In this assignment, you will apply Concepts from Chapter $9$ to a brand that you are familiar with that is sold in grocery stores. Brands are a part of all our lives. There are brands we love and trust and other that we hate. Part of our reaction to a brand is based on how brand managers present the brand to us$,$ and also what our experience is with the brand, and to some degree, what others think about the brand. Using the text, familiarize yourself with each of the Marketing terms that are bolded below. Be sure to answer each of the questions below, and also remember to reply to at least two other people's postings. The better you understand each term, the better and more informed your response is likely to be and the better your score on this discussion. Here's your task...

$1.$ Pick a company that sells several different kinds of products in different product categories in a grocery store $($not including fresh produce, flowers, the fresh meat counter, the deli counter, or fresh bakery items.$)$ Examples of product categories include: packaged food, frozen food, mixes, cereals, deserts, snacks, condiments, baking supplies, canned food, frozen or luncheon meat, dairy, personal care, cleaning products, and many others. Some of these categories overlap, e$.$g$.$ a frozen desert. Identify and list as many products as you can that are produced by your company and sold through grocery stores. Pick a company that sells at least three different brands. You should be able to think of a company and check out its brand portfolio on the company$$s website.

$2.$ Pick one brand from the list of products that are sold by your chosen company. For purposes of this assignment, the brand will be the name of the product. Identify the brand, the category of the item, and the name of the company that sells that brand. An example would be $$Special K$$ in the $$cereal category$$ made by $$Kellogg$$s$.$

$3.$ Describe the kinds of brand meanings $($beliefs and associations$)$ that customers have about this brand. You may be able to get some sense of this if you read brand$/$product customer reviews online. What meanings does the brand hold for you?

$4.$ Describe the kind of brand story that the company tells via packaging, advertising, and social media. You may need to do some google searches for advertisements, check their web site to see how the product is described, or visit YouTube to see what video ads have looked like. Share links that best illustrate the brand story and give some details of what the brand story is for those of us who might not be familiar with the brand you have selected.

$5.$ Has this brand spawned any brand extension products. If yes, what are they? If no$,$ what kind of brand extension would you recommend? Example: A brand extension for Special K cereal might be Special K granola$-$type bars made with Special K cereal along with things like chocolate chips, coconut or peanut butter.

$6.$ How does the product packaging help or hinder the brand$$s success, especially when compared to competing brands? Describe how it helps or hinders.

$7.$ Where do you think the brand$/$product you selected is located in the product lifecyle chart? Why do you think this is the case?

$8.$ If you were the brand manager for this brand what changes would you make to strengthen the brand and increase profits? Why did you select these specific changes? Any appropriate, legitimate brand management strategy is fair game. Note that saying something similar to $$everything is great as is$,$ no change needed$$ is not and acceptable response.