Here's a quick, simple and easy way to come up with brand ideas in a group session for those assignments in which you don't get a clear brand objective or brief from the client. While this is a quick-fix, it's always advisable to pester your clients into investing in consumer research and branding and set clearer communication goals. (Please don't use for professional purposes without express permission.)

1. BRAND IDEA WORKSHOP:
COMMUNICATION PLANNING IN MINUTES
TEAM SESSION TO DEVELOP A COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING
OF BRANDS AND CAMPAIGNS FOR QUICKER TURNAROUNDS
Sept ’15 | Dubai

2. Agenda/
Intro
Cases
Session

3. Section 1: Brands and campaigns

4. Brand is about identity
and experience:
who you are and
what you feel
like.
Campaigns focus on
what you offer
and how your
audience
benefits.
BRAND CAMPAIGN

5. a sustained marketing effort to
communicate
what your organization
stands for.
BRAND CAMPAIGN

6. The modern brand is built with purpose.

8. *Simon Sinek’s TED Talk

9. All other brand guidelines
may change, purpose
won’t.

10. Purpose is often personal.

11. Purpose is always about
people.

12. Purpose is evident from
everything the brand says
or does.

13. But how do we arrive at purpose?

14. Realize the brand in it’s ideal world, it’s Utopia*.
*Utopia Planning Tool is another brand planning workshop at Clique Interactive

15. The Original
Brand Ladder
ATTRIBUTES
FUNCTIONAL
BENEFIT
EMOTIONAL
BENEFIT

16. Apple makes Mac
Google Search is
a product by
Alphabet
Kit Kat offers a “break”
Corporation makes product
Product has a benefit
Benefit goes with a user-image
User-image comes with a significance
The significance can lead you to brand
Budweiser is for
“brahs”
Honda implores you to
believe in the “Power of
dreams”

17. Or, we can derive the brand through a campaign
(not ideal , but happens)

18. The objective of this session
✓To look into planning tools that can used in quick team ideations
✓To learn by examples
✓To arrive at the brand idea

19. Section 2: Instances

20. Nike: Just do itNike: Just do it
Not just the largest sports brand but the
largest apparel brand (as per equity) in the
world.

21. imagery
Associations
Started in 1963, registered
as Nike in 1971
Swoosh logo in 1971
Prefontaine runs wearing
Nike in 1972
John McEnroe signs up in
1978
Air Jordan launches in 1984
1988 - Just Do It ad by W+K
(Gary Gilmore’s last words)
1988 - Mars Blackmon
1991 - Andre Agassi - RHCP
ad
1995 - first women’s
commercial
1996 -99 - Tiger Woods
2009 - Nike+
2012 - Find your greatness
25th anniversary of “Just Do
It” - Possibilities
Timeline:
Innovations
Perceived
Quality

22. Purpose/id
eology:
“to help find the athlete within all of us”

23. Narrative:
Superstardom
Ordinary person doing their best
at a certain sport.
“American spirit”
Aggression, competition, arrogance
“Global empathy”
Willpower, simplicity, humility,
enablement

24. Nike makes you feel strong,
efficient
Nike is for athletes
Nike signifies perseverance
and greatness
Nike Brand
Ladder

25. MasterCard: For everything else there’s MasterCardMasterCard: For everything else there’s MasterCard
A payment system that made it’s brand
synonymous with special moments.

26. Coverage
Benefits
Early 80s - We circle the
world
Late 80s - So worldly, so
welcome
Early 90s - Master the
moment
1997 – 2015:
One campaign in 200
countries - “Priceless”
(160+ spots, numerous
memes and fake ads, a
popular network site,
loyalty program, CSR,
events
Timeline:
Moments

28. “to facilitate everything that money can buy”
Purpose/id
eology:

29. Narrative:
Best way to pay for
everything that
matters
Connecting people to priceless
possibilities

30. MasterCard has the best
benefits and promotions
MasterCard is for people
who’d want the best of
everything
MasterCard signifies a fulfilled
life
Mastercard
Brand
Ladder

31. Dove: Real BeautyDove: Real Beauty
A soap brand that has redefined the
notions of beauty

32. Product
truth
1957 - 1/4 cleansing
cream
1958 - Creams your
skin while you wash
1960 - 2003
Not a soap “Dove is
different”
2004:
Real beauty
Timeline:
Audience
Truth

33. Challenge:
“the definition of beauty had become
limiting and unattainable” and “only 2%
of women around the world describe
themselves as beautiful”
Solution:
“Campaign for real beauty”

34. “make women feel good about themselves”
Purpose/id
eology:

35. Narrative:
This product is good
for your skin
You are perfect as you are

36. Dove keeps your perfect skin
moisturized as it is part
cream
Dove is for the real women
Dove signifies feeling great
about oneself
Dove Brand
Ladder

37. AmazonAmazon
The largest etailer brand built on
the benefit of customer service and
the values of trust and credibility.

38. Improveme
nts
1995 - Launch
1995 - Customer reviews
1997 - Recommendations
and bundles, 1-click
ordering
2001 - Look inside the
book, Where’s my stuff
2002 - Super saving
shipping
2003 - Search inside the
book
2005 - Amazon Prime
2006 - Voted #1 in
Customer Service According
to National Retail Survey
2007 - Kindle launch
2010 - Amazon Studios
2011 - 28+ acquisitions of
other web services
2012 - ventures into
original content
Timeline:
Innovation
Customer
service

39. “If you make your customers unhappy on
the internet, they can tell each of their
6000 friends”
-Jezz Bezos, CEO

40. “To give the world quality with affordability”
Purpose/id
eology:

41. Narrative:
World’s biggest
bookstore
World’s biggest selection

42. Amazon gives you lowest
prices and ease of purchase
Amazon is tech savvy, next
gen
Amazon signifies access and
reliability
Amazon
Brand
Ladder

43. Section 5: Workshop

44. What is your ideal
world of your brand?
(define every nuance like
you’d like to see it in an
ad shot by Wes
Anderson)
Exercise #1: What is your brand’s utopia?Exercise #1: What is your brand’s utopia?
*Utopia Planning Tool is another brand planning workshop at Clique Interactive

45. Exercise #2: What goes into your brand ladder?Exercise #2: What goes into your brand ladder?
Who makes it?
What is it made for?
What does it help you do?
What does it make you feel
like?
What kind of a person does
it help you become?
What does it signify in life?
(value)
Rolex is from Switzerland
Rolex makes expensive
watches
Rolex makes you feel special
Rolex wearers are successful
people
Rolex signifies achievement
(Example)
What is it made of?

46. Exercise #3: Why does your brand exist?Exercise #3: Why does your brand exist?
Why?
Answer like a non-profit or
a band, anything but a
business
How?
Answer how
you do in
differently
What?
Answer what
you do

47. Exercise #4: Match the findings. If any two sound similar follow thatExercise #4: Match the findings. If any two sound similar follow that
cue.cue.
Ideal worldIdeal world
(this takes
time to
develop)
SignificanceSignificance PurposePurpose
(can be
quickly
derived from
less data)
(can be
quickly
derived if
you know
the brand
well)

48. Exercise #5: Visualize your findings.Exercise #5: Visualize your findings.
(make a moodboard/collage with images that can symbolize the statement from
the last slide)

49. Exercise #5A: If your brand was a _____ it would be a ______Exercise #5A: If your brand was a _____ it would be a ______
(Use 1 image for each)

50. DEFINE
CONCEPT
(VISUALS –
MAKE A
MOODBOAR
D WITH 5-10
IMAGES
FROM THE
ABOVE
SLIDES)
Assignment for everyone in the meeting:
“Build a Brand Concept”

51. Additional (If needed)

52. Exercise #6: What do you expect the brand to do 3 years in theExercise #6: What do you expect the brand to do 3 years in the
future?future?
(How?)
(Saying what?)
(What
kind?)
(What
over and
above the
promised
?)

53. Now remember how we said “for quicker
turnarounds” in the beginning? That’s not
an ideal thing to do for cracking brand
ideas. As a matter of fact you crack
campaigns, your “develop” brand ideas. It
takes thorough research and thinking and
endless mugs of caffeinated drinks.
Having said that, there are clients who
would expect you to plan communication
with half-assed briefs and no brand guide
within hours. This workshop is to address
the issue of those
asinine pricks.
Hope this session helped. Thanks.