Founder of Portia M on what got her business off the ground - 'The brand belongs to the people' The Portia M brand has become synonymous with affordable skincare. Its founder, Portia Mngomezulu, had humble beginnings in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, living with her maternal grandmother.

As a teen, she would take the scraps of material left over from her seamstress mother’s creations and make decorative cushions to sell or plait people’s hair. She started earning money quite early because she was creative and good with her hands.

The eldest of three children, she studied towards an Information Technology diploma at the Tshwane University of Technology. Her entrepreneurial spirit was ignited when she stumbled upon the remarkable benefits of Marula oil. She developed stretch marks from her first pregnancy in 2010.

Her husband is from Swaziland and on one of their visits, her mother-in-law told her how they used Marula oil for any skin ailments. She bought a 500 ml bottle from the rural women and tried it out. It did wonders for her skin and she kept buying more. She also decided to repack it into smaller 100 ml bottles and gave it to friends to try.

She received great feedback from friends who used the product and that motivated her to establish her own company. With the help from Seda, Portia was a step closer to seeing her brand materialize. Back at her garage, she was busy formulating and making products using a two-plate stove, a cake mixer and a ‘paraffin funnel’ to fill product containers.

She found a good packaging from there Makro started distributing the product in small units and social media was used to get more people to try the product.

One of the founders of Placecol came on board to assist with more product research and further formulation of the products. After the company was registered with Seda (a business development organisation), the formulation was perfected and more rigorous testing done at the then Medunsa University and ensuring adherence with the South African Bureau of Standards.

Through the ABSA supplier programme Portia M got an opportunity to market her brand and made meaningful connections which resulted to her brand being listed in 20 Pick ‘n Pay stores. Adapted: Labase, S. n.d. Founder of Portia M on what got her business off the ground - 'The brand belongs to the people'. Retrieved from https://www.snl24.com/truelove/lifestyle/careers/founder-of-portia-m-on-what-got-her- business-off-the-ground-the-brand-belongs-to-the-people-20230109 [Accessed 29 April 2023].

Question 1

1.1. Brand equity is a multidimensional construct concept. Several components go into building brand equity. Consider Aaker’s model and advise Portia M’s CEO on how the five (5) asset categories of brand equity can be applied to benefit her brand. (5x3 = 15 marks)

1.2 Brand equity provides value for the business, which includes financial value and customer value. Keller (2008) recommends four (4) building blocks that can be used to move the customer up the brand equity pyramid. Explain how Portia M can use the building blocks recommended by Keller to build brand equity. (4x3 = 12 Marks)

1.3 Portia M is a new brand competing among well-established beauty products for customers' attention. Outline the concept of brand awareness and how Portia M can increase brand awareness to gain a greater market share. (8 Marks)

Question 2

2.1 Discuss the correlation between differentiation and positioning and how it applies to a brand such as Portia M.(20 marks)

2.2 Jack Trout stresses the importance of logic when differentiating and highlights that logic is not about being creative, cute or imaginative but a science that deals with the rules and tests of sound thinking. As a newly appointed brand manager of Portia M, describe to your team the four (4) steps of positioning and explain how they can be implemented for the success and growth of the brand. (4x3=12 Marks)