The brand leader - Beloved Brands PDF

Preview

Summary

How to write an annual Brand Plan...

Description

THE BRAND LEADER

How to write your annual Brand Plan so that everyone in your organization can follow Have you ever noticed that people who say, “We need to get everyone on the same page” rarely have anything written down on ONE page? People use the term “fewer bigger bets” all the time, yet these same people seem to be fans of those small little projects that deplete resources. People say they are good decision-makers, yet struggle when facing strategic choices, so they try to justify doing both options. A well-written Brand Plan should force your hand in how to allocate your brand’s limited resources to drive the highest return. We believe that a Brand Plan should be on one page!

Beloved Brands

1

We make brand leaders smarter

The role of the Brand Plan The Brand Plan has to align, steer and inspire all functional areas of the organization including marketing, sales, finance, supply chain, product development, human resources and any outside agencies. The plan is a decision-making tool to gain approval from senior management on spending, strategies, tactics, goals and projects. It should even help the Brand Manager who wrote it, to stay focused during the year, on delivering on what they said they would deliver. To be effective, the plan has to answer five strategic questions: 1) Where could we be? 2) Where are we? 3) Why are we here? 4) How can we get there? 5) What do we need to do? If you answer these five strategic questions, you will see that you have a rough draft outline of your vision, analysis, key issues, strategies, execution and measurement. Just as you would start an essay with an outline or rough draft, we recommend that you start with the 5 Strategic Questions worksheet (see below) putting 3 bullet points for each of the 5 strategic questions. If a Brand Plan is like an orchestral arrangement for the organization, think of these answers as the lyrics to the song.

Beloved Brands

2

We make brand leaders smarter

The beauty of this process is we can see how you get from those 5 strategic questions to the overall brand plan. Yes, there is a lot of work to go deeper on each question, but once you do, you will end up with a Brand Plan on ONE PAGE.!

Brand Vision When I see brand teams struggling, they usually a lack a brand vision. Without a vision, brands get so short term focused about next month, they meander and meander, creating more confusion than clarity. You need a brand vision. As Yogi Berra famously said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there”. The vision sets the tone for “Where could we be?” putting a stake in the ground to inspire and push the brand forward. An inspiring brand vision should scare you a little, but excite you a lot! It should be a balance between aspiration (stretch) and reality (achievement). To find the right brand vision, we ask brand leaders: “If you woke up 10 years from now and you were in a great mood because of what was happening on your business, list out the 3 things you would have achieved?” This gives you a rough draft of a vision statement, framed as a huge goal. Some will use the term BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). The idea is to stretch your brain beyond the day-to-day and provide a beacon in the future that everything must work towards. Beloved Brands

3

We make brand leaders smarter

A well-written brand vision is the ultimate end-in-mind achievement. A brand vision should last 5-10 years or more, helping to paint a picture of where could we be. Make it emotional and motivating for all employees and partners to rally around. Put it into plain words so it is easy to follow. Use a common phrase, already used within the company. Not everyone will tell you this, but I think you should attach or embed a financial or share position element, as long as it’s important for framing the vision. After all, you are running a business. A couple of watch outs for vision statements. It is not the “how” so make sure your vision is a destination not a strategy for getting to the destination. Try to be single minded and avoid one of those long-winded statement that includes everything to every possible stakeholder. Those might make good reading in your annual report, but they all sound the same after a while. As part of your brand vision, for brands that are very closely connected to the culture of the organization, it can be very motivating to the entire team to have a well-defined brand purpose that explains “why you do what you do”. Apple is a brand that is closely linked to their culture and used a purpose of, “We believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. We want to make a dent in the universe.” For brands where the culture delivers the brand experience, having the brand values clearly stated, not only inspires the staff but holds them accountable to certain key standards. The core beliefs of the brand shape the organization as to the standards, behaviors, expectations. The brand has to be able to stand up to and consistently deliver each value.

Situation Analysis Before we plan where to go next, we need to understand “Where are we?” today. We recommend a deep-dive business review that looks at everything connected to the business including the category, consumer, competitors, channels and the brand. •

Category: Start by looking at the overall category performance to gain a macro view of all major issues. Dig in on the factors impacting category growth, including economic indicators, consumer behavior, technology changes, shopper trends, political regulations or what is happening in other related categories that could impact your own category.

•

Consumer: Define your consumer target, digging deep on the consumer’s underlying beliefs, buying habits, growth trends, consumer enemies and key insights. Use a consumer buying system analysis and leaky bucket analysis to uncover how they shop the category and your brand. Uncover consumer perceptions through tracking data or market research.

•

Channels: Look at the performance of all potential distribution channels and every major customer in the category. Understand your channel customer’s strategies, as well as the

Beloved Brands

4

We make brand leaders smarter

available tools and programs your customers have, so your brand can align your brand with each customer and find a pathway to success within each channel. •

Competitors: Dissect your closest competitors by looking at their performance indicators, brand positioning, innovation pipeline, pricing strategies, distribution and the perceptions of the brand through the eyes of their consumers. Map out a strategic Brand Plan for all major competitors to help predict what they might do next, and know how you might counter in your own brand plan.

•

Brand: Understand the reputation of your brand through the lens of consumers, customers and employees. Use brand funnel data, market research, marketing program tracking results, pricing analysis, distribution gaps and financial analysis. Look at the internal health and wealth (inside the company) as well as the external health and wealth of the brand (in the market place).

To draw conclusions from the deepdive review, you need to summarize the factors driving the brand, the factors holding the brand back and then lay out the risks and untapped opportunities. Above, you will see summary tool that lays out the top 3-4 points for each box. The simplicity of the deep dive analysis is that it provides a starting point for the issues, as you will want to find ways to continue or enhance the drivers, to minimize or reverse the inhibitors, to avoid or manage the risks and to take advantage of the new opportunities."

Beloved Brands

5

We make brand leaders smarter

Key Issues The Key Issues answers “Why are we here?” by taking the findings of the deep-dive analysis and drawing conclusions as to the major issues that are in the way of the brand achieving their stated vision. A tool we recommend to help uncover many of the key issues and set the scene for “Why are we here?” is to ask 4 strategic questions: 1. What is your current competitive position? 2. What is the core strength your brand can win on? 3. How tightly connected is your consumer to your brand? 4. What is the current business situation your brand faces?

We have set up this model so that there are 4 possible answers for each question, helping to frame the competitive, brand, consumer and situational issues. One exercise we recommend for teams is to run a brainstorm that gets all the possible issues on the table. Start off with the brand vision, and then ask “What are all the things getting in the way of achieving the vision?” Let group to list out every possible issue, up to 30-40 issues. Make it a venting Beloved Brands

6

We make brand leaders smarter

session. Then narrow down the list to the top 3-5 major themes. Once you have narrowed it down, write the top issues as questions, that sets up options for the strategy as the possible answers. Almost think of key issues, written in terms of a “rhetorical strategic question” that should be a bit leading, and have a proposed strategy almost embedded as the solution. Spend the time on these questions with deep thinking, because the better the strategic question you ask, the better the strategic answer you will get.

Strategies The strategic choices start to answer “How can we get there” by providing options for solving the Key Issues. As my business school professor used to say 15 times per class, “It’s all about choices, it’s all about choices”. Too many Marketers come to a decision point that requires focus, and instead of making a firm decision, they try to justify a way to do both. You have to decide. Every decision point should force a choice. Marketers always face limited resources in terms of dollars, time, people and partnerships. Yet, they have to apply those limited resources against unlimited choices from a broad array of options for the potential target market, brand positioning, strategic options and executional activities. The best Marketers use smart decision-making to limit the options to focus their limited resources that they are deploying.They never divide and conquer. They make the choices to focus and conquer. The more focus, the higher the potential to drive a stronger return on investment (ROI) and a more efficient return on effort (ROE). Focused brands can build and own a stronger reputation and be more competitive, by standing for what they are really good at. And once you can demonstrate solid returns, efficient deployment of resources and a more competitive market position, then you will get even more investment behind your brand.

Key issue How do we drive usage among most loyal consumers?

Strategy Turn our most loyal consumers’ regular usage into a ritual by creating an elevated, VIP experience to tighten their bond with our brand.

The right question in your Key Issues, sets up the smartest potential strategy as the answer. Looking at the example below, you will see a layered elements of focus: A narrow target market (most loyal consumers), specific expectation of movement for the consumer (turn usage into a ritual), stated marketing program (VIP experience) and a focused end result (tighten bond). With this type of strategic statement, the execution team has very clearly stated marching orders. Smart Marketers control the strategy, never leaving any room for confusion or hesitation. One tool we use to help guide strategic choices is our hypothetical “Brand Love Curve” which is used to assess how tightly connected your brand is with your consumers. We believe that brands Beloved Brands

7

We make brand leaders smarter

move along the curve through five phases, moving from Unknown to Indifferent to Like It to Love It and finally becoming a Beloved brand. The reason brands need to move along the Brand Love Curve is to leverage their increased connectivity with consumers, to become more powerful against all stakeholders in the market. With that added power, brands gain more profit through higher prices, efficient costs, share gains and a bigger market size. Where you sit on the Brand Love Curve should guide your next major strategic move. At the Unknown stage, the strategy is about getting noticed in the market. For a brand at the Indifferent stage, where consumers have no opinion of your brand, brands should focus on establishing your brand in the consumers mind. Build an opinion about your brand, by taking a stand. At the Like It stage, where consumers see the brand as a rational choice, there needs to be strategic work to separate your brand from the pack and generate a following with a core group of consumers. At the Love It stage, focus on tugging at the heart-strings of consumers to drive a deeper connection with those consumers who love the brand. At the Beloved stage, continue the magical feeling of the brand and get loyalists to scream to their network on the brand’s behalf.

Beloved Brands

8

We make brand leaders smarter

The unknown brand At the unknown brand stage, the brand might be a completely new innovation, re-launch, hidden gem, small niche looking to expand, or entering into a new region or channel. Many new brands struggle to break through to reach consumers or build distribution with doubting retailers. Leadership team conflicts result in confusion around the value proposition, inconsistent messaging to consumers and everyone in the organization moving in different directions. Like any new launch, there is a risk of being seen as a product, not yet a brand idea. Too many times, companies at this stage fixate more on selling than marketing. There is a desperation for sales, no matter who buys or why they buy. This stage is where the heavy investment is needed to establish both brand awareness and distribution. Being seen as a commodity product, with no real separation from competitors, makes it hard to command a price premium. It is hard to generate efficiencies in selling and marketing. The 3-point game plan for unknown brands: 1) Create a Big Idea to build everything around, both internally and externally. 2) Stay focused to maximize your limited resources: focused target, tight positioning, tight strategies, and limited activities—always focused on driving a return. 3) Find ways to passionately express your brand purpose as a rallying point, both internally and externally. The four brand strategies that unknown brands should focus on are: 1. Brand Set up: Establish distribution, brand experience, purchase moment. 2. Launch: Enter market, building awareness with consumers, sales levels with channels. 3. Build core message: Establish niche benefit and a big idea that will establish a reputation. 4. Find early lovers: Build a small base of early adopters, who become fans to build upon.

The Indifferent brand For Indifferent brands, these brands are likely too product-focused, not yet able to find way to separate the brand from competitors. The brands act like commodities. They suffer from very skinny brand funnels, with low awareness at the top of the funnel, with soft purchase, repeat and loyalty scores. These brands suffer from poor tracking scores on any marketing support programs. Without a big idea or unique positioning, it is difficult to break through with advertising or innovation. To keep selling, these brands becomes reliant on price promotions to drive volume, resulting in a profit margin squeeze. Lower volumes prevent these brands from reaching the needed economies of scale to drive down variable cost of goods. These brands are unable to gain new users or drive frequency. They have no power with retailers, unable to get their fair share of shelf space, display or price promotions. These brands are at risk of being delisted, if they fall below volume thresholds. Private label brands threaten their sales levels. These brands have lower payback on Marketing activities, making the marketing investment (advertising, innovation, in-store) difficult to justify.

Beloved Brands

9

We make brand leaders smarter

The 3-point game plan for Indifferent brands: 1) Create a Big Idea to establish the brand’s uniqueness and build a reputation to stand behind. 2) Focus the brand’s limited resources on establishing a point of difference in the consumer’s mind. 3) More passion and risk into your work. The four brand strategies that unknown brands should focus on are: 1. Mind Shift: Drive a new brand position or re-enforce current positioning 2. Mind Share: Draw more attention than competitors by being better or different. 3. New News: Launch something new or re-launch to appear new. 4. Turnaround: Focus energy on gaps, leaks in the brand’s execution.

Like It brands Brands at the Like It stage doing a pretty good job in establishing itself on a rational level. However, without an emotional connection, these brands suffer from a lower than desired conversion to purchase. These brand looks healthy in terms of driving awareness and tracking scores, however the brand keeps losing to competitors as the consumer moves to the purchase stage.!These brands usually require a higher trade spend to close that sale. This cuts into profit margins. An important tracking score to watch is “the brand seem different” helping to separate the brand from the pack. Without any emotional connection these brand get to a certain level and then face stagnant market shares.!They make gains during Marketing support periods but face declines during the non-support periods. These brands appear content to hold onto their share and grow at the same rate as the category. In categories with high private label shares, if you focus too much on product ingredients and rational features, the consumer will start to figure out they can get the same thing with the private label at a significantly lower price. Here is a 3-point game plan for Like It brands: 1) Leverage the brand’s big idea to connect emotionally. 2)!Focus your resources on building a bigger following by converting awareness to purchases.!3) Build a culture of passion, where everyone loves the work they produce. The four brand strategies that Like It stage brands should focus on are: 1. Drive Penetration: Bring in new consumers. 2. Drive Usage: Get consumers to use more/differently by building the brand into a routine. 3. Consolidation: Induce consumers to use the brand for more usage occasions. 4. Cross Sell: Persuade current consumer base to try other products within the brand.

Love It brands Brands at the Love It stage start to see a higher emotional connection and a resulting power in the marketplace. Indicators include a strong conversion from purchase to loyalty. These brands are able Beloved Brands

10

We make brand leaders smarter

to drive strong repeat and loyalty scores, as the brand becomes a routine or ritual. The brand is now seen as different and motivating. These brands see a strong overall brand funnel with an expanding user base and a strengthening usage frequency as the brand becomes part of the consumer’s routine. Highly responsive Marketing programs and tracking results means the brand can shift to more efficient spending with lower GRPs.!The brand sees high adoption of new innovation, which allows the brand to continue to stretch the consumer towards the ideal brand positioning. High net promoter scores leads to high word of mouth recommendations, social media recommendations or positive on-line brand reviews (e.g.Yelp or Trip Advisor). These brands should be able to leverage their power with retailers and influencers. Even in a competitive market, a brand at the Love It stage should be able to gain share and widening their leadership stance. The 3-point game plan for Love It brands...