Smart strategic thinking for Marketers

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?

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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.


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.

VisionA 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


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.

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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


Why every brand needs a vision statement

If you don't know where you are going, you might not get there.

Yogi Berra

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.

FocusThe 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.



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.

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 SpeedThe 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 WinHe 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,



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”

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.

LeverageThe 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.

GatewayThe 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.


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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.



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.

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Vision

Early Win

Speed

They planned excessively, debated options, looked for unguarded beaches. Also, they had Russia attacking

from east, helping to weaken Germany.

LeverageGateway

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

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


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• 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.



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.

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Vision

Early Win

Speed

Capitalize on the consumer frustration with technology,

that was preventing the mass consumers from

experiencing everything technology can offer.

LeverageGateway

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

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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



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.

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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.

LeverageGateway

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

• 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 BelovedIn 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.


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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.



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”

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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

Shiftfromaproductdrivenstrategytoidea-ledhelping women maintain their weight, providing low-calorie alternatives across the toughest

food moments of the day.

Opportunity

Special K’s strategic thinking

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.


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Checklist to ensure smart strategyFor 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?



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.

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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.

LeverageGateway

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

• 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: 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 team1. 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


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


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.


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