Brand insights inform

1. Brand InsightsMost brand strategies end up being a penetrating insight in the blatantly obvious.– Brad Jakeman, US marketing expert

2. Brand insights inform • How consumers perceive and engage with the brand • How the brand must be communicated to the consumer

3. The implications for advertising are obvious • You can’t persuade a consumer to attend to your message if • They don’t know, like or trust your brand • They don’t recognize the message as consistent or appropriate to the brand

4. What is a brand? • It’s a story told/experienced by consumers • The accumulated “value proposition” expressed through • The company/product • The culture • The communications

5. What do they share • Qualities of great brands • Compelling idea: what does the brand offer that the consumer needs? Physical and emotional needs. • Core purpose • Central values

6. BMW • The ultimate driving machine • Core purpose: to deliver an outstanding driving experience through superior car performance • Values remain consistent across different audiences and product lines. • Quality-technology-performance-exclusivity

7. What do they do? • Articulate the brand promise/values • Invest in brand delivery across multiple platforms • Make decisions in keeping with brand strategy

8. How are brands created?

9. Brand foundation = the value proposition (positioning)

10. The product “value” is defined by the company as what they “build” into the product • But it is not always defined as such by the consumer • Consumer value is always perceptual, not objective fact. • All consumers do not experience the same product in the same way

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12. Brands have “identities” that are created by various authors who tell stories about the brand

13. 1. Companies: create the story through each point that the company touches the consumer • Product itself • People in the organization • Retail environment • Communications • Owned • Paid

14. 2. Culture • Media appearances in movies, tv, books, magazines, Internet • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAUI_0knfk&feature=related

15. 3. Consumers • Create stories about their experience consuming the product, which they share with others • Earned media • Blogs • Social media

16. 4. Influencers • Reviews by experts • Credible industry insiders • Innovators and early adopters in the category

17. Guess who?

18. Apple’s core purpose and values • To make technology accessible and easy to use • Design matters • Functionality rules • Simplicity prevails • Creativity and innovation drive the business

19. Expressed through the product…

20. Expressed through the communications

21. Expressed through culture

22. The result…

23. The Brand Story • This becomes the perceptual frame through which consumers understand, value and experience the product • And these frames are “sticky.” They endure, which is what makes brand cultures so powerful…and so important to marketers • They endure because there are too many choices • We’re lazy • They give us collective experience (brand communities)

24. Brand insight is about understanding the reality of this brand frame, not necessarily about changing it

25. What are we trying to understand? • 4 Dominant Areas • Relevance • Differentiation • Credibility • Stretch

26. Relevance • To what extent does our brand connect with target consumers? • What functional and emotional needs are being satisfied (or not)? • What factors are influencing how relevant the product/brand is to our consumer? • Apple • Dove • Google

27. Differentiation • Where do we stand relative to our competition in our consumers eyes? • What are we offering that consumers perceive as added value in the category? • How significant are the points of differentiation? Are they worth pushing further? Do consumers value those points of differentiation? • Target Virgin • IKEA eBay

28. Credibility • Do consumers believe the brand keeps its promises? • What competencies does the consumer perceive about the brand? • Do they match the message? Where are the gaps? • Brands with high credibility? Why? • Nordstrom • Disney • BMW

29. Stretch • Is the brand perceived as inspiring or innovative? • Does it “define” and “push” the category in a way that excites/interests consumers? • Is the brand alive and growing or dull and dying in consumers eyes? • Nike • Swiffer

30. Brand Insight • The process of uncovering where your brand sits on these dimensions

31. Several basic areas of questioning to elicit brand insight • What is the consumer’s connection to the category? How does it fit in their world view? • What defines the consumer’s ideal experience with the product/category? How would this make them feel? • How does this ideal compare with what currently exists? Does any brand come close to delivering the consumer’s ideal? How? • What other associations does the consumer have with your brand? Competitors? Seek good and bad. • What would your brand need to do to make consumers believe it could achieve their ideal?

32. Insights will suggest opportunities for communication • IKEA: You’re free from living with your furniture forever • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I07xDdFMdgw • Dove: Redefining real beauty • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U • Disney: The best time you will ever have with your kids • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocXSqupDpoc&feature=fvsr

33. Problems • What if your consumer can’t articulate any clear differentiation for your brand? • Citi • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KERwnA8VfFM

34. What if there is no USP, no emotional connection, no selling proposition? • Old Spice

35. What if the selling proposition is the idea of variety? • Penneys • Target • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPah6p04ZDQ

36. What if price is the proposition? • Clorox

37. What if saving time and money is the proposition?

38. What if your proposition requires that you take on the competition? • Mac vs PC