The Mobil-Marathon case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Mobil-Marathon case - Essay Example The Directors of Marathon Oil Company filed an antitrust suit against Mobil at United States District Court in the Northern Ohio District. In the case, the director of Marathon argued that Mobil violated section seven of Clayton Act. The Act rejects the ideas of holding companies since they encourage the development of monopolies. The directors of Marathon wanted the court to restrain Mobil by preventing the company from purchasing shares of the company and permit the company to keep looking for other companies with which to form an appropriate merger. The district court ruled in the favor of Marathon Oil Company, which then proceeded to look for other companies. The directors of Marathon settled for United States Steel Inc., which was just newly formed. Just as the two were about to form a merger, Mobil Corporation filed a suit at the District Court in Southern District of Ohio arguing that Marathon had violated the Williams Act by withholding substantial information in its communication with its shareholders about merger and while filing with the country’s Stock Exchange Commission. Mobil Corp argued that the directors of Marathon had not disclosed adequate material facts of USS, Inc.’s tender offer. Mobil therefore requested an injunction on the merger. The district court denied the injunction. Mobil Corp appealed the ruling to the Sixth Circuit Court. The Circuit Court determined that Mobil indeed had the standing to bring a case against Marathon Oil Company since it was a tender offeror. As such, the Court began investigating the operations of Marathon as tabled by Mobil Corp. the court found that in its defensive tactics, Marathon Oil Company had violated a number of provisions of the William’s act (Kwoka and Lawrence 21). The two interrelated cases above involved a number of legal issues in the United States key among which was the interpretation and application of both the Williams Act and the Clayton’s Antitrust Act.

CONTEMPORARY BRAND MANAGEMENT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

CONTEMPORARY BRAND MANAGEMENT - Assignment Example The company’s brand portfolio comprises three major brands including: Adidas, Reebok and TaylorMade. Adidas market area includes sporting goods as well as the equipment industry. The chief segments of this industry include footwear for athletes, sports apparel, and also goods and equipment used for sporting. Other segments include equipment for: hunting, golf tennis, fishing, hiking, baseball, football, rollerblading, biking, snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding, skiing, and hockey, along with play scape and playground equipment. The company’s key competitors include Nike and PUMA. Others are Red tape, New Balance Bata, and Liberty. Athletes together with sports enthusiasts comprise the Adidas customers (Keller 2007, pp. 33). According to Kotler and Dubois (1991, pp. 23) a brand refers to a collection of mental links, held by a given consumer, and which add to the perceived worth of a service/product. These links should be strong, unique, and positive. Alternately, a pr oduct refers to anything which can be presented to a market for acquisition, attention, or consumption and which might fulfil a need or a want. The difference between a brand and a product is such that a brand is acknowledged with intangible values plus imagery, while a product is recognized with characteristics that are visible and very differentiating. Brand architecture strategy refers to the structure employed in organizing a company’s portfolio. It identifies the number and functions of brand names which the company utilises for its product range and also the target markets or target groups. Brand architectures are of various types including: product branding; house of brands; range branding; branded house; source branding; line branding; umbrella branding; endorsed branding and sub-brands. Adidas has adopted the branded house strategy. This is whereby, the brand shifts from being a leading driver to a more dominant one (John & Larry 1997, pp. 48). Brand positioning and its relevance to branding According to Aaker (1992, pp.22), brand positioning involves locating the brand in the intellect or minds of customers in order to exploit the potential profits to the business. Brand positioning is comprised of the following components: Product class or market. This refers to a collection of products/services and brands that are perceived as alternatives to fulfil some precise consumer need. Consumer segmentation. It describes consumer profiles that the brand will serve and what their needs are. Consumer segmentation can be accomplished in terms of geographical/physical location (i.e. region, urban/sub-urban, county size, seasons, climate, etc); demographic factors (i.e. age, education, sex, income, family size, religion, occupation, nationality and race); behavioural factors (i.e. loyalty status, benefits sought, purchase occasion, usage rate, user status, actual purchase and attitude to product) (Aaker 1992, pp.24). Perceptual mapping. This refers to a g raphic approach employed by marketers which tries to visually customer perceptions. It entails methods applied in the analysis and comprehension of how consumers perceive products. It includes the identification of product weaknesses; development and assessment of concepts; consumer perceptions’ tracking; and finally, unearthing group differences (Aaker 1992, pp.26). Brand benefits and attributes. The physical presence of a brand does not guarantee its position in mind of the target consumer. For the product to gain entry into that