We have mapped out the 7 elements of smart strategic thinking, as a way to guide and challenge you to think strategically. Challenge yourself to take your brand strategy and see how it lines up to our 7 elements of smart strategic thinking. Do you have a vision, are you focused enough, are you taking advantage of some opportunity? You can have this on the brand overall, or any project that you are working on. We will show you how the model works, then provide examples drawn out using Apple, Starbucks and Special K.
The marketing skills you need to be a successful Brand LeaderBeloved Brands Inc.
Our Brand Leader white paper on marketing skills
At Beloved Brands, we use a 360-degree approach to marketing, which can highlight the skills you need to be successful in running your brand. You must know how to analyze the performance of your brand through a deep-dive business review. Brand Leaders have to be able to think strategically to sort through issues and make decisions on direction. You must know how to define your brand with a positioning statement and a brand idea. Marketers need to understand how to write a brand plan that everyone can follow.
Here are the 5 marketing processes that every brand leader must know to be successful in your job.
✅ How to define your brand positioning
✅ How to write a marketing plan
✅ How to inspire marketing execution
✅ How to analyze your brand's performance
✅ How to think strategically
Every marketer has a natural space they excel and a blind spot they need help in. If you have a gap, it will likely show to those deciding on your next move. Challenge yourself to fill in your skills gaps using experience, coaching, and training to become a well-rounded marketer.
Explore our Beyond the MBA training program which is a virtual brand management training designed for the real world. This is your opportunity to gain access to world-class brand management training.
Our virtual training includes 35 engaging video training sessions as Graham shares the best brand management thinking that covers strategic thinking, brand positioning, brand plans, marketing execution, and marketing analytics.
Upon completing our program, you will earn a certificate in brand management that you can proudly display on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
For more information on Beyond the MBA, go to:
https://lnkd.in/e8f_dKn
Here are some of our best Beloved Brands stories on brand management:
Read how to write a brand positioning statement:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/05/06/brand-positioning-statement/
Read how to write a brand plan:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/06/24/brand-plan/
Read how to write a brand strategy roadmap:
https://beloved-brands.com/2013/04/14/brand-strategy-roadmap/
Read how to write brand concept:
https://beloved-brands.com/2013/10/12/brand-concept/
On a daily basis I hear Marketing buzz words bantered about and it becomes obvious people say them and don’t really even know what they mean. I think people use the sacred marketing words like relevant, equity or insights, because they figure no one will challenge them. Of course, everyone puts “strategic thinker” on their Linked In profile. The problem I see is that a generation of Brand Leaders have not been properly trained and it’s starting to show. For the past 20 years, companies have said “on the job” training is good enough. But now the lack of training is starting to show up. The mis-use of these words can be linked to the lack of understanding of the fundamentals of marketing.
Free Download on How to stop writing Ugly Creative Briefs
The Creative Brief should help Brand Leaders to control the strategy, yet give freedom on execution. Brand leaders have this backwards, giving freedom on the strategy with various options in the brief, and yet control the execution with a long list of mandatories and direction on style of advertising. But really, you want “creative” options, not strategic options. You should write a very tight brief, based on the strategy you decided on, before you even wrote the brief. Slow down and let your strategic thinking prevail. Brand leaders try to control the outcome of the creative process so they write a long list of mandatories in the brief, they try to steer the type of advertising they want to see, or don’t want to see. You should allow the creative process to unfold, as you always hold the power of decision. Go faster with your instincts to not over-think great ideas.
Anyone who does not include “profit” in their definition of brand likely has never run a brand before. To me, a product is the basic commodity you sell but a brand creates a bond, with the intention of achieving a power and profit beyond what the product alone could achieve. The only reason you would ever add more investment to create a brand is because you believe you can get more back from that investment than just selling the product. If you wish to succeed in Brand Management, you have to understand brand finance. After all, you are running a business. If you started your brand to fulfill a personal passion or promise, I will tell you that a profitable brand will allow you to fulfill a lot more promises. If you just like the activity of Marketing, then you should become a subject matter expert, not in charge of a branded business.
The marketing skills you need to be a successful Brand LeaderBeloved Brands Inc.
Our Brand Leader white paper on marketing skills
At Beloved Brands, we use a 360-degree approach to marketing, which can highlight the skills you need to be successful in running your brand. You must know how to analyze the performance of your brand through a deep-dive business review. Brand Leaders have to be able to think strategically to sort through issues and make decisions on direction. You must know how to define your brand with a positioning statement and a brand idea. Marketers need to understand how to write a brand plan that everyone can follow.
Here are the 5 marketing processes that every brand leader must know to be successful in your job.
✅ How to define your brand positioning
✅ How to write a marketing plan
✅ How to inspire marketing execution
✅ How to analyze your brand's performance
✅ How to think strategically
Every marketer has a natural space they excel and a blind spot they need help in. If you have a gap, it will likely show to those deciding on your next move. Challenge yourself to fill in your skills gaps using experience, coaching, and training to become a well-rounded marketer.
Explore our Beyond the MBA training program which is a virtual brand management training designed for the real world. This is your opportunity to gain access to world-class brand management training.
Our virtual training includes 35 engaging video training sessions as Graham shares the best brand management thinking that covers strategic thinking, brand positioning, brand plans, marketing execution, and marketing analytics.
Upon completing our program, you will earn a certificate in brand management that you can proudly display on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
For more information on Beyond the MBA, go to:
https://lnkd.in/e8f_dKn
Here are some of our best Beloved Brands stories on brand management:
Read how to write a brand positioning statement:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/05/06/brand-positioning-statement/
Read how to write a brand plan:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/06/24/brand-plan/
Read how to write a brand strategy roadmap:
https://beloved-brands.com/2013/04/14/brand-strategy-roadmap/
Read how to write brand concept:
https://beloved-brands.com/2013/10/12/brand-concept/
On a daily basis I hear Marketing buzz words bantered about and it becomes obvious people say them and don’t really even know what they mean. I think people use the sacred marketing words like relevant, equity or insights, because they figure no one will challenge them. Of course, everyone puts “strategic thinker” on their Linked In profile. The problem I see is that a generation of Brand Leaders have not been properly trained and it’s starting to show. For the past 20 years, companies have said “on the job” training is good enough. But now the lack of training is starting to show up. The mis-use of these words can be linked to the lack of understanding of the fundamentals of marketing.
Free Download on How to stop writing Ugly Creative Briefs
The Creative Brief should help Brand Leaders to control the strategy, yet give freedom on execution. Brand leaders have this backwards, giving freedom on the strategy with various options in the brief, and yet control the execution with a long list of mandatories and direction on style of advertising. But really, you want “creative” options, not strategic options. You should write a very tight brief, based on the strategy you decided on, before you even wrote the brief. Slow down and let your strategic thinking prevail. Brand leaders try to control the outcome of the creative process so they write a long list of mandatories in the brief, they try to steer the type of advertising they want to see, or don’t want to see. You should allow the creative process to unfold, as you always hold the power of decision. Go faster with your instincts to not over-think great ideas.
Anyone who does not include “profit” in their definition of brand likely has never run a brand before. To me, a product is the basic commodity you sell but a brand creates a bond, with the intention of achieving a power and profit beyond what the product alone could achieve. The only reason you would ever add more investment to create a brand is because you believe you can get more back from that investment than just selling the product. If you wish to succeed in Brand Management, you have to understand brand finance. After all, you are running a business. If you started your brand to fulfill a personal passion or promise, I will tell you that a profitable brand will allow you to fulfill a lot more promises. If you just like the activity of Marketing, then you should become a subject matter expert, not in charge of a branded business.
Get our ideal Brand Plan template in a downloadable PowerPoint file.
Link: https://beloved-brands.com/product/brand-plan-template/
Includes ideal slides for vision, purpose, analysis, key issues, strategies, brand positioning statement, and execution plans.
Our brand plan template provides formatted blank slides with key marketing definitions where you can insert your own brand plan.
Gain access to our one-page brand plan and our one-page Brand Strategy Roadmap.
For more on Beloved Brands, here are a few of our most popular articles
1. Beloved Brands Marketing Training programs.
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-management-training/
2. Our Beloved Brands Mini MBA is an online marketing course to help your marketing career.
https://beloved-brands.com/mini-mba/ for online marketing course
3. Simple process to build your Brand Positioning Statement
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-positioning/ for brand positioning
4. How to write a Marketing Plan
https://beloved-brands.com/marketing-plans/
5. Our one-page strategic plan
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-strategy-roadmap/
6. The best and worst of a Creative Brief
https://beloved-brands.com/creative-brief-line-by-line/
7. Marketing Plan Template
https://beloved-brands.com/product/marketing-plan-template/
8. Our one-page Brand Plan
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-plans
9. How to understand Brand Architecture
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-architecture
10. How to use Marketing Funnels to analyze your brand
https://beloved-brands.com/marketing-funnels/
Workshop on How to Think Strategically.
We teach brand leaders to think strategically. We show them how to ask the right questions before seeing solutions, how to map out a range of decision trees that intersect and connect by imagining how events will play out. We take them through the 7 elements of good strategy: vision, opportunity, focus, speed, early win, leverage and gateway. We look at strategy from a competitive position, consumer connectivity, core strength and situational
We look at the role of the Brand Leader, how to develop marketing execution strategy, tools to make marketing decisions and how to give direction to an agency.
Here is the ideal Brand plan format that includes the vision, purpose, goals, analysis, key issues, strategies, execution plans and measurements. We use both a 20 page PPT slide deck and a plan on a page format
We coach Brand Leader on the principles of good analysis, how to assess health and wealth of the brand and turning your analytical thinking into strategic stories, projections and reports. We look at:
1. Principles of Good Analytics Gain more support for your analysis by telling analytical stories through data.
2. Health and Wealth of the Brand Assess brand situation looking category, consumer, channels, brand and competitors
3. Analytical stories get Decision Makers to “what do you think” stage Analysis turns fact into insight and data breaks form the story that sets up strategic choices.
4. Turn analytical thinking into projections Extrapolating data into the future, starts with what you are see in the current.
5. Monthly Brand Report Keep everyone on the team informed, engaged and aware of the strategic thinking
• Brands sit somewhere on the hypothetical Brand Love curve
• There are 5 connections needed to create love for your brand
• The Brand Connectivity and love generates power for your brand.
• Having Power for your brand helps generates profit in 8 ways
This will provide you with an ideal format for how to lay out a Long Range Strategic Plan with the vision, purpose, values, big idea, strategies, and tactics.
Workshop for Brand Leaders to help define your brand positioning statement, brand concept and organizing big idea.
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-positioning/
Do you know your consumer better than your competition knows your consumer?
Think of consumer insights like you do intellectual property. Your knowledge of your consumer is a competitive advantage. Consumer Insights are little secrets hidden beneath the surface, that explain the underlying behaviors, motivations, pain points and emotions of your consumers. Insights provide a connection point to show consumers that your brand is meant for them.
What are you doing to drive brand love with your consumers? The deeper the love a brand can build with your most cherished consumers, the more powerful and profitable that brand will be, going far beyond what the product alone could ever deliver.
There is only one source of revenue. Not the products you sell, but the consumers who buy them.
If you knew that being a better client would get you better advertising could you do it? Here are some tips on how to be a Better Client and how to turn it into getting better work.
We make brands stronger and brand leaders smarter. Here's how we can help:
1. We lead workshops to define your brand, helping you uncover a unique, own-able Brand Positioning Statement and an organizing Big Idea that transforms your brand’s DNA into a consumer-centric and winning brand reputation.
2. We lead workshops to build a strategic Brand Plan that will optimize your resources and motivates everyone that touches the brand to follow the plan.
3. We coach on Marketing execution, helping build programs that create a bond with your consumers, to ensure your investment drives growth on your brand.
4. We will build a Brand Management Training Program, so you can unleash the full potential of your Marketing team, enabling them to contribute smart and exceptional Marketing work that drives brand growth.
5. Our Executive Coaching program is designed to help Marketing Leaders get smarter, and then drive stronger performance on their brands. Executives can use their increased knowledge to help their own teams get smarter.
Feel free to download the White Paper that explains how the more love for a brand creates brand power and profitability. Takes you through the 4 stages of a brand.
Feel free to download. Brands need to stand out to win. Marketers face limited resources that they apply to an unlimited choices. The role of the Brand Positioning Statement is to take everything you know about your brand and begin making focused decisions on who you will serve, what you will say that is unique, own-able and motivating to get consumers to think, feel and act differently to create a bond that is stronger than what the product alone could do. A good positioning statement should balance the rational and emotional benefits for the consumer. Your positioning has to reflect your internal brand soul and help shape your external brand reputation.
A look at all four levels of marketing from ABM to BM to Marketing Director up to VP/CMO. Advice from a Senior Executive on what it takes to be a great assistant brand manager and a great brand manager. It's a great career and I hope some of the information can inspire you to be as great as you can.
Here are some of our best Beloved Brands stories on brand management:
Read how to write a brand positioning statement:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/05/06/brand-positioning-statement/
Read how to write a brand plan:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/06/24/brand-plan/
Read how to write a brand strategy roadmap:
https://beloved-brands.com/2013/04/14/brand-strategy-roadmap/
Read how to write brand concept:
https://beloved-brands.com/2013/10/12/brand-concept/
We outline the 20 core skills and 20 behaviors that are needed for successful Marketing team.
As the leader of a marketing team, you have to realize you are only as good as your people on the team. The only way your team will get better is if you identify the gaps on your team, then give your people the feedback on the gaps they need to close, and then build personal development plans for how to close those gaps. We look at people development in three different ways: skills, behaviors and experiences. We will showcase five major skill areas that includes the ability to: 1) analyze brand performance 2) think strategically 3) define the brand positioning 4) create brand plans and 5) how to inspire, challenge and make decisions on creative brand execution. We will then outline five major leader behaviors that includes: 1) accountable to results 2) team leadership 3) broad influence 4) authentic style and 5) inspiring leadership on execution. To help with the development of your people, you can use the Skills and Leadership Assessment tools to determine where your team sits today.
The step-by-step process for how to define your B2B brand.
This type of thinking is in my second book, B2B Brands, which I wrote as the playbook for how to create a B2B brand that your customers will love.
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-positioning/
B2B Brands is an actionable “make it happen” playbook, not just some theory or opinion book.
To reach your full potential as a B2B brand leader, you will learn to think, define, plan, inspire and analyze:
How to think strategically
Write a brand positioning statement
Come up with a brand idea
Write a brand plan everyone can follow
Write an inspiring creative brief
Make decisions on marketing execution
Conduct a deep-dive business review
Learn finance 101 for marketers
My goal in writing this book is to make you a smarter B2B brand leader so your brand can win in the market.
To order B2B Brands on Amazon https://lnkd.in/ecesjkq on Rakuten Kobo: https://lnkd.in/eqrf-sU or on Apple Books: https://lnkd.in/eVD63iK
Anyone who does not include “profit” in their definition of a brand has never run a brand before. To me, a product is a basic commodity you sell. A brand creates a bond that leads to a power and profit beyond what the product alone can achieve.
If you want to succeed in brand management, you have to understand brand finance. After all, you are running a business. If you only like the activity of marketing, then you should become a subject matter expert, because if you cannot work the finances of your brand, you will not get promoted beyond brand manager.
There are eight ways you can drive brand profits
1️⃣ Premium pricing
2️⃣ Trade loyal consumers up to a higher price
3️⃣ Lower cost of goods
4️⃣ Lower marketing and selling costs
5️⃣ Steal competitive users
6️⃣ Get loyal users to use more
7️⃣ Enter into new markets
8️⃣ Find new uses for the brand
This type of thinking is in my Beloved Brands book, which I wrote as the playbook to help brand leaders build a brand that consumers love. You will learn how to think, define, plan, execute and analyze. We have a specific chapter on a Finance 101 for Marketers. To order Beloved Brands on Amazon https://lnkd.in/eF-mYPe or on Apple Books: https://lnkd.in/ekQ-n9X or on Kobo: https://lnkd.in/g7SzEh4
How to write your annual Brand Plan so that everyone in your organization can...Beloved Brands Inc.
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!
How to use brand analytics to lead a business review on your Brand
You owe your brand a deep-dive business review at least once a year. It should be the start of your brand planning process. Otherwise, you are being negligent to your brand and will operate on the surface level, missing what’s going on beneath the surface. To go deep, you need to look at everything–including the category, consumers, channels, competitors and then your own brand.
Get our ideal Brand Plan template in a downloadable PowerPoint file.
Link: https://beloved-brands.com/product/brand-plan-template/
Includes ideal slides for vision, purpose, analysis, key issues, strategies, brand positioning statement, and execution plans.
Our brand plan template provides formatted blank slides with key marketing definitions where you can insert your own brand plan.
Gain access to our one-page brand plan and our one-page Brand Strategy Roadmap.
For more on Beloved Brands, here are a few of our most popular articles
1. Beloved Brands Marketing Training programs.
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-management-training/
2. Our Beloved Brands Mini MBA is an online marketing course to help your marketing career.
https://beloved-brands.com/mini-mba/ for online marketing course
3. Simple process to build your Brand Positioning Statement
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-positioning/ for brand positioning
4. How to write a Marketing Plan
https://beloved-brands.com/marketing-plans/
5. Our one-page strategic plan
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-strategy-roadmap/
6. The best and worst of a Creative Brief
https://beloved-brands.com/creative-brief-line-by-line/
7. Marketing Plan Template
https://beloved-brands.com/product/marketing-plan-template/
8. Our one-page Brand Plan
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-plans
9. How to understand Brand Architecture
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-architecture
10. How to use Marketing Funnels to analyze your brand
https://beloved-brands.com/marketing-funnels/
Workshop on How to Think Strategically.
We teach brand leaders to think strategically. We show them how to ask the right questions before seeing solutions, how to map out a range of decision trees that intersect and connect by imagining how events will play out. We take them through the 7 elements of good strategy: vision, opportunity, focus, speed, early win, leverage and gateway. We look at strategy from a competitive position, consumer connectivity, core strength and situational
We look at the role of the Brand Leader, how to develop marketing execution strategy, tools to make marketing decisions and how to give direction to an agency.
Here is the ideal Brand plan format that includes the vision, purpose, goals, analysis, key issues, strategies, execution plans and measurements. We use both a 20 page PPT slide deck and a plan on a page format
We coach Brand Leader on the principles of good analysis, how to assess health and wealth of the brand and turning your analytical thinking into strategic stories, projections and reports. We look at:
1. Principles of Good Analytics Gain more support for your analysis by telling analytical stories through data.
2. Health and Wealth of the Brand Assess brand situation looking category, consumer, channels, brand and competitors
3. Analytical stories get Decision Makers to “what do you think” stage Analysis turns fact into insight and data breaks form the story that sets up strategic choices.
4. Turn analytical thinking into projections Extrapolating data into the future, starts with what you are see in the current.
5. Monthly Brand Report Keep everyone on the team informed, engaged and aware of the strategic thinking
• Brands sit somewhere on the hypothetical Brand Love curve
• There are 5 connections needed to create love for your brand
• The Brand Connectivity and love generates power for your brand.
• Having Power for your brand helps generates profit in 8 ways
This will provide you with an ideal format for how to lay out a Long Range Strategic Plan with the vision, purpose, values, big idea, strategies, and tactics.
Workshop for Brand Leaders to help define your brand positioning statement, brand concept and organizing big idea.
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-positioning/
Do you know your consumer better than your competition knows your consumer?
Think of consumer insights like you do intellectual property. Your knowledge of your consumer is a competitive advantage. Consumer Insights are little secrets hidden beneath the surface, that explain the underlying behaviors, motivations, pain points and emotions of your consumers. Insights provide a connection point to show consumers that your brand is meant for them.
What are you doing to drive brand love with your consumers? The deeper the love a brand can build with your most cherished consumers, the more powerful and profitable that brand will be, going far beyond what the product alone could ever deliver.
There is only one source of revenue. Not the products you sell, but the consumers who buy them.
If you knew that being a better client would get you better advertising could you do it? Here are some tips on how to be a Better Client and how to turn it into getting better work.
We make brands stronger and brand leaders smarter. Here's how we can help:
1. We lead workshops to define your brand, helping you uncover a unique, own-able Brand Positioning Statement and an organizing Big Idea that transforms your brand’s DNA into a consumer-centric and winning brand reputation.
2. We lead workshops to build a strategic Brand Plan that will optimize your resources and motivates everyone that touches the brand to follow the plan.
3. We coach on Marketing execution, helping build programs that create a bond with your consumers, to ensure your investment drives growth on your brand.
4. We will build a Brand Management Training Program, so you can unleash the full potential of your Marketing team, enabling them to contribute smart and exceptional Marketing work that drives brand growth.
5. Our Executive Coaching program is designed to help Marketing Leaders get smarter, and then drive stronger performance on their brands. Executives can use their increased knowledge to help their own teams get smarter.
Feel free to download the White Paper that explains how the more love for a brand creates brand power and profitability. Takes you through the 4 stages of a brand.
Feel free to download. Brands need to stand out to win. Marketers face limited resources that they apply to an unlimited choices. The role of the Brand Positioning Statement is to take everything you know about your brand and begin making focused decisions on who you will serve, what you will say that is unique, own-able and motivating to get consumers to think, feel and act differently to create a bond that is stronger than what the product alone could do. A good positioning statement should balance the rational and emotional benefits for the consumer. Your positioning has to reflect your internal brand soul and help shape your external brand reputation.
A look at all four levels of marketing from ABM to BM to Marketing Director up to VP/CMO. Advice from a Senior Executive on what it takes to be a great assistant brand manager and a great brand manager. It's a great career and I hope some of the information can inspire you to be as great as you can.
Here are some of our best Beloved Brands stories on brand management:
Read how to write a brand positioning statement:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/05/06/brand-positioning-statement/
Read how to write a brand plan:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/06/24/brand-plan/
Read how to write a brand strategy roadmap:
https://beloved-brands.com/2013/04/14/brand-strategy-roadmap/
Read how to write brand concept:
https://beloved-brands.com/2013/10/12/brand-concept/
We outline the 20 core skills and 20 behaviors that are needed for successful Marketing team.
As the leader of a marketing team, you have to realize you are only as good as your people on the team. The only way your team will get better is if you identify the gaps on your team, then give your people the feedback on the gaps they need to close, and then build personal development plans for how to close those gaps. We look at people development in three different ways: skills, behaviors and experiences. We will showcase five major skill areas that includes the ability to: 1) analyze brand performance 2) think strategically 3) define the brand positioning 4) create brand plans and 5) how to inspire, challenge and make decisions on creative brand execution. We will then outline five major leader behaviors that includes: 1) accountable to results 2) team leadership 3) broad influence 4) authentic style and 5) inspiring leadership on execution. To help with the development of your people, you can use the Skills and Leadership Assessment tools to determine where your team sits today.
The step-by-step process for how to define your B2B brand.
This type of thinking is in my second book, B2B Brands, which I wrote as the playbook for how to create a B2B brand that your customers will love.
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-positioning/
B2B Brands is an actionable “make it happen” playbook, not just some theory or opinion book.
To reach your full potential as a B2B brand leader, you will learn to think, define, plan, inspire and analyze:
How to think strategically
Write a brand positioning statement
Come up with a brand idea
Write a brand plan everyone can follow
Write an inspiring creative brief
Make decisions on marketing execution
Conduct a deep-dive business review
Learn finance 101 for marketers
My goal in writing this book is to make you a smarter B2B brand leader so your brand can win in the market.
To order B2B Brands on Amazon https://lnkd.in/ecesjkq on Rakuten Kobo: https://lnkd.in/eqrf-sU or on Apple Books: https://lnkd.in/eVD63iK
Anyone who does not include “profit” in their definition of a brand has never run a brand before. To me, a product is a basic commodity you sell. A brand creates a bond that leads to a power and profit beyond what the product alone can achieve.
If you want to succeed in brand management, you have to understand brand finance. After all, you are running a business. If you only like the activity of marketing, then you should become a subject matter expert, because if you cannot work the finances of your brand, you will not get promoted beyond brand manager.
There are eight ways you can drive brand profits
1️⃣ Premium pricing
2️⃣ Trade loyal consumers up to a higher price
3️⃣ Lower cost of goods
4️⃣ Lower marketing and selling costs
5️⃣ Steal competitive users
6️⃣ Get loyal users to use more
7️⃣ Enter into new markets
8️⃣ Find new uses for the brand
This type of thinking is in my Beloved Brands book, which I wrote as the playbook to help brand leaders build a brand that consumers love. You will learn how to think, define, plan, execute and analyze. We have a specific chapter on a Finance 101 for Marketers. To order Beloved Brands on Amazon https://lnkd.in/eF-mYPe or on Apple Books: https://lnkd.in/ekQ-n9X or on Kobo: https://lnkd.in/g7SzEh4
How to write your annual Brand Plan so that everyone in your organization can...Beloved Brands Inc.
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!
How to use brand analytics to lead a business review on your Brand
You owe your brand a deep-dive business review at least once a year. It should be the start of your brand planning process. Otherwise, you are being negligent to your brand and will operate on the surface level, missing what’s going on beneath the surface. To go deep, you need to look at everything–including the category, consumers, channels, competitors and then your own brand.
Strategic thinkers see questions before they see answers. Train yourself to ask the best questions and the answers will come easier.
As you’re looking at your brand strategy, you need to look at the brand from all sides. Here are four questions to be asking that force you to choose four possible solutions to each.
1. What is your current share position in the market?
2. What is the core strength that your brand can win on?
3. How tightly connected is your consumer to your brand?
4. What is the current business situation that your brand faces?
In the new economy, Brand Love is the new currency, with marketing shifting to building big ideas, leveraging purpose-driven stories that are in the moment, creating consumer experiences that people talk about, managing ubiquitous purchase moments all helping to steer the brand’s reputation. Marketing has to focus on creating a brand reputation with consumers, and equally creating an organizational culture that reflects the brand’s soul. Instead of shouting your message at every consumers, the best brands confidently whisper to those most motivated by what they do, who then scream with influence to their friends. In the new world, the best brands now fight for a place in the minds and hearts of consumers.
Workshop to help brand leaders write brand plans that everyone in the organization can follow. Case Study, using fictional “Gray’s Cookies” brand to complete a Brand Plan, which is the final stage of our overall Beloved Brands planning process.
The more beloved the brand, the more valuable the brand.
For more on Beloved Brands, here are a few of our most popular articles
1. Beloved Brands Marketing Training programs.
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-management-training/
2. Our Beloved Brands Mini MBA is an online marketing course to help your marketing career.
https://beloved-brands.com/mini-mba/
3. Simple process to build your Brand Positioning Statement
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-positioning/
4. How to write a Marketing Plan
https://beloved-brands.com/marketing-plans/
5. Our one-page strategic plan
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-strategy-roadmap/
6. The best and worst of a Creative Brief
https://beloved-brands.com/creative-brief-line-by-line/
7. Marketing Plan Template
https://beloved-brands.com/product/marketing-plan-template/
8. Our one-page Brand Plan
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-plans
9. How to understand Brand Architecture
https://beloved-brands.com/brand-architecture
10. How to use Marketing Funnels to analyze your brand
https://beloved-brands.com/marketing-funnels/
At Beloved Brands, we make brands stronger and we make brand leaders smarter. We can build a Brand Management Training Program, to unleash the full potential of your team.
1. Strategic Thinking
2, Creating a Beloved Brand
3. Consumer Centricity
4. Brand Positioning
5. Brand Plans
6. Creative Briefs
7. Brand Analytics and the business review
8. Marketing Execution
9. Strategic Media Plans
10. Winning the Purchase Moment
Read our story on how to write a brand plan:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/06/24/brand-plan/
Help for the Brand Manager with tips on how to write a brand plan, including vision, mission, strategies, tactics, execution, and the overall writing and flow of the plan.
My hope is you can use this personal branding framework to get what you want from your career—balancing the challenges to match up to your skills and your passion to match up with your happiness.
How to Be a Billionaire As a Student_ Zero to One Secret Strategies.pdfSmartSkill97
How to Be a Billionaire As a Student: Zero to One Secret Strategies
Even If You Are Poor: Secret Strategies to Become a Successful Billionaire
Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.
Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.
If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.
Dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.
Do what you love and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career.
Introduction
Becoming a billionaire as a student may seem like a far-fetched dream, but with the right strategies, it's possible to turn that dream into a reality. In this guide, we will explore the secret strategies that can propel you from zero to one on the journey to becoming a billionaire. From leveraging your unique skills and talents to identifying untapped opportunities, these strategies offer a blueprint for ambitious students to carve their path toward extraordinary success.
The Billion-Dollar Mindset_ How Teens Can Think and Act Like Success Magnets.pdfSmartSkill97
As a teenager, developing a mindset geared toward success is crucial for achieving your goals. The billion-dollar mindset focuses on cultivating traits such as resilience, determination, and innovation. By adopting this mindset, teens can harness their thoughts and actions to attract success and abundance into their lives.
This proactive way of thinking encourages teens to step out of their comfort zones, embrace challenges, and seek opportunities for growth. In this text, we will explore how teens can cultivate a billion-dollar mindset and leverage it to pave the way for their future success.
Here is a chance to create a "big idea" for your brand, which that big idea is then used through the organization. It would help frame the long range Brand Strategic Road Map, helping to frame the brand promise, strategy, story, freshness and experience behind the brand. That big idea also gets used to tell the brand's story, both internally through vision, values and behaviours, and externally by creating a brand position in the minds/hearts of consumers through mass communication, logos/packaging and the inshore experience.
The Disruptive Reader: Three Urgent Questions for B2B Marketing InnovatorsShelly Lucas
This reader is dedicated to the marketing misfits. The interrogators. Because marketers who are courageous enough to ask probing questions are the ones who transform their businesses and ignite their careers.
Elevate Your Sales Performance.
To become an elite sales professional, you must elevate your presence and establish yourself as a top performer. In the new IMPAX eBook, “6 Strategies to Maximize Sales Results,” co-authors, Brittany Shonka, Amy Franko and Jen Miller provide tools and insights to help you make the leap
Clarity Focus Action - for business with marketing departments of one.Shannon Eastman
Find customers, get results from marketing, get clarity, bring focus, take action to move your business from stuck and frustrated to deliberate and in momentum.
How To Fail: 25 Secrets Learned through FailureTaylor Davidson
25 Secrets Learned through Failure, by Taylor Davidson at Unstructured Ventures.
Visit the post on unstructuredventures.com/uv (short link to post: http://tinyurl.com/howtofail ) to add to the discussion, share your lessons learned from failure, and view more.
Similar to Smart strategic thinking for Marketers (20)
Use your 7-second pitch to manage your brand reputation.
How do you define yourself, by where in the marketplace you see yourself having the biggest impact?
What is the primary benefit you provide your target, whether they are potential prospects?
What is the secondary benefit you provide your target, whether they are potential prospects?
What is the expected result you deliver, that matches up to your target’s potential goals?
How to make decisions on advertising that drives brand linkBeloved Brands Inc.
Brand leaders who are good at advertising can get great ads on the air and keep bad ads off the air.
You need to make decisions to find the sweet spot where your brand’s advertising is both different and smart.
To be different, you need to achieve a branded breakthrough, using creativity to capture consumers. Gain their attention amid the market clutter and link your brand closer to the story.
To be smart, you need a motivating message to communicate the main message memorable to connect with consumers, and make the ad stick enough to move them to see, think, feel, or act differently than before they saw the ad.
In our Beloved Brands book, I outline principles for achieving attention, brand link, communication, and stickiness—the model I call the ABC’s. I show examples of some of the best ads in the history of branding to support those principles. I hope to challenge your thinking about your brand’s advertising.
Brand link is not just about more of your brand, but rather the right engagement of your brand, and the placement of your brand. Sometimes less is more, when you tell stories.
This type of thinking is in my Beloved Brands book, can be found on Amazon https://lnkd.in/eF-mYPe or on Apple Books: https://lnkd.in/ekQ-n9X
Too many people think that brand management matters most to a consumer brand, and they underestimate the value of marketing for B2B brands. And many of these people are running B2B brands. They treat marketing as a support function, hiring low-cost marketing coordinators to support their sales team, and do basic packaging for new launches and run a few basic trade magazines.
This is our brand management training workshop on brand positioning. Your brand positioning statement defines the target market, consumer benefits, both functional and emotional, as well as support points.
These slides are from our brand management training program. With our Brand Plan training, we will show you how to come up with the vision, purpose, goals, analysis, key issues, strategies, execution plans and measurements.
At Beloved Brands, we help brands find growth and we make brand leaders smarter.
This is one of the chapters of my new book: Beloved Brands. If you like this chapter, you can find the book on Amazon at https://lnkd.in/eF-mYPe
With Beloved Brands, you will learn everything you need to know so you can build a brand that your consumers will love. You will learn how to think strategically, define your brand with a positioning statement and a brand idea, write a brand plan everyone can follow, inspire smart and creative marketing execution, and be able to analyze the performance of your brand through a deep-dive business review.
Marketing pros and entrepreneurs, this book is for you. Whether you are a VP, CMO, director, brand manager or just starting your marketing career, I promise you will learn how to realize your full potential. You could be in brand management working for an organization or an owner-operator managing a branded business.
Beloved Brands provides a toolbox intended to help you every day in your job. Keep it on your desk and refer to it whenever you need to write a brand plan, create a brand idea, develop a creative brief, make advertising decisions or lead a deep-dive business review.
We will look at four levels of Marketing which are Assistant Brand Manager, Brand Manager, Marketing Director and VP/CMO. While we present in a linear way, I think learning is rather random. We gain confidence through our success but we learn from our failures. You must boldly look to make an impact and take chances. Put all your passion into your work. At every level you have to adjust to the new role. Brand Managers fail when they keep acting like ABMs who are looking for a to-do list. Directors fail when they keep acting like Brand Managers by micro-managing and making every decision. And, VPs fail when they don’t know what to do. We all say we want to advance, but don’t think of it as just a title: think of it as a challenge to step back.
Workshop to provoke you to think differently and see how a brand’s BIG IDEA reflects the brand’s SOUL and transforms the experience and bond into a REPUTATION
Case Study, using fictional “Gray’s Cookies” brand to complete a business review, which is the first stage of our overall Beloved Brands planning process.
Workshop for Brand Leaders to provide an overall planning process including business review, key issues, positioning and creating the annual Brand Plan
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
The digital marketing industry is changing faster than ever and those who don’t adapt with the times are losing market share. Where should marketers be focusing their efforts? What strategies are the experts seeing get the best results? Get up-to-speed with the latest industry insights, trends and predictions for the future in this panel discussion with some leading digital marketing experts.
The session includes a brief history of the evolution of search before diving into the roles technology, content, and links play in developing a powerful SEO strategy in a world of Generative AI and social search. Discover how to optimize for TikTok searches, Google's Gemini, and Search Generative Experience while developing a powerful arsenal of tools and templates to help maximize the effectiveness of your SEO initiatives.
Key Takeaways:
Understand how search engines work
Be able to find out where your users search
Know what is required for each discipline of SEO
Feel confident creating an SEO Plan
Confidently measure SEO performance
Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
Search Engine Marketing - Competitor and Keyword researchETMARK ACADEMY
Over 2 Trillion searches are made per day in Google search, which means there are more than 2 Trillion visits happening across the websites of the world wide web.
People search various questions, phrases or words. But some words and phrases are searched
more often than others.
For example, the words, ‘running shoes’ are searched more often than ‘best road running
shoes for men’
These words or phrases which people use to search on Google are called Keywords.
Some keywords are searched more often than others. Number of times a keyword is searched
for in a month is called keyword volume.
Some keywords have more relevant results than others. For the phrase “running shoes” we
get more than 80M relevant results, whereas for “best road running shoes for men” we get
only 8.
The former keyword ‘running shoes’ has way more competition from popular websites to
new and small blogs, whereas the latter keyword doesn’t have that much competition. This
search competition for a keyword is called search difficulty of a keyword or keyword
difficulty.
In other words, if the keyword difficulty is ‘low’ or ‘easy’, there won’t be any competition
and if you target such keywords on your site, you can easily rank on the front page of Google.
Some keywords are searched for, just to know or to learn some information about something,
that’s their search intention. For example, “What shoe size should I choose?” or “How to pick
the right shoe size?”
These keywords which are searched just to know about stuff are called informational
keywords. Typically people who are searching this type of keywords are top of a Conversion
funnel.
Conversion funnel is the journey that search visitors go through on their way to an email
subscription or a premium subscription to the services you offer or a purchase of products
you sell or recommend using your referral link.
For some buyers, research is the most important part when they have to buy a product.
Depending on that, their journey either widens or narrows down. These types of buyers are
Researchers and they spend more time with informational keywords.
Conversion is the action you want from your search visitors. Number of conversions that you
get for every 100 search visitors is called Conversion rate.
People who are at different stages of a conversion funnel use different types of keywords.
The digital marketing industry is changing faster than ever and those who don’t adapt with the times are losing market share. Where should marketers be focusing their efforts? What strategies are the experts seeing get the best results? Get up-to-speed with the latest industry insights, trends and predictions for the future in this panel discussion with some leading digital marketing experts.
SEO as the Backbone of Digital MarketingFelipe Bazon
In this talk Felipe Bazon will share how him and his team at Hedgehog Digital share our journey of making C-Levels alike, specially CMOS realize that SEO is the backbone of digital marketing by showing how SEO can contribute to brand awareness, reputation and authority and above all how to use SEO to create more robust global marketing strategies.
Monthly Social Media News Update May 2024Andy Lambert
TL;DR. These are the three themes that stood out to us over the course of last month.
1️⃣ Social media is becoming increasingly significant for brand discovery. Marketers are now understanding the impact of social and budgets are shifting accordingly.
2️⃣ Instagram’s new algorithm and latest guidance will help us maintain organic growth. Instagram continues to evolve, but Reels remains the most crucial tool for growth.
3️⃣ Collaboration will help us unlock growth. Who we work with will define how fast we grow. Meta continues to evolve their Creator Marketplace and now TikTok are beginning to push ‘collabs’ more too.
Mastering Multi-Touchpoint Content Strategy: Navigate Fragmented User JourneysSearch Engine Journal
Digital platforms are constantly multiplying, and with that, user engagement is becoming more intricate and fragmented.
So how do you effectively navigate distributing and tailoring your content across these various touchpoints?
Watch this webinar as we dive into the evolving landscape of content strategy tailored for today's fragmented user journeys. Understanding how to deliver your content to your users is more crucial than ever, and we’ll provide actionable tips for navigating these intricate challenges.
You’ll learn:
- How today’s users engage with content across various channels and devices.
- The latest methodologies for identifying and addressing content gaps to keep your content strategy proactive and relevant.
- What digital shelf space is and how your content strategy needs to pivot.
With Wayne Cichanski, we’ll explore innovative strategies to map out and meet the diverse needs of your audience, ensuring every piece of content resonates and connects, regardless of where or how it is consumed.
15 ideas and frameworks on the art of storytelling
Smart strategic thinking for Marketers
1. THE BRAND LEADER
The 7 elements of smart strategic
thinking for Marketers
Everyone says they are a strategic thinker, but most Marketers in today's world are tacticians. They
are great at executing Marketing programs, yet they rarely take the time or have enough time in their
job to think through the strategy. In my first 10 years of marketing I likely was the same. I had such
get it done mentality and a fixation on creativity, that I never slowed down enough to think. How
many hours a week do you spend just thinking? How often do you actually sit down with your boss or
your direct reports and just talk about what it means to be strategic?
Beloved Brands 1 We make brand leaders smarter
2. What does it mean to be Strategic?
Strategic thinkers see the right questions before they look for answers. Intuitive thinkers see answers
before they even know the right question. Strategic thinkers see "what if" type questions before
seeing potential solutions. In their brains, they mapped out a range of decision trees that intersect
and connect by imagining how are events will play out in the future. They slow their brains down,
taking the time to reflect and plan before acting, moving in a focused and efficient way. Strategy is
the logical part of marketing. On the other hand, intuitive thinkers see answers before even knowing
the right question. Their brains move fast, using emotional instincts, gut feel and impulse. They want
to move fast, get frustrated by any delays. Brand leaders need to be a bit of both able to change their
speed of their brains, to move slowly with strategy and quickly with execution.
In the infographic on the next page, you can see that we have mapped out the 7 elements of smart
strategic thinking, as a way to guide and challenge you to think strategically. Challenge yourself to
take your brand strategy and see how it lines up to our 7 elements of smart strategic thinking. Do you
have a vision, are you focused enough, are you taking advantage of some opportunity? You can
have this on the brand overall, or any project that you are working on. We will show you how the
model works, then provide examples drawn out using Apple, Starbucks and Special K.
Beloved Brands 2 We make brand leaders smarter
Strategic thinkers see the right questions before
they look for answers. Intuitive thinkers see
answers before they even know the right question.
Brand Leaders need to be both, being able to change the
speed of their brains for the right situation and moment.
Move your brain slowly on strategy and quickly with execution.
3. Vision
A lot of times people will think that strategy and "big picture thinking” are the same. When I ask “What
makes someone strategic?”, the most common answer I get is “They think at 30,000 feet”. I have
seen both strategic and intuitive thinkers
be able to “think at 30,000 feet”. The
real difference is that a strategic thinker
thinks about things over time, to map
out a vision for 5 or 10 years from now,
while an intuitive thinker generally
thinks about now. Vision is an
aspirational stretch goal for the future,
linked to a well-defined end result or
purpose. The first element is to have a
vision of what you hope to achieve in
the future. Every brand needs to have
an overall vision that steers everyone
Beloved Brands 3 We make brand leaders smarter
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
7 elements of smart strategic thinking
Break through point where you see
a SHIFT IN MOMENTUM towards
your vision. Proof to everyone this
strategy will work and you need to
maintain your focus.
Aspirational STRETCH
GOAL for future, linked to a
well-defined goal purpose. It
should scare you a little,
but excite you a lot.
Turn the early win into
TIPPING POINT where you
achieve more in return than
you put in.
Shift in POSITIONAL
POWER that allows you to
achieve your vision.
Seize opportunity
quickly BEFORE
OTHERS REACT
or it is closes.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Vision
Early
Win
Speed
An OPENING IN THE
MARKET, based on a
potential change in the
market (consumer
needs, technology
change, new channels)
Leverage
Gateway
ALIGN YOUR LIMITED
RESOURCES to a distinct
point you can break
through getting you on a
path to your vision.
Opportunity
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
Why every brand needs a vision statement
If you don't know where
you are going, you
might not get there.
Yogi Berra
4. working on the brand. But in the same notion, every project should also have a project vision that is
closely linked to the overall brand vision, helping to determine what success looks like on that
project. To really push people on their vision, I always say that a good vision should scare you a little,
but excite you a lot.
Focus
The second element of strategic thinking is focus. In today's marketing world, brand leaders are
losing their focus. There seems to be a fear, that if we focus too much, we will miss out on something
or someone. The idea of focus is that it allocates your brands limited resources to a distinct point that
you can breakthrough
and move forward
towards your vision.
Marketers always face
limited resources. They
never have enough
money, enough time or
enough people. Yet the
creative brain part of the
marketer can see an
unlimited list of choices,
they fear picking a
narrow target market,
they fear picking only one
brand positioning and
they fear picking too few strategies for tactics. They would rather target everyone, list out every
possible feature that they do and try to execute a little of each activity. But ladies and gentlemen, this
isn't strategic marketing. This is just doing stuff randomly in the hope that it works. The best
Marketers never divide and conquer out of fear. They force themselves to focus and conquer with the
confidence of having done the strategic thinking. If you come to a decision point, and you try to
rationalize in your own brain that it's okay to do a little of both, then you are not strategic. In fact, you
are not even a decision-maker at all. If we have limited resources, for the equation to work, we must
limit the possible solutions to those that will deliver the greatest return.
When you focus, 5 amazing things happen to your brand:
1. Better return on investment (ROI): By focusing your dollars on the distinct breakthrough point
that you know will work, you will see the most efficient and effective response in the market.
Beloved Brands 4 We make brand leaders smarter
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
Marketers always face
limited resources…
Target Market
Brand Positioning
Strategic Options
New Product Ideas
Execution Activities
Financial Time
People Partnerships
…as they deploy against an
unlimited list of choices
We need to make decisions to limit the choices to match the
limited resources we can deploy against those choices.
5. 2. Better return on effort (ROE): You also want to make effective use of your people resource. We
suggest that you look at the ideas that have the greatest impact and are the easiest to execute. I
have always suggested that strategic thinkers are lazy, because they are always trying to think
about how to get away with doing less and getting more.
3. Stronger reputation: By limiting your audience and limiting your brand message, your brand will
start to get a focused reputation among a very motivated audience.
4. More competitive:
when you focus your
message to a focused
audience, you will
start to own that
message and own
that audience.
5. More investment
behind brand:
Believe it or not, when
you focus and deliver
the return, your
management team
will likely ask you to
do that again. They will give you more money and people. And when your resources go up I want
you to take the same focused approach that you just took. Just because someone gave you
money, doesn't mean you can now spend wildly.
Opportunity and Speed
The third and fourth elements of good strategic thinking go hand in hand. Brands must see an
opportunity, which is some opening in the marketplace that you can see based on some change in
the consumer needs, technology change or new channels. Once you see that opportunity, you must
use speed to seize the opportunity before others can react or else it will be closed to your brand.
The Early Win
He fifth element of good strategic thinking is gaining that early win, which is the breakthrough point
where you start to see some chef in momentum towards your vision. Even if this early when is small,
it can provide proof to everyone that the strategy will work and that it is important to stay focused on
this breakthrough point. In the Starbucks turnaround, they were able to turn the morning coffee
routine into a breakfast and lunch routine, expanding the consumers use of Starbucks as a life ritual,
Beloved Brands 5 We make brand leaders smarter
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
When Marketers come to a decision point that
requires focus, they try to justify a way to do both.
Strategic thinkers never DIVIDE and conquer out of fear.
They force themselves to make choices to FOCUS and conquer.
Don’t tell yourself that you are
good at making decisions if
you come to a decision point
and you always choose BOTH.
The best brand leaders force
themselves to focus by using
the word “or” more than they
use the word “and”
6. so that it’s now a broad-based meeting place. With Special K, once they focused on the idea of
helping women maintain their healthy weight, they have now been able to go beyond the cereal aisle
and built a series of tasty new products across categories of cereal, snacks, water and shakes.
Leverage
The sixth element of good strategic thinking leverage, where you were able to turn the early win and
do a tipping point where you achieve more in return than you put in. The final element of strategic
thinking is the gateway, where you start to see a shift in the positional power of the brand, allowing
you to achieve your vision.
Gateway
The final element of good strategic thinking is the gateway, which closely resembles the brand vision
and opens up whole new opportunities for the brand to capitalize on.
Case Studies to demonstrate smart strategic thinking
D-Day focuses the entire war effort on capturing a beach.
There’s a lot of evidence that business strategy has borrowed many of the concepts from military
strategy. Read up on Napoleon and you will easily see how his words can translate over to business.
He talks about pin-pointed attacks at the opponent’s weakness and the efficient use of resources.
One of the most famous military strategies was that of D-Day, June the 6th,
1944. At a crucial point of World War 2, while Germany was fighting a war on
two fronts (Russia and Britain), the Allied Forces planned D-Day for 2 years
and joined in full force (Great Britain, US, Canada, Australia) to focus all their
attention on one beach, on one day. Prior to the attack, there was debate, do
we attack in one place that could be penetrated or in multiple spots where the
Germans would have to fight many battles? The smart decision started with focus. If we look at D-
Day using the seven elements of good strategy, we can see how they won:
1. Vision: Win World War II, with a goal to re-claim Europe and stop Germany.
2. Focus: High risk focus, putting half of all the Allied forces of 156,000 soldiers, synchronized
landing on the beaches of Normandy on one morning of June 6th,1944.
3. Opportunity: They planned excessively, debated options, looked for unguarded beaches. Also,
they had Russia attacking from east, helping to weaken Germany.
Beloved Brands 6 We make brand leaders smarter
Case
Study
#1
7. 4. Speed: Navy Seals quickly went in before the ships arrived, with the detonation of underwater
bombs, that enabled warships to get up on the beaches.
5. Early Win: Despite heavy casualties, the Allies captured the beaches and within 5 days of D-Day
they put 325,000 soldiers on mainland Europe.
6. Leverage: Re-claimed Paris, pushing back the German Army, turning the momentum to the Allied
Forces. They gained positional power, shifting Germany to defending their soil.
7. Gateway: A year later, the allies defeat Germany in Berlin. The US was now able to focus on the
Pacific war to defeat Japan.
If we were to write a Strategic Plan for D-Day, here’s what it would start to look like:
• Vision: Win World War II, spread ideals of democracy.
• Goals: Re-claim Europe, maintain troops, return the borders in Europe.
• Key Issues: How do we turn the tide in the war effort in Europe? Where would the best attack
point be to get on continental Europe? What are the defense technology investments needed?
• Strategy: Pin-pointed attack to gain a positional power on continental Europe.
• Tactics: D-Day, taking all our troops and attack the Beaches of Normandy to get back on
mainland Europe so they could battle Germany on an equal footing.
Beloved Brands 7 We make brand leaders smarter
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
Despite heavy casualties, the Allies
captured the beaches and within 5
days of D-Day they put 325,000
soldiers on mainland Europe
Win World War II,
with a goal to re-
claim Europe and
stop Germany.
Re-claimed Paris, pushing back the
German Army, turning the momentum
to the Allied Forces. They gained
positional power, shifting Germany to
defending their soil.
A year later, the allies defeat
Germany in Berlin. The US was
now able to focus and fight the
Pacific war and defeat Japan.
Navy Seals quickly went in
before the ships arrived,
with the detonation of
underwater bombs, that
enabled warships to get up
on the beaches.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Vision
Early
Win
Speed
They planned excessively,
debated options, looked for
unguarded beaches. Also,
they had Russia attacking
from east, helping to
weaken Germany.
Leverage
Gateway
High risk focus, putting half of all
the Allied forces of 156,000
soldiers, synchronized landing
on the beaches of Normandy on
one morning of June 6th, 1944.
Opportunity
Strategic thinking behind D-Day
8. Apple brand turnaround based on the Big Idea of simplicity
In 1996, the Apple brand was bordering on bankruptcy. They were basically just another computer
company, without any real point of difference. Years of overlooked opportunities, flip-flop strategies,
and a mind-boggling disregard for market realities caught up with Apple,
Windows 95 has seriously eroded the Mac's technology edge. Apple was
rapidly becoming a minor player in the computer business with shrinking
market shares, price cuts and declining profits. This was the year before
even contemplating the return of Steve Jobs, really showcasing how badly
Apple was run through the 1990s. There were lots of bad decisions,
inconsistent strategies and most importantly and no big idea. Everything Jobs
did was built around the big idea of "making technology so simple that everyone can be part of the
future." He took a consumer first approach in a market that was all about the gadgets, bits and bytes.
1. Vision: Apple wants everyone to be part of technology in the future.
2. Focus: They focused on building everything around simplicity and design. Took a consumer first
mentality to technology, transforming leading technology advancements into “consumer
accessible” technology, fueling the perception that Apple is an innovative leader.
3. Opportunity: Capitalize on the consumer frustration with technology, that was preventing the
mass consumers from experiencing everything technology can offer.
4. Speed: Fast follower on technology, easy to use, with consumer-friendly laptops, phones, tablets.
5. Early Win: With each new product, they used,high profile launch hype to generate excitement,
transforming early adopters into vocal Apple activists to spread the word.
6. Leverage: Apple created a consumer bond around the Big Idea of “making technology simple”
leveraging tight connection with their brand fans to enter new categories.
7. Gateway: Apple is now the most beloved consumer-driven brand, with premium prices, stronger
market share, sales and profits.
If we were to write a Brand Plan for Apple, here’s what it would start to look like:
• Vision: Apple wants everyone to be part of technology in the future.
• Goals: Continue 10% sales growth, Double market share in Asia, Launch 5 new technology
enhancements per year
• Key Issue: How do we battle Samsung/Google in smart phones? How do expand beyond our
saturated North American market? What technology platform will the next round of surprising
innovation come from? How do we leverage our bond with our most loyal Apple users?
• Strategy: Regain leadership in smart phone technology. Geographic focus into China. Build
community around cloud technology. Higher service to tighten Apple community
Beloved Brands 8 We make brand leaders smarter
Case
Study
#2
9. • Tactics: Continue to improve technologies on current products. Launch into the wearables. New
retail space. Integrate retail purchasing. Increase courses for Apple U.
Starbucks refocuses by building around the Coffee routine.
In 2003, Starbucks created their own recording company, winning 8 Grammy’s, then launched their
own movie and started partnership with William Morris to scout for music, books, films. Opens
“entertainment” office in LA. By 2008, Starbucks had lost all focus and the core
coffee brand was suffering. They cut 18k jobs, closed 977 stores, sales were
down 7% and the stock price falls to $7.83, down from $39.63 in 2008. The
brand was in a complete free fall. People wondered “Is it the next Benetton?”
Starbucks desperately needed to refocus. They rebuilt everything back around
the coffee routine. They closed their stores for an entire day to re-train every
barista, a symbol of what’s most important to the brand. They created
sandwiches, snacks and pastries around coffee to gain more share of requirements and stretch the
coffee routine to lunch.
1. Vision: Become a cherished quick service food brand that is a favorite moment of the day. Be the
dominant coffee brand.
Beloved Brands 9 We make brand leaders smarter
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
Apple’s strategic thinking
With each new product, they
used,high profile launch hype to
generate excitement, transforming
early adopters into vocal Apple
activists to spread the word.
Apple wants
everyone to be
part of technology
in the future.
Apple created a consumer bond
around the Big Idea of “making
technology simple” leveraging tight
connection with their brand fans to
enter new categories.
Apple is now the most
beloved consumer driven
brand, with premium
prices, stronger market
share, sales and profits.
Fast follower on
technology, making
easy to use, with
consumer-friendly
laptops, phones,
tablets.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Vision
Early
Win
Speed
Capitalize on the consumer
frustration with technology,
that was preventing the
mass consumers from
experiencing everything
technology can offer.
Leverage
Gateway
Focused on building everything around
simplicity and design. Took a consumer first
mentality to technology, transforming
leading technology into “consumer
accessible” technology, fueling perception
that Apple is an innovative leader.
Opportunity
Case
Study
#3
10. 2. Focus: Focused everything around the coffee ritual, look to shift coffee routine to lunch. Broaden
portfolio around coffee–deserts, snacks, sandwiches.
3. Opportunity: With under-utilized retail locations, relatively unused past 11am, the broader
portfolio helps gain lunch/dinner sales giving them a higher share of requirements.
4. Speed: Starbucks closed every store for a day to re-focus on coffee, then built out broader
portfolio around coffee.
5. Early Win: New products improved perception that they were innovative, successfully connecting
with most loyal Starbucks fans, giving them higher same store sales
6. Leverage: Able to turn the morning coffee routine into a breakfast/lunch routine, allowing
Starbucks to focus on becoming a broad-based meeting place.
7. Gateway: No longer seen as just for morning coffee, but rather an escape at any point in the day,
experiencing double-digit growth for 5 straight years following the turn around.
If you were to write the Starbucks Brand Plan, here’s how it might look:
• Vision: Cherished meeting place for all your quick service food needs
• Goals: Increase same store sales, greater share of requirements from Starbucks loyalists
Beloved Brands 10 We make brand leaders smarter
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
New products improved perception that
they were innovative, successfully
connecting with most loyal Starbucks
fans, giving them higher same store sales
Become a cherished
quick service food brand
that is a favorite moment
of the day. Be the
dominant coffee brand
Able to turn the morning coffee
routine into a breakfast/lunch
routine, allowing Starbucks to
focus on becoming a broad-
based meeting place.
No longer seen as just for
morning coffee, but rather an
escape at any point in the day.
Double-digit growth for 5 straight
years following the turn around.
Starbucks closed every
store for a day to re-
focus on coffee, then
built out broader
portfolio around coffee.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Vision
Early
Win
Speed
With under-utilized retail
locations, relatively unused
past 11am, the broader
portfolio helps gain lunch/
dinner sales giving them a
higher share of requirements.
Leverage
Gateway
Focus everything around the
coffee ritual, look to shift coffee
routine to lunch. Broaden
portfolio around coffee–
deserts, snacks, sandwiches.
Opportunity
Starbuck’s strategic thinking
11. • Key Issue: How do we reconnect with our loyal brand fans to get back on track? How do we
drive significant growth of same store sales? How do we build smartly around the coffee routine?
• Strategy: Build everything around the coffee routine and move Starbucks loyalists to lunch with
an expanded lunch/snacks menu.
• Tactics: Re-train all baristas. Focus staff on creating experiences. Launch exotic refreshing coffee
choices, light lunch menu, increase desert offerings.
Special K moves from Indifferent to Beloved
In the 1990s Special K just sat there with a very small and dying cereal share. Basically, it was just
the one flavor of cereal. Zero innovation. It was just Rice Krispies crushed differently. Special K was
clearly an Indifferent Brand, with very little consumer opinion, and for those
who did buy Special K, they weren’t exactly the most ardent fans of the
brand. Not only was the original flavor fairly bland, but everything about the
brand was bland. Special K needed to stand for something. It needed an
idea. Special K built everything around the Big Idea of “Empowering
Women to take control of their weight”. To separate themselves in the mind
of consumers, they launched the special K challenge with a very simple
message: “With Special K, just twice a day for 2 weeks, you can lose 6 pounds or better yet, drop a
jean size.” Special K then built a series of tasty new products across categories of cereal, snacks,
water and shakes—each bulldog around the big idea.They have gained share in the cereal category
and taken the loyal consumers into all the new categories, and they are now 5x the sales and a
beloved brand.
1. Vision: Empower women to take control of their weight and live healthier happy lives. Own the
healthy food segments in the grocery store.
2. Focus: Shift from a product driven strategy to idea-led helping women maintain their weight,
providing low-calorie alternatives across the toughest food moments of the day.
3. Opportunity: Women were frustrated by “lose and gain” diet fads. Tired of failing, they wanted
easy alternatives they could execute within their normal lives.
4. Speed: Shifted brand story to “lose a jean size in two weeks” and built the Special K challenge to
help women “take control of their weight”.
5. Early Win: Launch of amazing taking Special K Red Berries transformed the brand helped gained
permission to enter new food categories.
6. Leverage: Rather than being stuck in the cereal aisle, Special K built a series of tasty new
products across categories of cereal, snacks, water and shakes.
7. Gateway: Gained market share of the cereal category. Took loyal consumers into all the new
categories, and they are now 5x the sales and a beloved brand.
Beloved Brands 11 We make brand leaders smarter
Case
Study
#4
12. If you were to write the Special K Brand Plan, here’s how it might look:
• Vision: Become a beloved brand in every grocery aisle, that can help women take control and
maintain their healthy body.
• Goals: Become a top 3 cereal brand. Expand into new adjacent categories in the grocery store.
Launch 5 new innovations per year.
• Key Issue: How do we build a big idea that is own-able and motivating to our consumer base?
How do we build an innovation pipeline that can stretch beyond cereal? How do we build
consumer insights we can use in every part of the brand?
• Strategy: Build everything—innovation, advertising and consumer experience—around the
brand’s big idea to help create a bond with our consumers.
• Tactics: Gain share through new cereal innovations. Master brand advertising that motivates
consumers. Special K weight loss challenge. Enter new categories.
Beloved Brands 12 We make brand leaders smarter
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
Launch of amazing taking
Special K Red Berries
transformed the brand
helped gained permission to
enter new food categories.
The healthy food
brand that empowers
women to take control
of their weight and live
healthier happy lives.
Rather than being stuck in the cereal
aisle, Special K built a series of tasty
new products across categories of
cereal, snacks, water and shakes
Gained market share of the cereal
category. Took loyal consumers
into all the new categories, and
they are now 5x the sales and a
beloved brand.
Shifted brand story to
“lose a jean size in two
weeks” and built the
Special K challenge to
help women “take
control of their weight”
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Vision
Early
Win
Speed
Women were frustrated by
“lose and gain” diet fads. Tired
of failing, they wanted easy
alternatives they could execute
within their normal lives.
LeverageGateway
Shift from a product driven strategy to
idea-led helping women maintain
their weight, providing low-calorie
alternatives across the toughest
food moments of the day.
Opportunity
Special K’s strategic thinking
13. Avril connects with her core audience through free mall concerts.
You can even use the tool to evaluate specific exception to ensure it stays on strategy. One program
that we use is pop singer Avril Lavigne’s free mall concerts from back in 2005.
At that point, Avril’s career had flattened out after some early success, which
is a fairly normal path for young musicians. To kick off her album, her
Marketing team launched a series of free mall concerts. She was initially
criticized as desperate, but not everyone understood the logic. Let’s use the
seven elements of smart strategic thinking to assess the Avril re-launch:
1. Vision: Make Avril a pop superstar,with a #1 album and sold out concerts.
2. Focus: Focus everything on 11-17 year old female target, focused on shopping malls where they
hang out. Position free concerts as good will gesture to her most passionate fans.
3. Opportunity: Avril was the first credible music star ever to give free concerts. She had a new
album coming out. There were still record stores in malls—an opening for the fans to go buy her
new CD.
4. Speed: Execution timing lined up to album release. Gained PR and early album sales.
5. Early Win: Concerts attracted 5k screaming 13-year-olds per mall, creating a new momentum
and perceived success. Local news gave added exposure. Everyone (mom/kids) happy with “free”
gesture.
6. Leverage: Leveraged goodwill and energy to get loyal fans to go buy her album in the mall record
stores which helped her album debut at #1 on the charts.
7. Gateway: Getting to #1 on the charts led to bigger mass audiences–more radio play, iTunes
downloads and more talk value, playing to sold-out concert series charging $150 per ticket.
Avril’s strategy holds up very well. What looks like a promotion is highly strategic. Madonna used this
same strategy for years, except with London night clubs for 20-somethings where she would drop
her songs, with random appearances. And now, Taylor Swift uses her 80 million Twitter followers.
If you were to write the Avril Brand Plan, here’s what it might look like:
• Vision: Recording Super Star
• Goals: New Album Sales, increase popularity, new recording contract
• Key Issue: How do we drive album sales for a slumping Avril?
• Strategy: Reconnect with core teen fans to create momentum to trigger album sales
• Tactics: Free Mall tour to get most loyal fans to reconnect and buy the new album.
Beloved Brands 13 We make brand leaders smarter
Case
Study
#5
14. Checklist to ensure smart strategy
For any type of strategy, whether it is your overall brand, an execution strategy around advertising,
innovation, experience or purchase moment, here’s a checklist to see if your strategy is fully mapped
out and you have not left the success to some vague chance.
• Do you have an end-in-mind vision, with big goals for the brand or even the specific project you
are working on?
• How focused is your plan to allocate your limited resources of money, time, people and
partnerships?
• Have you limited the target audience, the brand message, the potential strategy and related
executional activities on those that will pay back faster?
• Is there an opportunity that you see in the marketplace, that creates an opening for your brand to
quickly take advantage of?
• How fast are you able to move before others see the same opportunity?
Beloved Brands 14 We make brand leaders smarter
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
Concerts attracted 5k screaming 13-year-
olds per mall, creating a new momentum
and perceived success. Local news gave
added exposure. Everyone (mom/kids)
happy with “free” gesture.
Make Avril a pop
superstar,with a
#1 album and
sold out concerts.
Leveraged goodwill and energy
to get loyal fans to go buy her
album in the mall record stores
which helped her album debut
at #1 on the charts.
Getting to #1 on the charts led to
bigger mass audiences–more radio
play, iTunes downloads and more
talk value, playing to sold-out
concert series charging $150 per
ticket. The comeback complete.
Execution timing
lined up to album
release. Good PR,
early album sales.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Vision
Early
Win
Speed
Avril was the first credible
music star ever to give free
concerts. She had a new
album coming out. There
were still record stores in
malls. —an opening for the
fans to go buy her new CD.
Leverage
Gateway
Focus everything on 11-17 year old
female target, focused on shopping
malls where they hang out. Position
free concerts as good will gesture
to her most passionate fans.
Opportunity
Avril Lavigne’s strategic thinking
15. • Is there a leverage point, where you can achieve a change in positional power that you will be
able to turn a small win into something bigger than the finances or the effort that you put in?
• Do you see a gateway or end result that you can build on, whether it makes your brand healthier,
wealthier or drives more power for the brand in the future?
Beloved Brands 15 We make brand leaders smarter
16. Beloved Brands: Who are we?
At Beloved Brands, we will make your brand stronger and your brand leaders smarter. We lead
workshops to define your brand, helping you uncover a unique, own-able Brand Positioning
Statement and an organizing Big Idea that transforms your brand’s DNA into a consumer-centric
and winning brand reputation. We lead workshops to build a strategic Brand Plan that will optimize
your resources and motivates everyone that touches the brand to follow the plan. We coach on
Marketing execution, helping build programs that create a bond with your consumers, to ensure
your investment drives growth on your brand. We will build a Brand Management Training Program,
so you can unleash the full potential of your Marketing team, enabling them to contribute smart and
exceptional Marketing work that drives brand growth. We cover strategic thinking, analytics, brand
planning, brand positioning, creative briefs, customer marketing and marketing execution.
Beloved Brands Training program
At Beloved Brands, we can build a Brand Management Training Program, to unleash the full
potential of your Marketing team
1. How to think strategically: We believe that Strategic Thinking is an essential foundation, to help
Marketers ask big questions that challenge and focus brand decisions. We teach brand leaders
to think strategically. We show them how to ask the right questions before seeing solutions, how
to map out a range of decision trees that intersect and connect by imagining how events will play
out. We take them through the 7 elements of good strategy: vision, opportunity, focus, speed,
early win, leverage and gateway. We use forced choice in each model to help the Marketers
make focused decisions. We teach the value of asking good questions, using four interruptive
questions to help frame your brand’s strategy, looking at your competitive position, your brand’s
core strength, the connectivity with your consumer and the internal situation your brand faces.
2. Write smarter Brand Plans: A good Brand Plan provides a road map for everyone in the
organization to follow: Sales, R&D, Agencies and future Marketers on the brand. We demonstrate
how to write each component of the Brand Plan, looking at brand vision, purpose, values, goals,
key Issues, strategies and tactics. We provide definitions and examples to inspire Marketers on
how to write each component. We provide a full mock brand plan, with a framework for you to
use on your own brand. We offer a workshop that allows Marketers to try out the concept on
their own brand with hands on coaching with feedback to challenge them. At each step, we
provide the ideal format presentation to management. We offer unique formats for a Plan on a
Page and long-range Strategic Road Maps. We show how to build Marketing Execution plans as
part of the overall brand plan, looking at a Brand Communications Plan, Innovation Plan, In-store
plan and Experiential plan. This gives the strategic direction to everyone in the organization.
3. Create winning Brand Positioning Statements: A winning brand positioning statement sets up
the brand’s external communication and internally with employees who deliver that promise. We
show how to write a classic Brand Positioning statement with four key elements: target market,
competitive set, main benefit and reason to believe (RTBs). We introduce the Consumer Benefit
ladder, that starts with the consumer target, with insights and enemies. We layer in the brand
features. Then get in the consumers shoes and ask “what do I get” to find the functional benefits
Beloved Brands 16 We make brand leaders smarter
17. and ask “how does this make me feel” to find the emotional benefits. We introduce a unique tool
that provide the top 50 potential functional and top 40 emotional benefits to help Marketers stretch
their minds yet narrow in on those that are most motivating and own-able for the brand. We then
show how to build an Organizing Big Idea that leads every aspect of your brand, including
promise, story, innovation, purchase moment and experience.
4. Write smarter Creative Briefs: The Creative Brief frames the strategy and positioning so your
Agency can creatively express the brand promise through communication. Marketing Execution
must impact the brand’s consumers in a way that puts your brand in a stronger business
position. The Creative Brief is the bridge between the brand strategy and the execution. Through
our Brand Positioning workshop, you will have all the homework on the brand needed to set up
the transformation into a succinct 1-page Creative Brief that will focus, inspire and challenge a
creative team to make great work. The hands-on Creative Brief workshop explores best in class
methods for writing the brief’s objective, target market, consumer insights, main message
stimulus and the desired consumer response. Brand Leaders walk away from the session with a
ready-to-execute Creative Brief.
5. Be smarter at Brand Analytics: We show how to build a deep-dive business review on the
brand, looking at the category, consumers, competitors, channels and brand. We start with the
smart analytical principles that will challenge your thinking and help you gain more support by
telling analytical stories through data. We teach you the steps to complete a deep-dive Business
Review that will help assess the health and wealth of the brand, looking at the category,
consumer, competitors, channels and brand. We show key formulas you need to know for
financial analysis. We teach how to turn your analysis into a presentation for management,
showing the ideal presentation slide format. We provide a full mock business review, with a
framework and examples of every type of analysis, for you to use on your own brand. We show
you how to turn your analytical thinking into making projections by extrapolating data into the
future.
6. Get better Marketing Execution: Brand Leaders to judge and decide on execution options that
break through to consumers and motivates them to take action. We provide Brand Leaders with
tools and techniques for judging communication concepts from your agencies, as well as
processes for making decisions and providing effective feedback. We talk about the crucial role
of the brand leader in getting amazing marketing execution for your brand. We teach how to
make marketing decisions with the ABC’S, so you can choose great ads and reject bad ads
looking at tools such as Attention (A), Branding (B), Communication (C) and Stickiness (S). We
teach how to provide copy direction that inspires and challenges the agency to deliver great
execution. We also talk about how to be a better client to motivate and inspire your agency.
7. How to build Media Plans: We look at media as an investment and as a brand growth strategy,
exploring various media options—both traditional and on-line. We provide Brand Leaders with
new ways to think about media to be able to drive long term growth and profits for your brand.
We bring a more consumer centric approach to media, aligning the media choices to where your
consumer will be most likely to engage with your brand message. Media must change the
consumer’s behavior so they think, feel or act in a way that tightens the brand’s bond with
consumers and gives the brand to have more power and profit. We show where media fits into
creative process. We look at all the types of Media through the lens of the Brand Leader, with
Beloved Brands 17 We make brand leaders smarter
18. advice on how to use traditional media options, such as TV, radio, newspaper, out-of-home and
Modern media options such as digital, social and search.
8. Winning the Purchase Moment: Brand Leaders need to know how to move consumers on the
path to purchase, helping consumers to test, decide and then experience the brand so that they
try, repeat and become loyal brand fans. We provide brand leaders with analytics, planning and
decision making tools to help their instincts and judgement for moving consumers to purchase.
Complete in-store business review, looking at categories, consumer shopping behavior,
competitors, customers and the overall brand performance. We teach the basics of customer
marketing planning, identifying the target consumer, in-store messages, strategies, tactics and
project management. We look at the available tools for customer marketing including pricing,
promotions, retail shelf management, merchandising and operational execution.
Beloved Brands 18 We make brand leaders smarter
We believe that Strategic Thinking is an essential foundation, to help
Marketers ask big questions that challenge and focus brand decisions.
• We teach brand leaders to think strategically. We show them how to ask the right
questions before seeing solutions, how to map out a range of decision trees that
intersect and connect by imagining how events will play out. We take them through
the 7 elements of good strategy: vision, opportunity, focus, speed, early win,
leverage and gateway. We use forced choice in each model to help the Marketers
make focused decisions.
• We teach the value of asking good questions, using four interruptive questions to
help frame your brand’s strategy, looking at your competitive position, your brand’s
core strength, the connectivity with your consumer and the internal situation your
brand faces.
• We show how to build strategic statements that set up a smart strategic brand plan.
How to turn strategic
focus into bigger gains
for your business
Training Workshop
Strategic Thinking