Advanced Strategic

Thinking for
Communications

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 Advanced
Strategic
Thinking

Brands as Re-orientating
New Models for Discovering Brand
communication fuel Brands
Marketing & Meaning
or handbrake Brand Meaning
Communication
Review Brands Model
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Case Work:
Selling a Strategy
Consumer CEP and Finding Brand Meaning and
The art and science
Experience Communications Consumer
of changing minds
Mapping Opportunities Experience
Mapping
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 A Marketing Model
Retrospective

Elvis lives!
Tell the Story of Advertising / Communications

Yesterday Today Tomorrow

1980-1990 2008-2010 2020
OLD MARKETING NEW MARKETING

MANIPULATION MEANING
Evolution of Marketing

Brand As Broadcaster Brand As Facilitator

Building Brands
with Meaning
The digital world has forced a tipping point in
marketing, Brands must raise their game

Battle for Mindshare Battle for Meaning

Brand as Fuel

http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/07/brand-as-facila.html
Evaluate Your Brands

• Question

Does your brand assist / help inform how to participate in the lives of their
consumers beyond the category?
• For example:
• Which causes it should align with
• What sponsorships are appropriate
• What utilities to invest in

Hand Brake Communication

Fuel
Transparency

Brand MEANING
model
1. TRANSPARENCY

• The internet has made the cost of information seeking lower and
shifted the balance of power towards a more informed and
empowered consumer.
• There has been plenty of opportunities for Asian brands to rise to
the occasion during recent product contamination crises, however
brands have chosen to be reactive rather than tackle the issues
head on.
McDonald’s and Transparency

• Globally McDonalds has come under fire from consumer groups over
the nutritional and health values of their products.
– McDonalds embarked on a global programme which invited Mom Quality
Correspondents to visit the facilities where McDonald’s products are prepared and to
report back to other concerned consumers.
Dole and Transparency
2. ACTS NOT JUST WORDS

• Stop communicating products and start making

communication products.
• Useful entertaining or memorable, not interruptive,
experiences.
• Create, don’t fill, media space.
– Be Media Positive, Not Media Neutral
• “Media is less and less often about crafting a single message to be consumed by
individuals, and more and often a way of creating an environment for convening
and supporting groups.”
• Ideas that can be advertised, not advertising ideas
 ACTS NOT WORDS
BEST JOB IN THE WORLD
• Task:
– Tourism Queensland tasked their agency to launch a
new brand, the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef across
eight key international markets.

• Creative Idea:
– They created "The Best Job in the World" – a position
that sounds too good to be true. The best thing about
the job being its location – the Islands of the Great
Barrier Reef.
3. COHERENCY NOT CONSISTENCY

• Best in class examples of coherency vs consistency

– Nike
– Apple
– Madonna

Coherency
Nike Coherency
 Transparency

Brand MEANING
model

Generosity
1. GENEROSITY

Generous ideas are better than big ideas

– We have an expectation that Brands should have
a POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD

– At least Be Useful
– Not just a commercial proposition. Have a social mission.
– This is not CSR as we have known it!

– Understand what people are interested in and work back from

there
Agents of Generosity
http://www.girleffect.org/
A Shift from Generous Deeds to Generous Brands

A brand embraces community The foundation of the Brand

and other causes that matter to is based on Generosity
its consumer base
Generosity: From Good Deeds to Good Brands

• Nike Woman demonstrated that SPORT can be a powerful

force in building the self-esteem of young women.
• They deliver their message through a series of web short
films featuring the inner strength of celebrated Sports
Women.

• <PLAY NIKE HERE I AM – Maria Sharapova>

Generosity: From Good Deeds to Good Brands

TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise:

With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to
a child in need.
2. PARTICIPATION

• It’s not what we do; it’s what people do to what we

do that matters
– We tend to design finite, complete products.
– We’re not very good at designing for gaps.
2. PARTICIPATION
Lurpak
2. PARTICIPATION – Lurpak’s Bake Club
Wonderbra: Uses Participation to close the distance
between regular women and the brand
Participation to Brand Co-Parenting / Creation

• Faith Popcorn suggests a whole new level of consumer

participation which she calls “BRAND CO-PARENTING”.
• This level of participation transcends the research focus
group, the suggestion box and toll-free hotlines. Inviting
consumers to truly participate in the brand means
relinquishing control.
Participation through Co-Creation
3. ACT SMALL

Small is the new Big

– Big used to have inherent value
– Now it can be a liability

“The bigger a brand gets, the smaller it should act,

because no one likes big.”
3. ACT SMALL
The Shift in Communication

Interruption Participation
Image manipulation Value creation
Saying things at people Doing things for people
Intangible value Tangible value
Perception Behavior
We all need to
belong
Belonging and Brand Meaning
Creating a Sense of Belonging

We choose brands because we want to share in what they

believe in

Brands need to therefore create meaning for themselves

Brand X creates a world in which….

Unlocking Brand Meaning
Discovering Opportunities for Brand Meaning
Example:

Play Robot, Soccer and Ronaldinho

Discovering Opportunities for Brand Meaning
Example:
• How does the category sell itself today?
Dirt is the enemy, Clean is the ultimate objective
• Is there a category negative that could be overturned?
The obsession with removing dirt
• What deep need does the category really need to deliver to?
Laundry is not mom’s primary concern, she is more concerned with raising a
happy and healthy family
• Which values which matter to the target, could the category adopt?
The importance of letting children experience life, and to learn my trial and error
• What good could the category do?
Give kids their childhood back and maybe even get parents to join their kids in
physical activities
 Belonging and Brand Meaning
Example: Omo

Omo is a laundry detergent with XXX

cleaning tcehnology

Omo XXX technology makes it easy to

remove the marks left by regular
outdoor and indoor play

Omo believes Dirt is Good, because

getting dirty is a natural part of
learning for children
Exercise: Brand Meaning

• Discover a Brand Meaning Space for one of the

following categories:
Consumer Experience
Mapping

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Consumer Experience Mapping

• This is when we walk in the shoes of the consumer as they start to

interact with our category:

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Consumer Experience Mapping

• Consumer Experience Mapping acknowledges that brands must have

“Utility” or be “Generous”
• CEM, helps us find opportunities for communication and other
marketing activities to be meaningful.

• Procedure:
1. We map the consumer experience through the full purchase journey,
2. Pain and pleasure points in the journey are identified;
3. Pain points are opportunities for the brand to innovate.

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The Painting Process – Seek the Pleasure and Pain Points

Color Exploration Narrow brand

and choose colour
Grubby Walls
Inspiration
Purchase product
and get advice

Paint
preparation
Painting
Disposal
Support
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 The Painting Process - 2 Key Pain Points
There is so much choice
Which colour is right for me?
Help consumers make more confident colour choices

Color Exploration
Narrow brand
and choose colour
Grubby Walls
Inspiration
Purchase product
and get advice

I am not experienced
in painting
How can I learn
quickly and easily?

Play a role in the “How To” of painting

Paint
preparation
Painting
Disposal
Support 50
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 The current retail space
does not serve the consumers
Colour choice or
How to paint needs

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Case Study: Task

Consumer Experience Mapping Brand Meaning

+
+

1. Walk through the consumer experience 1. Discover Brand Meaning Territories

2. Identify Pain and Pleasure Points
3. Identify Innovation Opportunities
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Selling in a Strategy

Common “Selling a Strategy” mistakes

• Not connecting with the audience
• Not recognising the real destination
• Lecturing and boring the audience
Selling in a Strategy

Common “Selling a Strategy” mistakes Successful “pitches”

• Not connecting with the audience • Involve the audience
• Not recognising the real destination • Keep it Simple
• Lecturing and boring the audience • Surprise
• Create Belief
Chief Facilitator/ Trainer: Angela Koch
Angela.Koch @invitro.com.sg