues of $58,020 million in 2015,
which displays an increase of 1.5%
over the previous year and accounts
for 12% of total revenues.20
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Key Brand Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
- Accepts a variety of credit cards (not solely Visa like Costco)21
- Associated with Walmart helping Sam’s build its customer
base and expand nationally and globally.22
- Over 600 stores, located in 48 states and 3 countries outside
the U.S.22
- Small businesses are attracted to Sam’s due to the lower
membership fee and overall low prices.23
Weaknesses:
- Only three warehouses are currently outside of the U.S (Brazil,
Mexico and China).22
- Stores heavily located only on one side of the country
Competitors’ Brand Inventory
Competitor’s Brands
Name URL Logo / Symbol Slogan
Costco www.costco.com NA
BJ’s Wholesale www.bjs.com BJ’s Membership Gives You
More
Office Depot www.officedepot.com Gear Up for Great
21
Luthi, Ben. 2016. "Sam's Club To Start Taking Visa Credit Cards - Nerdwallet". Nerdwallet. Accessed April 27 2016. https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-
cards/sams-club-starts-accepting-visa/.
22
Adam. "SAM’S Club SWOT Analysis | Free SWOT Analysis". 2016. Freeswotanalysis.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.freeswotanalysis.com/retailing-
swot/225-sams-club-swot-analysis.html.
23
Lopez, Patricia. 2015.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Each of the competitors’ names are easily recognized, descriptive, transferable across categories and markets,
updatable, and protectable. Much like Sam’s Club, these names are neutral in their likability because they aren’t interesting or
aesthetically pleasing. The URLs for Costco and BJ’s Wholesale Club are both easy to remember and first to appear in a Google
and Bing search but Office Depot is hard to find in a search. It appears further down in the search results with a confusing headline of
“OfficeMax - Official Site.” The logos and symbols for each of these brands is less memorable, meaningful, and protectable
because each use the color red making them hard to differentiate. All of the slogans on the other hand, are meaningful,
transferable, and adaptable but none are likable because they are not interesting or verbally creative/appealing.
Competitor’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses
Costco - Efficient operating model, creating low costs in
terms of expenses and price positioning
- Various sustainability and environmental efforts
- Steady financial performance and growth over
several years
- Limited choice within product categories
- Highly dependent on markets in the US and
Canada
BJ’s Wholesale
Club
- Differentiated through car rentals, gas stations
and additional home services
- Focus on maintaining a savings of 30% under
supermarket prices
- Concentrated on the East Coast
- Consumer shopping experience is far less
developed than competitors
Office Depot - Large and diverse consumer base, including
business, individuals, schools, and govt. agencies
- Differentiated through value added services
such as print and design services, computer and
technology support, and business solutions
- Dependence on concentrated regions within
the United States
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
BRAND EXPLORATORY
Brand Image/Associations
Sam’s Club is strongly associated with Walmart, which has advantages and disadvantages. Association with
Walmart is an advantage, in that customers perceive Sam’s Club to be cheapest, because the Walmart brand has
established that it offers the lowest prices of any retailer. Association with Walmart is a disadvantage as well, because
the brand is associated with low quality products. This association causes consumers to perceive Sam’s Club as a low
level retailer as well.24
Brand Positioning Analysis
The Sam’s Club brand is well established and it is properly perceived as a warehouse club store by consumers.
Because of this perception, customers identify Sam’s Club in the same category as BJ’s and Costco. This perception
empowers customers to have some preliminary expectations due to Sam’s Club’s category membership.
However, Sam’s Club is also perceived to be the same as Walmart. This is due to the fact that for a long time
Sam’s Club targeted the same customer base as Walmart (consumers with $45,000 annual income). The Wall Street
24
Durham, Christopher. 2016. "Sam’S Club Looking Upmarket - My Private Brand". My Private Brand. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://mypbrand.com/2016/01/25/sams-club-looking-upmarket/.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Journal reported that Sam’s is trying to move away from that brand perception and target higher-income markets, similar
to their competitors.25
Another view that consumers have about the brand is that it is small-business friendly. This stems from their many
efforts to cater towards the small-business community, which makes up one-third of their memberships.26 Sam’s is delving
into the small-business market more than ever; however, they are narrowing their target business types.27
Key Opportunities and Threats Facing the Brand
OPPORTUNITIES:
● Introduce new private label brands to target
specific price points28
● Host food tasting events28
● Focus on doing one category well. “Athleisure,” for
example.28
● Ancillary departments focused on a new customer
segment.28
THREATS:
● Sam’s business is heavily influenced by market
economy shits (buying in bulk requires more
spending)28
● Low margins must be made up for in sales volume
and efficient operations.28
● Legal opposition from local businesses.29
● Dependence on few vendors to supply specific
products.28
● Cannibalization from Walmart28
25
Nassauer, Sarah. 2016. "Sam’S Club Aims To Be Less Like Wal-Mart ". WSJ. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-sams-club-shed-its-wal-
mart-ways-1439754841.
26
Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Sam’S Club Overhauls Pick-Up Service With Eye On Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2015/06/04/sams-club-
costco-2/.
27
" Sam’S Club Outlines New Merchandising Strategy, Organizational Changes". 2014. Drugstorenews.Com. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.drugstorenews.com/article/sams-club-outlines-new-merchandising-strategy-organizational-changes.
28
"UCCS Kraemer Family Library Login Page". 2016. Subscriber.Hoovers.Com.Libproxy.Uccs.Edu. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://subscriber.hoovers.com.libproxy.uccs.edu/H/industry360/trendsAndOpportunities.html?industryId=1531.
29
Nassauer, Sarah. 2016.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
Brand Equity Analysis
Sam’s Club’s brand equity can be
explained with the Customer-Based Brand
Equity (CBBE) model on the right.303132333435
30 Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand
Equity. 80.
31 2016. Coriolisresearch.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.coriolisresearch.com/pdfs/coriolis_understanding_Costco.pdf.
32 LLC, AllStays. 2016. "Sams Club Map | Sams Club Locations". Allstays.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.allstays.com/c/sams-club-
locations-map.htm.
33 Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Sam’S Club Overhauls Pick-Up Service With Eye On Costco"
34 Nassauer, Sarah. 2016.
35 "Sam’s Club Outlines New Merchandising Strategy, Organizational Changes". 2014. Drugstorenews.Com.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
RECOMMENDATIONS
As it stands, the Sam’s Club brand attracts mainly low income shoppers and small businesses. Small business
consumers make up a third of Sam’s Club revenue sources making Sam’s vulnerable to their changing habits. Changes in
the economic environment drastically reduce Sam’s Club sales because of how sensitive to the economy small
businesses are. For a strong, long term strategy, Sam’s Club should focus their efforts on diversifying their revenue
sources to include a new target: wealthy grocery shoppers. Currently, Costco is the club that serves the majority of these
customers. If Sam’s club can capture some of these shoppers, they will be better positioned in the marketplace because
they will have taken sales away from their biggest competitor and added those sales to the Sam’s Club bottom line.
To capture and retain these consumers, the logo and slogan need to be re-imaged. Currently, Sam’s Club’s logo
is too similar to the Walmart brand and the current logo’s font appears more B2B than an intended B2C appearance for
the brand. To appeal to a new consumer segment, Sam’s Club should also use a
friendly font. The logo on the right is an example of the redesign. Keeping the dark
blue is important to the brand’s health because Sam’s club has already established
their brand identity with dark blue. The new logo incorporates more of the light
green to call attention to the company’s sustainability efforts. Emphasizing this point
will separate Sam’s Club from the other warehouse clubs.
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SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
In addition to a logo change, a slogan change should be made to call attention to the company’s sustainability and
environmental efforts. Instead of “Savings Made Simple”, which is too similar to what most other brands claim as their
brand promise, the new slogan can be:
“Green Savings Made Simple”
This new slogan uses the words “Green Savings” as a reference to both saving money and saving the environment. The
words: “Made Simple,” refer to the experience as being convenient and easy. This new slogan doesn’t deviate with the
current slogan in order to maintain brand recognition, but it calls attention to the green efforts that Sam’s Club is
undergoing. With the re-brand, Sam’s Club can secure their market position, attract new customers, and promote
wellbeing. That is “Green Savings Made Simple” that anyone can get behind.
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WORKS CITED
2016. Coriolisresearch.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.coriolisresearch.com/pdfs/coriolis_understanding_Costco.pdf.
2016. Fbnstatic.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fbnstatic.com/static/managed/img/fb2/markets/sams-club1.jpg.
2016. Samsclub. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageName=sustainability-symbol.
Basu, Eshna. 2016. "The Sorry State Of Sam's Club, And Why Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Can't Give Up On The Warehouse – The Motley
Fool". The Motley Fool. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/25/sams-clubs-sorry-
story-and-why-wal-mart-cannot-giv.aspx.
Berman, Jillian. (2014, May 16). Why Costco is Crushing Walmart-Owned Sam’s Club. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.
com/2014/05/16/sams-club-vs-costco_n_5332306.html.
Durham, Christopher. 2016. "Sam’S Club Looking Upmarket - My Private Brand". My Private Brand. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://mypbrand.com/2016/01/25/sams-club-looking-upmarket/.
Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. 4th Edition. New Jersey, 2013.
LLC, AllStays. 2016. "Sams Club Map | Sams Club Locations". Allstays.Com. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.allstays.com/c/sams-club-locations-map.htm.
Lopez, Patricia. 2015. "Costco Vs. Sam's Club - Which One Should You Join?". ABC13 Houston. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://abc13.com/shopping/costco-vs-sams-club---which-one-should-you-join/550482/.
Luthi, Ben. 2016. "Sam's Club To Start Taking Visa Credit Cards - Nerdwallet". Nerdwallet. Accessed April 27 2016.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/sams-club-starts-accepting-visa/.
Nassauer, Sarah. 2016. "Sam’S Club Aims To Be Less Like Wal-Mart ". WSJ. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-sams-club-shed-its-wal-mart-ways-1439754841.
Renfrow, Jacqueline. 2016. "Sam's Club Looking For Wealthier Shoppers". Fierceretail. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.fierceretail.com/story/sams-club-looking-wealthier-shoppers/2015-12-15.
20 | P a g e
SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT
"Sam's Club Hires Regional Buyers, Sees 'Local' Food As Key In Upscale Shift". 2016. Reuters. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-buying-idUSKCN0W34EE.
"Sam's Club - Sam's Club CEO On Costco: 'We Plan To Win'". 2016. Corporate.Samsclub.Com. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://corporate.samsclub.com/news-press/videos/youtube/sams-club-ceo-on-costco-we-plan-to-win-4no3rhbobg8.
"Sam’s Club Outlines New Merchandising Strategy, Organizational Changes". 2014. Drugstorenews.Com. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.drugstorenews.com/article/sams-club-outlines-new-merchandising-strategy-organizational-changes.
"SAM’S Club SWOT Analysis | Free SWOT Analysis". 2016. Freeswotanalysis.Com. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.freeswotanalysis.com/retailing-swot/225-samsclub-swot-analysis.html.
Sozzi, Brian. 2016. "How Costco Is Winning Its Battle Against Wal-Mart's Sam's Club". Thestreet. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13166984/1/how-costco-is-winning-its-battle-against-wal-marts-sams-club.html.
Trefis Team. "How Walmart Is Revamping Sam's Club To Take On Competition?". 2016. Forbes.Com. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/03/01/how-walmart-is-revamping-sams-club-to-take-on-competition/
#67fc73703e9b.
"UCCS Kraemer Family Library Login Page". 2016. Subscriber.Hoovers.Com.Libproxy.Uccs.Edu. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://subscriber.hoovers.com.libproxy.uccs.edu/H/industry360/trendsAndOpportunities.html?industryId=1531.
Wahba, Phil. 2014. "How Sam’S Club Plans To Push Back Against Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://fortune.com/2014/11/14/sams-club-costco/.
Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Sam’S Club Overhauls Pick-Up Service With Eye On Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://fortune.com/2015/06/04/sams-club-costco-2/.
Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Wal-Mart’S Sam’S Club Has A Bunch Of New Services To Woo Business Members". Fortune. Accessed April 27
2016. http://fortune.com/2015/04/22/walmart-samsclub-lendingclub/?iid=sr-link1.
Wahba, Phil. 2016. "How Sam’S Club Is Widening Its E-Commerce Lead Over Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016.
http://fortune.com/2016/04/18/sams-club-ecommerce/?iid=sr-link7.

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Sams clubbrandaudit

  • 1. Brand Audit Cole Ericson Amy Hou Sadie Malone Randy Rosso MKTG 3550
  • 2. 1 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 COMPANY BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 CUSTOMER ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5 BRAND INVENTORY........................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Brand Elements................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Current Marketing Programs and Strategies:.................................................................................................................................... 7 Targeting Higher Income Households........................................................................................................................................... 7 Growing Product Quality and Offerings......................................................................................................................................... 8 Experience Marketing ................................................................................................................................................................... 8 POPs and PODs .............................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Points of Parity.............................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Points of Difference....................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Branding Strategies Used............................................................................................................................................................... 10 Sub-branding .............................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Co-branding................................................................................................................................................................................ 10 Brand Portfolio Analysis ................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Walmart International.................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Walmart US ................................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Sam’s Club ................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Key Brand Strengths and Weaknesses .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Competitors’ Brand Inventory ......................................................................................................................................................... 12
  • 3. 2 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Competitor’s Brands ................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Competitor’s Strengths and Weaknesses.................................................................................................................................... 13 BRAND EXPLORATORY................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Brand Image/Associations.............................................................................................................................................................. 14 Brand Positioning Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................. 14 Key Opportunities and Threats Facing the Brand ........................................................................................................................... 15 Brand Equity Analysis..................................................................................................................................................................... 16 RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................................................................................... 17 WORKS CITED.................................................................................................................................................................................. 19
  • 4. 3 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since 2012, Sam’s Club’s reputation and revenue have been declining. Sam’s CEO, Rosalind Brewer, has been trying to implement changes to reverse this trend but has failed to make any change in consumer perception. Therefore, revenue continues to decrease quarter after quarter. Brewer proposed a new plan in December 2015 but it has not been implemented yet.1 Walmart, who is the parent company of Sam’s Club, also affects the reputation of Sam’s Club. Walmart and Sam’s Club share a similar target market, which cannibalizes sales from each other. The association with Walmart can negatively impact Sam’s Club’s reputation, since Walmart is known for having low prices, which are often equated with low quality as well. Since Sam’s Club should not be associated with low quality, it is recommended that Sam’s Club shifts their brand perceptions away from Walmart’s. After analyzing Sam’s Club’s brand elements against the six criteria, the brand proves to be strong. However, repositioning the brand should help generate more profits. Sam’s current marketing programs focus on improving product quality and offerings, elevating the target consumer, and enhancing the shopping experience. The CEO has recently made a statement about ongoing plans to beat competitors through training employees on service skills and having more of a variety of goods, including organic produce and higher quality items. Although these plans could help Sam’s Club in gaining a competitive advantage over the competition, these PODs can be easily mimicked by competitors. The ideas to be implemented from this audit are: to change the logo, alter the slogan, and to shift off of small business owners as the target market. 1 "Sam's Club - Sam's Club CEO On Costco: 'We Plan To Win'". 2016. Corporate.Samsclub.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://corporate.samsclub.com/news- press/videos/youtube/sams-club-ceo-on-costco-we-plan-to-win-4no3rhbobg8.
  • 5. 4 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT COMPANY BACKGROUND Sam’s West, Inc. is owned and operated under the Walmart name. It is part of the retailer category under the warehouse club and superstore industry because Sam’s Club sells a variety of products. These products include: healthcare, auto parts, produce, and banking.2 Beyond just the merchandise, Sam’s offers small business owners loans and support. Sam’s Club stock is an economic increase, but that is only because it is merged with Walmart revenue.3 Sam’s makes up a twelve percent of Walmart’s revenue, and the decrease in Sam’s business has made Walmart miss their target sales goal.4 Sam’s has fallen out of favor with targeted consumers and is therefore losing revenue from their main consumers compared to other warehouse clubs.5 In addition to losing revenue from the two segments, Sam’s is also competing against two other big companies that are also in the warehouse club industry: BJ’s and Costco. Costco has had a five percent increase of growth for the past fiscal year while Sam’s Club has not moved from the previous year.6 2 "Samsclub.Com - Sam's Club". 2016. Samsclub. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/homepage.jsp. 3 Sozzi, Brian. 2016. "How Costco Is Winning Its Battle Against Wal-Mart's Sam's Club". Thestreet. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.thestreet.com/story/13166984/1/how-costco-is-winning-its-battle-against-wal-marts-sams-club.html. 4 Basu, Eshna. 2016. "The Sorry State Of Sam's Club, And Why Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Can't Give Up On The Warehouse -- The Motley Fool". The Motley Fool. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/25/sams-clubs-sorry-story-and-why-wal-mart-cannot-giv.aspx. 5 Wahba, Phil. 2014. "How Sam’S Club Plans To Push Back Against Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2014/11/14/sams-club-costco/. 6 Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Wal-Mart’S Sam’S Club Has A Bunch Of New Services To Woo Business Members". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2015/04/22/walmart-samsclub-lendingclub/?iid=sr-link1.
  • 6. 5 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT CUSTOMER ANALYSIS TRENDS: The target market consumer of Sam’s Club is more likely to buy unhealthy snacks for low prices than he or she is to buy nutritious foods at a premium. This segment usually does not care about quality, but rather quantity and price.7 NEEDS/WANTS: Customers are impatient or have small windows of time for shopping and browsing.8 Therefore, this segment needs to be able to purchase variety of goods at competitive prices in a short amount of time. MOTIVATIONS: The primary motivation for a consumer to come to Sam’s Club is to buy low priced products in bulk. Customers are impartial to having non GMO, organic, grass-fed, or uncured items. The decrease in demand is due to the recession causing the target customer to reduce their discretionary spending.9 BUYING BEHAVIORS: The behavior of the target segment is usually inactive, busy, and with low shopping budget. Customers want to find what they need for a low price and purchase it quickly. If they cannot find what they need, then they will go to Walmart.7 PERCEPTIONS/ATTITUDES: Sam’s Club is often perceived to be of lower quality than Costco because Sam’s Club is owned and operated by Walmart.10 7 Renfrow, Jacqueline. 2016. "Sam's Club Looking For Wealthier Shoppers". Fierceretail. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fierceretail.com/story/sams-club- looking-wealthier-shoppers/2015-12-15. 8 "Sam's Club - Sam's Club CEO On Costco: 'We Plan To Win'". 9 Wahba, Phil. 2014. 10 Lopez, Patricia. 2015. "Costco Vs. Sam's Club - Which One Should You Join?". ABC13 Houston. Accessed April 27 2016. http://abc13.com/shopping/costco-vs- sams-club---which-one-should-you-join/550482/.
  • 7. 6 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT BRAND INVENTORY Brand Elements The elements of the brand inventory that have been considered are the brand name, slogan, URL, and signage/packaging: Sam’s Club, “Savings Made Simple,” www.samsclub.com, the signage, and the packaging. MEMORABLE While nothing about the Sam’s Club brand is necessarily attention-getting, it is consistent through the message and creative threads. The slogan is simple and speaks of the brand offering and their association with Walmart aids in building brand awareness. To allow a greater chance of brand recognition and recall, Sam’s Club is the only competitor in the category whose logo does not include the color red as their primary color. MEANINGFUL The Sam’s Club brand elements are trying to communicate a meaning of both descriptive and persuasive content. When considering the slogan, Sam’s Club is conveying both “general information about the function of the product of service” as well as “specific information about particular attributes and benefits of the brand.”11 The “Savings” part of the slogan speaks to the function of the brand. This function satisfies the needs of the target market. The “Made Simple” part speaks to the attributes and positioning of the brand suggesting a key point of difference. Another meaningful feature the brand are the sustainable initiatives of the brand summarized by their secondary slogan: “Simple Steps to Saving Green.”12 This secondary slogan conveys a message of saving money and the environment promoting their brand salience and image. 11 Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. 4th Edition. New Jersey, 2013. 119. 12 2016. Samsclub. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageName=sustainability-symbol.
  • 8. 7 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT LIKABLE While the brand elements would not be considered fun or interesting, they are aesthetically pleasing as can be seen in Appendix A. However, the overall impression of these elements is more formal than casual, which may impact the likability for some consumers. The name and slogan use a verbal imagery which creates familiarity and simplifies the message. TRANSFERABLE The Sam’s Club brand is highly transferable as it focuses on selling in many product categories and services. Because the name is fairly unspecific in terms of a product category or service, Sam’s Club has the flexibility to move into new product categories and add line or category extensions. ADAPTABLE The Sam’s Club brand is adaptable to change based on consumer values as it moves into the future because the brand elements are flexible and simple. Because Sam’s Club’s brand elements do not include characters or jingles and because they use unspecific category names, few changes would be necessary to maintain modernity and relevance. PROTECTABLE The “Sam’s Club” name and elements are protected in both a legal and competitive sense because they are trade-marked and service-marked. Current Marketing Programs and Strategies: Targeting Higher Income Households Sam’s Club has announced13 a change of direction through the following marketing strategies: ● Increasing the target median household of approximately $80,000 to $100,000.14 ● Plan to open eight to ten new clubs in 2016 in wealthier locations to begin reaching these consumers.14 ● Creating an in-store experience around these more affluent consumers through omni-channel marketing and training associates to be highly knowledgeable of products and “high member service related.”13 13 Trefis Team. "How Walmart Is Revamping Sam's Club To Take On Competition?". 2016. Forbes.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/03/01/how-walmart-is-revamping-sams-club-to-take-on-competition/#67fc73703e9b. 14 "Sam's Club - Sam's Club CEO On Costco: 'We Plan To Win'".
  • 9. 8 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Growing Product Quality and Offerings While targeting a more affluent consumer, Sam’s has identified the need to improve their serviceability and product quality, particularly in the produce and food categories,.15 The club has begun to implement the following strategies to improve opinions of perceived quality: ● Focus merchandising on products and services that satisfy the new target’s wants and needs15 ● Elevate merchandise offerings and assortment by focusing on the most needed segments and eliminating categories that no longer pertain to the target market.13 ● Offering more private label brands to increase perceived reliability and durability16 ● Hiring regional buyers to focus building local and organic options that will meet the wealthier consumer's expectations, cater better to regional tastes, and strengthen relationships of organic and healthy suppliers.15 Experience Marketing As a way to strengthen the consumer’s unique experience and perception of the brand while gaining more control over the consumer contacts, Sam’s has adopted a new experiential approach for their marketing program, which includes: ● Sense Marketing: Sam’s Club has implemented changes to the layout to strengthen the atmospherics.17 ● Act Marketing: Sam’s Club is beginning to expand their e-commerce capabilities to better accommodate the various consumer lifestyles and broaden opportunities for interaction. They recently launched a “Club Pick-Up” service for placing orders online, which comes with an app for customers to create shopping lists that they can later re-order automatically17 ● Customer Experience Management: Sam’s Club uses big data to find patterns in customer behavior to inform redesigns of their experience providers including the spatial environment. This improves customer experience by creating an omni-channel strategy that integrates all of the Club’s customer communication channels.17 15 "Sam's Club Hires Regional Buyers, Sees 'Local' Food As Key In Upscale Shift". 2016. Reuters. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us- walmart-buying-idUSKCN0W34EE. 16 Wahba, Phil. 2014. 17 Wahba, Phil. 2016. "How Sam’S Club Is Widening Its E-Commerce Lead Over Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2016/04/18/sams- club-ecommerce/?iid=sr-link7.
  • 10. 9 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT POPs and PODs There are three POPs in the Warehouse Clubs & Superstores industry: memberships, low-cost purchasing via buying in bulk, and a wide range of products and services available. In an attempt to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors and parent-store, Walmart, Sam’s Club has identified the following PODs: Points of Parity Points of Difference MEMBERSHIPS: Every large competitor within this industry offers a wide range of memberships for both personal and business use. DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY AND EXPERIENCE: Implementing an omni-channel strategy to communicate and engage consumers at every touchpoint.18 BULK BUYING & LOW PER-UNIT COST: Customers can purchase more product at a lower cost-per- unit than at superstores. BETTER MEMBER SERVICE: Focus on training associates’ knowledge and service capabilities to improve customer experience.18 A WIDE RANGE OF CATEGORIES AND SERVICES: Products include produce, electronics, health and financial services, auto, fuel, and travel for both personal and business needs. MERCHANDISE ASSORTMENT AND OFFERINGS: Growing and refining the merchandise offered to better appeal to the elevated consumer18 and Using big data to inform consumer trends and expectations. 18 2016. Samsclub.
  • 11. 10 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Branding Strategies Used Sub-branding Sam’s Club’s private label brand, Member’s Mark, functions as a sub-branding strategy, because the brand remains related to Sam’s Club’s associations and attitudes while being distinguished as a specific brand with a specific position. Sam’s Club is able to increase profits by using the private label brand because it competes with other popular store brand names in multiple product categories. Co-branding Sam’s Club allows for co-branding within the store via co-brand exposure, packaging, and signage. The picture to the right depicts co-branding using the gift card display, where customers can clearly see the Sam’s Club logo along with all the gift card brands.19 19 2016. Fbnstatic.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fbnstatic.com/static/managed/img/fb2/markets/sams-club1.jpg.
  • 12. 11 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Brand Portfolio Analysis 20 "UCCS Kraemer Family Library Login Page". 2016. Advantage.Marketline.Com.Libproxy.Uccs.Edu. Accessed April 27 2016. http://advantage.marketline.com.libproxy.uccs.edu/Product?pid=8046847E-B325-4AF0-BC79-48100850E764. Walmart International - Operates retail in 26 countries as supermarkets, supercenters, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, in addition to banks that provide limited financing programs. - Operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries, majority owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and other controlled subsidiaries internationally. - Revenues of $136,160 million in 2015, which accounts for approximately 28.2 % of the total revenues for 2015.20 Walmart US - Operates within all 50 states and Puerto Rico through supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets and other small formats. - Utilizes e-commerce through their website, www.walmart.com. - Offers branded and private label merchandise across various product categories and services, financial services and related products. - Revenues of $288,049 million in 2015, which displays a 3.1% increase over the previous year and accounts for 59.7% of total revenues.20 Sam’s Club - Provides hard goods, some soft goods and selected private-label items under the Member's Mark brand and two proprietary brands (Daily Chef and Simply Right). Sam's Club warehouses offer its merchandise under the following categories: grocery and consumables, fuel, home and apparel, technology, office and entertainment, and health and wellness.” - Revenues of $58,020 million in 2015, which displays an increase of 1.5% over the previous year and accounts for 12% of total revenues.20
  • 13. 12 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Key Brand Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths: - Accepts a variety of credit cards (not solely Visa like Costco)21 - Associated with Walmart helping Sam’s build its customer base and expand nationally and globally.22 - Over 600 stores, located in 48 states and 3 countries outside the U.S.22 - Small businesses are attracted to Sam’s due to the lower membership fee and overall low prices.23 Weaknesses: - Only three warehouses are currently outside of the U.S (Brazil, Mexico and China).22 - Stores heavily located only on one side of the country Competitors’ Brand Inventory Competitor’s Brands Name URL Logo / Symbol Slogan Costco www.costco.com NA BJ’s Wholesale www.bjs.com BJ’s Membership Gives You More Office Depot www.officedepot.com Gear Up for Great 21 Luthi, Ben. 2016. "Sam's Club To Start Taking Visa Credit Cards - Nerdwallet". Nerdwallet. Accessed April 27 2016. https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit- cards/sams-club-starts-accepting-visa/. 22 Adam. "SAM’S Club SWOT Analysis | Free SWOT Analysis". 2016. Freeswotanalysis.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.freeswotanalysis.com/retailing- swot/225-sams-club-swot-analysis.html. 23 Lopez, Patricia. 2015.
  • 14. 13 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Each of the competitors’ names are easily recognized, descriptive, transferable across categories and markets, updatable, and protectable. Much like Sam’s Club, these names are neutral in their likability because they aren’t interesting or aesthetically pleasing. The URLs for Costco and BJ’s Wholesale Club are both easy to remember and first to appear in a Google and Bing search but Office Depot is hard to find in a search. It appears further down in the search results with a confusing headline of “OfficeMax - Official Site.” The logos and symbols for each of these brands is less memorable, meaningful, and protectable because each use the color red making them hard to differentiate. All of the slogans on the other hand, are meaningful, transferable, and adaptable but none are likable because they are not interesting or verbally creative/appealing. Competitor’s Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths Weaknesses Costco - Efficient operating model, creating low costs in terms of expenses and price positioning - Various sustainability and environmental efforts - Steady financial performance and growth over several years - Limited choice within product categories - Highly dependent on markets in the US and Canada BJ’s Wholesale Club - Differentiated through car rentals, gas stations and additional home services - Focus on maintaining a savings of 30% under supermarket prices - Concentrated on the East Coast - Consumer shopping experience is far less developed than competitors Office Depot - Large and diverse consumer base, including business, individuals, schools, and govt. agencies - Differentiated through value added services such as print and design services, computer and technology support, and business solutions - Dependence on concentrated regions within the United States
  • 15. 14 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT BRAND EXPLORATORY Brand Image/Associations Sam’s Club is strongly associated with Walmart, which has advantages and disadvantages. Association with Walmart is an advantage, in that customers perceive Sam’s Club to be cheapest, because the Walmart brand has established that it offers the lowest prices of any retailer. Association with Walmart is a disadvantage as well, because the brand is associated with low quality products. This association causes consumers to perceive Sam’s Club as a low level retailer as well.24 Brand Positioning Analysis The Sam’s Club brand is well established and it is properly perceived as a warehouse club store by consumers. Because of this perception, customers identify Sam’s Club in the same category as BJ’s and Costco. This perception empowers customers to have some preliminary expectations due to Sam’s Club’s category membership. However, Sam’s Club is also perceived to be the same as Walmart. This is due to the fact that for a long time Sam’s Club targeted the same customer base as Walmart (consumers with $45,000 annual income). The Wall Street 24 Durham, Christopher. 2016. "Sam’S Club Looking Upmarket - My Private Brand". My Private Brand. Accessed April 27 2016. http://mypbrand.com/2016/01/25/sams-club-looking-upmarket/.
  • 16. 15 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Journal reported that Sam’s is trying to move away from that brand perception and target higher-income markets, similar to their competitors.25 Another view that consumers have about the brand is that it is small-business friendly. This stems from their many efforts to cater towards the small-business community, which makes up one-third of their memberships.26 Sam’s is delving into the small-business market more than ever; however, they are narrowing their target business types.27 Key Opportunities and Threats Facing the Brand OPPORTUNITIES: ● Introduce new private label brands to target specific price points28 ● Host food tasting events28 ● Focus on doing one category well. “Athleisure,” for example.28 ● Ancillary departments focused on a new customer segment.28 THREATS: ● Sam’s business is heavily influenced by market economy shits (buying in bulk requires more spending)28 ● Low margins must be made up for in sales volume and efficient operations.28 ● Legal opposition from local businesses.29 ● Dependence on few vendors to supply specific products.28 ● Cannibalization from Walmart28 25 Nassauer, Sarah. 2016. "Sam’S Club Aims To Be Less Like Wal-Mart ". WSJ. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-sams-club-shed-its-wal- mart-ways-1439754841. 26 Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Sam’S Club Overhauls Pick-Up Service With Eye On Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2015/06/04/sams-club- costco-2/. 27 " Sam’S Club Outlines New Merchandising Strategy, Organizational Changes". 2014. Drugstorenews.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.drugstorenews.com/article/sams-club-outlines-new-merchandising-strategy-organizational-changes. 28 "UCCS Kraemer Family Library Login Page". 2016. Subscriber.Hoovers.Com.Libproxy.Uccs.Edu. Accessed April 27 2016. http://subscriber.hoovers.com.libproxy.uccs.edu/H/industry360/trendsAndOpportunities.html?industryId=1531. 29 Nassauer, Sarah. 2016.
  • 17. 16 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT Brand Equity Analysis Sam’s Club’s brand equity can be explained with the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model on the right.303132333435 30 Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. 80. 31 2016. Coriolisresearch.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.coriolisresearch.com/pdfs/coriolis_understanding_Costco.pdf. 32 LLC, AllStays. 2016. "Sams Club Map | Sams Club Locations". Allstays.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.allstays.com/c/sams-club- locations-map.htm. 33 Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Sam’S Club Overhauls Pick-Up Service With Eye On Costco" 34 Nassauer, Sarah. 2016. 35 "Sam’s Club Outlines New Merchandising Strategy, Organizational Changes". 2014. Drugstorenews.Com.
  • 18. 17 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS As it stands, the Sam’s Club brand attracts mainly low income shoppers and small businesses. Small business consumers make up a third of Sam’s Club revenue sources making Sam’s vulnerable to their changing habits. Changes in the economic environment drastically reduce Sam’s Club sales because of how sensitive to the economy small businesses are. For a strong, long term strategy, Sam’s Club should focus their efforts on diversifying their revenue sources to include a new target: wealthy grocery shoppers. Currently, Costco is the club that serves the majority of these customers. If Sam’s club can capture some of these shoppers, they will be better positioned in the marketplace because they will have taken sales away from their biggest competitor and added those sales to the Sam’s Club bottom line. To capture and retain these consumers, the logo and slogan need to be re-imaged. Currently, Sam’s Club’s logo is too similar to the Walmart brand and the current logo’s font appears more B2B than an intended B2C appearance for the brand. To appeal to a new consumer segment, Sam’s Club should also use a friendly font. The logo on the right is an example of the redesign. Keeping the dark blue is important to the brand’s health because Sam’s club has already established their brand identity with dark blue. The new logo incorporates more of the light green to call attention to the company’s sustainability efforts. Emphasizing this point will separate Sam’s Club from the other warehouse clubs.
  • 19. 18 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT In addition to a logo change, a slogan change should be made to call attention to the company’s sustainability and environmental efforts. Instead of “Savings Made Simple”, which is too similar to what most other brands claim as their brand promise, the new slogan can be: “Green Savings Made Simple” This new slogan uses the words “Green Savings” as a reference to both saving money and saving the environment. The words: “Made Simple,” refer to the experience as being convenient and easy. This new slogan doesn’t deviate with the current slogan in order to maintain brand recognition, but it calls attention to the green efforts that Sam’s Club is undergoing. With the re-brand, Sam’s Club can secure their market position, attract new customers, and promote wellbeing. That is “Green Savings Made Simple” that anyone can get behind.
  • 20. 19 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT WORKS CITED 2016. Coriolisresearch.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.coriolisresearch.com/pdfs/coriolis_understanding_Costco.pdf. 2016. Fbnstatic.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fbnstatic.com/static/managed/img/fb2/markets/sams-club1.jpg. 2016. Samsclub. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageName=sustainability-symbol. Basu, Eshna. 2016. "The Sorry State Of Sam's Club, And Why Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Can't Give Up On The Warehouse – The Motley Fool". The Motley Fool. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/25/sams-clubs-sorry- story-and-why-wal-mart-cannot-giv.aspx. Berman, Jillian. (2014, May 16). Why Costco is Crushing Walmart-Owned Sam’s Club. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost. com/2014/05/16/sams-club-vs-costco_n_5332306.html. Durham, Christopher. 2016. "Sam’S Club Looking Upmarket - My Private Brand". My Private Brand. Accessed April 27 2016. http://mypbrand.com/2016/01/25/sams-club-looking-upmarket/. Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. 4th Edition. New Jersey, 2013. LLC, AllStays. 2016. "Sams Club Map | Sams Club Locations". Allstays.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.allstays.com/c/sams-club-locations-map.htm. Lopez, Patricia. 2015. "Costco Vs. Sam's Club - Which One Should You Join?". ABC13 Houston. Accessed April 27 2016. http://abc13.com/shopping/costco-vs-sams-club---which-one-should-you-join/550482/. Luthi, Ben. 2016. "Sam's Club To Start Taking Visa Credit Cards - Nerdwallet". Nerdwallet. Accessed April 27 2016. https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/sams-club-starts-accepting-visa/. Nassauer, Sarah. 2016. "Sam’S Club Aims To Be Less Like Wal-Mart ". WSJ. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-sams-club-shed-its-wal-mart-ways-1439754841. Renfrow, Jacqueline. 2016. "Sam's Club Looking For Wealthier Shoppers". Fierceretail. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.fierceretail.com/story/sams-club-looking-wealthier-shoppers/2015-12-15.
  • 21. 20 | P a g e SAM’S CLUB BRAND AUDIT "Sam's Club Hires Regional Buyers, Sees 'Local' Food As Key In Upscale Shift". 2016. Reuters. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-buying-idUSKCN0W34EE. "Sam's Club - Sam's Club CEO On Costco: 'We Plan To Win'". 2016. Corporate.Samsclub.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://corporate.samsclub.com/news-press/videos/youtube/sams-club-ceo-on-costco-we-plan-to-win-4no3rhbobg8. "Sam’s Club Outlines New Merchandising Strategy, Organizational Changes". 2014. Drugstorenews.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.drugstorenews.com/article/sams-club-outlines-new-merchandising-strategy-organizational-changes. "SAM’S Club SWOT Analysis | Free SWOT Analysis". 2016. Freeswotanalysis.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.freeswotanalysis.com/retailing-swot/225-samsclub-swot-analysis.html. Sozzi, Brian. 2016. "How Costco Is Winning Its Battle Against Wal-Mart's Sam's Club". Thestreet. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.thestreet.com/story/13166984/1/how-costco-is-winning-its-battle-against-wal-marts-sams-club.html. Trefis Team. "How Walmart Is Revamping Sam's Club To Take On Competition?". 2016. Forbes.Com. Accessed April 27 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/03/01/how-walmart-is-revamping-sams-club-to-take-on-competition/ #67fc73703e9b. "UCCS Kraemer Family Library Login Page". 2016. Subscriber.Hoovers.Com.Libproxy.Uccs.Edu. Accessed April 27 2016. http://subscriber.hoovers.com.libproxy.uccs.edu/H/industry360/trendsAndOpportunities.html?industryId=1531. Wahba, Phil. 2014. "How Sam’S Club Plans To Push Back Against Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2014/11/14/sams-club-costco/. Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Sam’S Club Overhauls Pick-Up Service With Eye On Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2015/06/04/sams-club-costco-2/. Wahba, Phil. 2015. "Wal-Mart’S Sam’S Club Has A Bunch Of New Services To Woo Business Members". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2015/04/22/walmart-samsclub-lendingclub/?iid=sr-link1. Wahba, Phil. 2016. "How Sam’S Club Is Widening Its E-Commerce Lead Over Costco". Fortune. Accessed April 27 2016. http://fortune.com/2016/04/18/sams-club-ecommerce/?iid=sr-link7.