Part 2 Principle: Be True to Thy Brand – and Thy Consumer Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Chapter 7:Strategic Planning

Part 2Principle: Be True to Thy Brand – and Thy Consumer

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

1. What is the difference between objectives, strategies, and tactics in strategic planning and how are the four levels of planning connected?

2. What are the key strategic decisions, and why are they central to brand communication planning?


Questions to Explore

What is Strategic Planning?


For marketing communication, strategic planning is the process of:

identifying a problem that can be solved with communication

determining objectives deciding on strategies implementing tactics


What is strategic planning?

What do each of these terms mean?

Objective: what you want to accomplish.

Strategy: how to accomplish the objectives.

Tactics: actions that make the plan come to life.


What is strategic planning?

The business plan and marketing plan provide direction for advertising planning and other areas of marketing communication.

The business plan may cover an SBU (strategic business unit), which is a line of products or all offerings of a brand.


The business plan

Mission Statement and Business Philosophy

A business plan begins with a description of the business itself: The history of the company Its products The scope of its offerings Its corporate strengths Its organizational structure and management team


The business plan

Research

In business plans, it is particularly important to look both inside and outside the organization to identify strengths and weaknesses, both corporate and brand.

SWOT


The business plan

Goals and objectives Business goals are long term and general.

Objectives focus on maximizing profit and return on investment (ROI).

Strategies, tactics, and controls At the business plan level, planning decisions are

focused on research and development, operations, and sales and marketing.


The business plan

Developed for a brand or product line and evaluated annually.

Parallels the business strategic plan and contains many of the same components.

Involves a SWOT analysis to determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats


The marketing plan

For marcom managers, the marketing mix strategy is key.

It includes decisions about:◦ Target market◦ Brand position◦ Product design and performance◦ Pricing◦ Distribution◦ Marketing communication


The marketing plan

As with business and marketing plans, advertising and marketing communication plans also includes objectives, strategies, and tactics.

The focus is on the communication program supporting a brand.

◦ Audience insight◦ Message◦ Medium

……are at the heart of an advertising plan.


The brand communication/IMC plan

These begin with: 1. a communication situation analysis2. SWOTs leading to the identification of the problem3. Communication objectives4. Identification of a target audience5. Communication-based consumer insights6. Analysis of the communication dimensions of the

brand position


Plans for marketing communication functions

Key Strategic Decisions


SWOT analysisFinding ways to leverage the strengths and

opportunities, address the weaknesses and threats.

Strengths: positive traits, conditions and good situations

Weaknesses: traits, conditions, situations perceived as negative

Opportunities: areas in which the company could develop an advantage over its competition

Threats: a trend or development in the environment that will erode business unless the company takes action


Situation analysis

Competitive Economic Political/legal Natural Socio-cultural-demographic Technological

Dimensions of External Environment (O & T of SWOT)

Formal goal statements outlining what the message is supposed to achieve and how it will be measured.

Main effects: Recall the six categories in the facets model of advertising effects:

Perception EmotionCognition PersuasionAssociation Behavior

These can be used to set objectives for brand communication efforts.


The communication objectives

Measureable objectives

Every campaign is guided by specific, clear and measurable objectives.

Objectives must be measurable so advertisers know whether the campaign or advertising is effective.

Benchmarking: a similar product or prior brand campaign is used to predict a logical goal.


Objectives

Measureable objectives

Five requirements:1. A specific effect that can be measured2. A time frame3. A baseline (where we are or where we begin)4. The goal (a realistic estimate of change to be

created)5. Percentage change (subtract the baseline

from the goal; divide the difference by the baseline)


Objectives

The following are just some examples (the X stands for a specific # that you choose. This, of course, requires an educated guess on your part):

Unaided Recall: For consumers who have seen ads for pet grooming

products, X% will name John Paul Pet as the brand that they saw or one of the brands that they saw.

Aided Recall: X% of consumers will respond yes when asked if they have

seen any ads for John Paul Pet. Recognition: X% of consumers will say that they recognize the John Paul

Pet ad when shown the ad.

Here are some examples John Paul Pet project:

Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA): X% of consumers will say John Paul Pet

when asked to name a brand of pet grooming products.

(This one could be modified if you want to associate John Paul Pet with a particular attribute or quality like “Name a brand of pet grooming products that is of salon quality” or “Name a brand of pet grooming products that is tested on humans rather than animals to ensure the safety of the product”)

Trial or Intention: X% will say that they want to try the brand or buy the

brand. Or X% will say that they would put John Paul Pet products

on their shopping list. Association: X% will say they associate the John Paul Pet grooming

product line with _____ attribute or quality. (Again one of your campaign decisions might be to

associate the brand with a certain attribute or trait and you would fill in this blank with that attribute or quality).

Or X% will strongly agree with the statement that “people

who really love their pets will choose John Paul Pet grooming products”

Preference/loyalty: X% will enroll in the customer loyalty program or X% will say that they would choose John Paul Pet

grooming products from a list of competitive products.

Behavior objectives include: X% increase in sales. X% increase in Facebook fans X% increase in Website hits.

Marketing communication strategy is based on accurately targeting an audience that will respond to a particular message.

Research-based knowledge identifies what makes specific groups of consumers different from people in other groups.

These characteristics also identify how consumers are similar to others in ways that characterize a specific type of viewpoint or lifestyle.


The target audience

Brand identity Must be distinctive and familiar in terms of name, logo, colors, typeface, design, and slogan.

Brand personality and liking It should have human characteristics like loving, trustworthy, sophisticated.

Brand position and leadershipThe soul or essence of the brand; it stands for something that matters to consumers.


Brand identity strategy

Brand image The mental impression customers construct for a product based on symbols and associations that customers link to a brand.

Brand promise and brand preferenceBelieving the promise that a brand will meet your expectations leads to brand preference.

Brand loyaltyA connection built over time that leads to repeat purchases.


Brand identity strategy

A brand’s position is how consumers define the product or brand relative to its competitors.

A position must be based on a particular feature or attribute that is important to the consumer.


Brand positioning strategy

Product features and attributes: First identify the features of the brand and its competitors to determine advantages.

Product differentiation focuses attention to product differences that distinguish the company’s product from others in the eyes of consumers.

Competitive advantage is found where:

1. the product has a strong feature2. in an area that is important to the target3. where the competition is weaker


Brand positioning strategy

A number of factors can be used including:


Locating the brand position

• Superiority position

• Preemptive position

• Value position

• Psychological position

• Benefit position

• Usage position

• Competitor’s strategy

• Category factors

A Perceptual Map for CarsCars located next to each other are seen to be similar in the eyes of the consumer

How Do the Following Brands Try to Position Themselves?

http://subway.com/subwayroot/index.aspx

Repositioning can only work if the new position is related to the brand’s core concept.

Although advertising shapes the position, the position is anchored in the target audience’s minds by their personal experiences.

The role of the brand communication strategy is to relate the product’s new position to the target market’s life experience and associations.


Repositioning

http://subway.com/subwayroot/index.aspx

Exhibit 2http://courses.unt.edu/kt3650_10/sld006.htm

http://courses.unt.edu/kt3650_10/sld006.htm

http://courses.unt.edu/kt3650_10/sld006.htm

“We still stand for service,” said Allison Sitch, senior corporate director of PR at Ritz-Carlton. “Now, the visuals depict the detail, the little touches of staying at our hotels. I don't mean a rose petal on the bed. I mean the details of a moment in time during a stay with us. The visuals depict all of the moments that you will carry forward for a lifetime.”

The new positioning was designed to be more inclusive of non-affluent customers. Sitch said the messaging is meant to reach all types of customers but not in a “masstige (mass prestige)” way.

“In a new brand platform which launches this month, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C. showcases the core service philosophy that makes them a successful luxury lodging company, with the introduction of an entirely new communications approach. Disrupting convention in the hotel category, The Ritz-Carlton poses an alternative style of question to guests, asking ‘Let Us Stay With You’, thereby reversing the age-old approach of hotels asking guests to stay with them. Through the use of artwork, film, messaging, and digital experience platforms, guests are requested to allow The Ritz-Carlton to be much more than just a hotel; indeed to be that indelible memory that lasts a lifetime.”

http://www.dmnews.com/ritz-carlton-launches-10m-repositioning-campaign/article/212175/

http://corporate.ritzcarlton.com/en/Press/Releases/LetUsStayWithYou.htm

Ritz-Carlton Repositioning



http://corporate.ritzcarlton.com/en/Press/Releases/LetUsStayWithYou.htm

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/LetUsStay/Default.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNg2sh5_KNQ&list=PL3C1DB204E0BB81DC&index=1&feature=plpp_video

Ritz-Carlton Repositioning Let us invent a drink in your

honor. Let us transform your room into a

tropical paradise. Let us turn a weekend getaway

into a honeymoon you never thought you'd have.

Let us create a memory so indelible, you'll savor it long after

you've left.








Let us make you captain of your very own ship.Let us introduce your kids to a loggerhead turtle.Let us take you snorkeling by moonlight.Let us create a memory so vivid, you can still smell the sea air.Let us stay with you.

Let us start each meeting with your client’s favorite orchids.Let us make a five-hour meeting feel like a fifteen-minute chat.Let us treat the smallest detail like the greatest challenge.Let us promise you’ll never look at meetings the same way again.Let us stay with you.

Repositioning can only work if the new position is related to the brand’s core concept.

Although advertising shapes the position, the position is anchored in the target audience’s minds by their personal experiences.

The role of the brand communication strategy is to relate the product’s new position to the target market’s life experience and associations.


Repositioning

Media Plan

Match target markets’ media habits with your media choices.

Medium (eg TV) Vehicle (eg Food Network) Scheduling

Creative or Message Strategy What is the idea that drives your effort? The

idea should not be your execution (versions of an ad) or simply your tagline. What ties your ads all together? What are the continuity devices? What is the theme behind the campaign that can be spun off to create additional versions of your ads?

Describe your big idea in a couple of sentences or a short paragraph.

43

Consumer Insight How did you arrive at the big idea? How was

your idea driven by target-audience insight? Detail any research that led to the insight or validated it.

Domino’s Pizza Turnaround“Big Idea”• “To disarm people’s reluctance to believe, we

settled on a single, powerful concept: we listened. We created a campaign based on the simple notion that instead of running from criticism of our product, we listened to it, responded, and created a better pizza.”

MasterCard “Priceless”Big Idea

• “We decided to give value to those everyday situations and emotions, the little things that add up to the big things in life.”Joyce King Thomas, EVP deputy creative director at McCann

• “Good spenders use credit cards to acquire the things in life that are important to them-things that enrich their everyday lifes.”Nat Puccio, EVP, strategic planning director at McCann

John Paul Pet Campaign: Furry Friends Need Mothering Too! In the beginning, we thought that our target market was anyone with a pet.

After much research, we have decided that our target market will consist of women from ages 25-55. We will target both types of women: those who have children and those who treat their pets as if they are children. It is important to focus on this target market because nurturing and motherhood comes naturally to women. Females also connect with their pets more often than males do and typically are more interested in the grooming aspects of their pets.

We would also like to generate the idea that pets are family members too and that owners should give their pets only the absolute best. We want to build our brand awareness around the idea that by using our product, owners are giving their pets the best possible care. We want it to be known that our products are safe for everyday use and is backed by a pH-balanced test that is tested on humans first, while also carrying a low price tag.

In the implementation of our big idea we want to show that women care for pets naturally just as they do babies. We can do this by using ads in which implement women taking care of things such as mentoring children, working in the garden, and a mother caring for her infant. The ads will capture the attention of those females who are mothers due to the image of a young child smiling as they help their mother to clean their pet. The ads will also capture the attention of those females who aren’t mothers to children but treat their pets as if they are children.

Continuity Device: Showing women in nurturing roles and extending the role to their pets. Some of the ads will showcase mothers and their children but that will not be the central theme or focus.

Tag Line: John Paul Pet makes mothering your pet easy, safe, and economical.

Creative Execution How will you bring the idea to life?

You must show visual examples of the creative executions (eg advertisements, Facebook page, email messages, letters, brochures, posters, etc.)

Other Tools Other tools may include but are not limited

to: events, sponsorships, sales promotions, promotional products (also known as specialty advertising) “in-store” merchandising, & guerilla marketing.

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Evaluation: determining effectiveness

Evaluation is the process of determining the effectiveness of a campaign.

It’s impossible without established, measurable objectives.

In effect, evaluation is a research proposal.


Campaign strategies and management

For your project, it is the Proposed ways of measuring whether you achieved your objectives.

Effie Winners, these campaigns were actually implemented so they have real measures.

Chapter 19: Evaluating IMC Effectiveness

Part 5Principle: IMC and Total Communication


1. Why is it important to evaluate brand communication effectiveness?

2. What role do campaign objectives play in the measurement of campaign success?

3. What are the key ways in which post-campaign evaluation is conducted?

Questions to Explore


Brand Communication Impact:

Did It Work?


First things first: the campaign objectives Typically, a brand communication campaign has

multiple objectives.

For example, one (attitudinal) objective may be to change brand perceptions.

Another (behavioral) objective may be to make people engage in some way with the brand.


Brand communication impact: did it work?

First things first: the campaign objectives Regardless of the number of objectives, the must

be established up front, because they provide the all-important framework for evaluating whether a campaign was a success.

Campaign objectives and evaluation work hand in hand. In the absence of solid campaign objectives, evaluation becomes a much murkier task.



Why evaluation matters All campaigns require multiple, formal evaluation

mechanisms.

These should be “planned in” to any campaign.

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

The sheer costs of brand communication demand evaluation in order to judge its effectiveness.



Evaluating the IMC Message


Tracking Studies Conducted from the time a campaign is launched

until after it has concluded.

Involves the collection of information from random samples of consumers who live in markets where they were exposed to a campaign.


Message evaluation techniques

Advertising can accomplish objectives including increased brand awareness, improved brand image.

The tracking study is the most common posttesting evaluation technique used to evaluate advertising.


Advertising

Effect

PerceptionAwareness/Noticed

Attention

Recognition(Aided )Relevance

Emotion

Liking/Disliking

DesireCognitionInterest

Comprehension/Confusion

Recall (Unaided)

Brand Recall

Differentiation

Table 19:1 Effectiveness Research Questions

Research Questions

What ads do you remember seeing? Which ads were noted?What caught your attention?Did the ad stand out among the other ads and content around it?What stood out in the ad?Have you seen this ad/this campaign?Sort elements into piles of remember/don’t remember.How important is the product message to you? Does it speak to your interest and aspirations?What emotions did the ad stimulate?How did it make you feel?Do you like this brand? This story? The characters (and other ad elements)?What did you like or dislike about the brand? The ad?Do you want this product or brand?

Did you read/watch most of it? How much?Did it engage your interest or curiosity? Where did your interest shift away from the ad? What thoughts came to you? Do you understand how it works? Is there anything in the ad you don’t understand? Do the claims/product attributes/benefits make sense? Do you have a need for this brand or can it fulfill a need for you?What happened in the commercial? What is the main message? What is the point of the ad?What brand is being advertised in the ad? (In open-ended responses, was the brand named?)What’s the difference between Brand X and Y?

Effect

PersuasionAttitude

Preference

Intention

Argument/CounterArgument

Believability/Conviction

TrustAssociation

Personality/Image

Self Identification


Research Questions

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the brand? The ad?How excellent or weak is the brand? The ad? Do you respect it?In Category X (or product set), which brand would you choose? (Usually a pre- or posttest question).What brand do you prefer?Do you want to try or buy this product/brand? Would you put it on your shopping list? What are your reasons for buying it? Or for not buying it—or its competing brand(s)? How does it compare to competitor’s brands?Do you argue back to the ad?Do you believe the reasons, claims, or proof statements?Are you convinced the message is true? The brand is best? Do you have confidence in the brand?When you think of this brand, what (products, qualities, attributes, people, lifestyles, etc.) do you connect with it?Do you link this brand to positive experiences? What is the personality of the brand? Of whom does it remind you? Do you like this person/brand personality?What is the brand image? What does it symbolize or stand for? Can you see yourself or your friends using this brand? Do you connect personally with the brand image?

Effect

Behavior


Research Questions

How many people buy, try, click, visit, attend, inquire, volunteer, donate, advocate, or whatever the desired action?What is the rate of change?

Documents

Part 2 Principle: Be True to Thy Brand – and Thy Consumer Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall