Critical Thinking, Evaluation, and Deduction Assignment:

Please analyze Southwest Airlines, identify the reasons why the company has been successful in the unattractive industry, and predict its future. You need to research the company, using a variety of reliable sources such as books, journal articles, library database, trustworthy news media, credible Web sources, etc. After collecting relevant information, you need to evaluate and draw conclusions based on deductive reasoning. Your response should include the following segments:

1. Operational overview of Southwest Airlines. Why is the company so successful?
2. Current economic condition of the airline industry. How would this affect Southwest Airlines?
3. Current operational issues or challenges within Southwest Airlines. How can Southwest Airlines take on the issues or challenges?
4. Trends for the future within the operational segment. How can Southwest Airlines remain competitive in the future?

To effectively address the above questions, you are expected to write an evaluation essay (with the headings preferred) using deductive reasoning. Here are a few tips:

• The purpose of an evaluation essay is to present an opinion or viewpoint on a subject or body of work. The writer should firstly provide a summary of the article in question, then present a point-of-view supported with clear examples and evidence, using a thorough, well-structured argument so that the evaluation seems reasoned and unbiased.
• Deductive reasoning starts with a general principle and deduces that it applies to a specific case. Deductive reasoning moves with exacting precision from the assumed truth of a set of premises to a conclusion which cannot be false if those premises are true. Explain the deductive reasoning process applied to analyze the firm’s performance.

Students will develop a brand scorecard assessing the brand value and equity of two rival brands competing in the same industry or market space. The assignment is to develop a scorecard and apply it to the selected rival brands. The scorecard will be conveyed in a slide presentation, including presenter notes.

The scorecard and comparison will be based on information from public secondary sources, company web sites, as well as professional experiences and insights. Surveys and primary research are encouraged but not required. Specifically, students will create a brand comparison scorecard and assess the image, resonance, value and equity of the rival brands selected.

The following components and issues will be addressed:

Brand Scorecard: Develop, apply, explain and present a brand scorecard incorporating most if not all of the following criterion. Other criterion may be added.
1. Design. Does the brand name, image, slogan, logo or symbol resonate? Does it align with corporate identity and image? Explain the primary and secondary research methods.

2. Brand Marketing. How is the brand positioned? Characterize how the brands are positioned. Identify the marketing activities that support and contribute to your brand’s positioning strategies. Are there opportunities to further enhance that positioning? What markets and channels have they entered? Are there opportunities to develop new channels or segments?

3. Brand Growth. What customer engagement, advertising, and promotion strategies have the brands adopted? Critique their respective architectures. Can a brand hierarchy be identified? If so, what is good and bad about their hierarchy? Do the brands fit into a broader brand portfolio?

4. Brand Value and Equity. What is the value of the brand to the company? Assess the performance of the brands. How well has it been expanded into new markets or channels? How is the growth strategy evaluated and what kind of tools could be used in that evaluation? How have the customer engagement strategies impacted the brand value?

Please note:

A. At the instructor’s discretion: Each student will have 15 minutes to present, with 5 minutes of that time devoted to Q&A. All students are expected to attend all individual presentations to listen and participate in Q&A.

B. If present, students should turn in a copy of their slides prior to their presentation. The final presentation is suggested be between eight to twelve slides. Exhibits can be added and are not included in the slide total. The presentation should be a top-line summary of the key points from the scorecard.

You are a product manager planning to launch a new product. For this part of the project, you will select the product you want to focus on and discuss the target audience for this project.

To complete this assignment, do the following:

1. Select the product you want to focus on in this project. This may be an existing product that is new to your company, or it may be a nonexistent product that is new to the world. If you choose to launch an existing product (one that is new to your company, but not new to the world), put a twist on it so that it is not identical to a product already in the market.

   NOTE: You will use the same product throughout the duration of the course project, so please choose wisely!

2. Use a minimum of 2 scholarly sources to complete a 2-page paper in which you:
• Discuss the product you plan to launch and explain why you selected it.
• Include a preliminary discussion of who the target audience is for the product.
• Outline the value that the selected product will deliver to the target consumer.
• Add an APA-formatted reference page containing the scholarly sources you used, and be sure to include in-text citations to those sources throughout your paper.