How to Write an effective Brand Plan that everyone can follow
















Vision
Mission
Goals
Strategies
Tactics
Target
Expected Result
Main Message
Support Points
Product
Advertising
Promotion
Stimulus
Response
Medium
Channel
If you have ever sat there at
your computer screen looking
at these Brand Plan Headlines
and gotten Writer’s Block, you
are not alone.
Describing the Entire Marketing Planning Process Sounds Pretty
Simple. Yet, how come it’s so Difficult to write a plan?

Marketing
Made Easy
in about
150 words
or less


We have some long term thoughts on where the brand can
go and the special assignment to get us on our way. And
that helps shape the things we want to achieve with our
brand. To get started, the brand has different options for
how to get there
We try to find a slice of the population to get them to take
an action that makes our brand bigger. We then find out
what to say and how to talk to them to trigger that action
We need to re-enforce why we can do it and others can’t.
We then create the most motivating stimulus to get them to
take action and put it in part of their life where they are
most likely to hear it and act on it.
3
Does it get More Complicated when we start to layer in all the
Marketing Buzz words?

STRATEGIC
PLAN

POSITIONING

EXECUTION
We have some long term thoughts on where the brand can
go (vision) and the special assignment to get us on our way.
(mission) And that help shape the things we want to achieve
with our brand. (goals) To get started, the brand has different
options (strategies) for how to get there (tactics)
We try to find a slice of the population (target) to get them
to take an action (expected result) that makes our brand
bigger. We then find out what to say and how to talk to
them to trigger that action (main message) We need to reenforce why we can do it and others can’t (support)
We then create the most motivating stimulus (product, ad,
promotion) to get them to take action and put it in part of
their life where they are most likely to hear it and act on it
(the medium/channel)
My suspicion is the Marketing Words create the Writers
block and complicates our thinking.
4
Five Great Simple Questions to Ask Before
Getting Started on Your Brand Plan.
Questions To Ask
1. Where are we?
Planning Areas
Situation Analysis
1
2. Why are we here?
3. Where could we be?
4. How can we get there?
5. What do we need to do
to get ready
Key Issues
2
Vision/Mission/Goals
3
Strategies/Tactics
4
5
6
Execute & Measure
5
An Example of how a Good Brand Plan Comes Together in the End
3
Brand Vision
2
6
Forecast
P&L
Key Issues
5
Executional
Tactics
4
1
Situation
Analysis
Strategic
Initiatives
6
Situation
Analysis
Brand
Budget
The Situation Analysis
And the Key Issues
1
2
Where Are We and How Did We Get there?
Understanding how the consumer buys, allows you to match it up
and apply pressure against a single point on the brand funnel.
Indifferent
Like It
Love It
The Love Curve Helps Isolate the Issues, matching the
consumer buying system to the brand funnel.
 Behaviour matched up against data.
8
Force Field Analysis: Drivers, Inhibitors, Opportunities, Threats
Drivers
Is happening Now
Inhibitors
•factors of strength or inertia that are
•Weaknesses or friction that is slowing
helping to accelerate your brand’s growth. your brand down, or a leaky hole that
Could be something within the brand’s
needs fixing. These are things that are
make up or control, or it could be a factor
happening right now.
of the market place.
•What is holding you back or getting in
•What are the things that are directly
your way from achieving the growth?
driving your brand growth?
•A leak in your Brand Funnel. Where are
you exposed, Achilles heal?
Opportunities
Could happen
Threats
•Outside of your control. They are real, but have
•Areas you could take advantage, which
not happened yet. If they did, they would be
would accelerate our growth. They have
an inhibitor. No laundry lists.
to be real, or exploratory areas. No
•Changing consumer needs, threat of
pipedreams! Unfulfilled needs, new
substitutes, barriers to trade, customer
technologies, regulation changes, removal
preference, or attacking your weaknesses.
of trade barriers.
Helps Frame what the brand is facing as well as set up
the Key Issues for the Brand Plan.
9
Analysis from the BURGER Example: Keep the Analysis tight
Ideally, you want to focus on
the top 3-4 points for each.
Make sure the drivers and
inhibitors are IN plan now, not
could happen, but are
happening.
Risks and Opportunities could
happen but they have to be
realistic and within a 3-5 year
window.
10
Force Field Analysis: Drivers, Inhibitors, Opportunities, Threats
Drivers
Continue/Enhance
Stay focused on things going right, accelerate
against them. Continuous improvement.
Inhibitors
Opportunities
Threats
Minimize/Reverse
Close the leaks, develop turnaround plans
or re-focus the team against the trend.
Take Advantage of
Build plans to mobilize the brand to see if the
opportunity is a winning space for the brand.
Avoid/Contingency
Identify and measure the risk, explore plans
to avoid. Fill the gap before a competitor.
Helps to Frame the Key Issues Facing the Brand
11
Key Issues Identify the Areas of Focus for Your plan
•
•
Key Issues should be asked in question format. Think of them in terms of a
“rhetorical strategic question” which means that the question should be a bit leading,
and have a proposed strategy as the solution.
As a guideline, there should be 3-5 key issues per brand. The crucial part of key issues
is getting to the right level. If you have less, you are likely not detailed or specific
enough, and if you have more…you should try to elevate some up to see if you can
capture the bigger picture. Play around with it, until it feels at the right level.
Example: Key Issues for The US War in Iraq.
Too Low: How do we get more helicopters into Iraq? This is too
specific or too small. Think about it, if there are other ways to
get to the same goal (e.g. you could get more tanks) then the
issue is too small.
Too High: How do we drive Peace in the Middle East? This is
aspiration, but unrealistic. If it feels too much to chew off, then
it’s too big of an issue.
Just Right: What’s the most effective way to change Regimes in
Iraq? This talks closer to the overall objective…but with enough
room to give strategic alternatives
12
VISION/MISSION
3
Where Could we be?
Vision and Mission help to Frame the Overall Brand Plan
•
•
•
Vision: End in Mind Achievement. What do you want the brand to
become? Think 10 years out: if you became this one thing, you would know
that you are successful. Ideally it is Qualitative (yet grounded in something)
and quantitative (measurable) It should be motivating and enticing to get
people focused.
Mission: Special Assignment. It should be tightly connected to the vision,
but is more likely a 1-3 year direction—if a vision is a destination, then a
mission is the how or the major milestone on the path towards that vision.
A mission statement focuses on a company’s present state while a vision
statement focuses on a company’s future.
14
What Makes for Good Vision Statement
Things that Make a Good vision:
1) Easy for employees and partners to understand and rally around
2) Think about something that can last 5-10 years or more
3) Balance between aspiration (stretch) and reality (achievement)
4) It’s ok to embed a financial ($x) or share position (#1) element into it as
long as it’s important for framing the vision.
The watch outs for vision statements:
1. It’s not a positioning statement
2. Make sure we haven’t achieved it already
3. Don’t put strategic statements
4. Try to be single minded: tighten it—don’t include everything!!!
15
Great Examples of Brand Vision
Princess Margaret
Hospital
“To Conquer Cancer in
Our Lifetime.”
Facebook
“Give people the power
to share and make the
world more open and
connected.”
John F. Kennedy
"I believe that this nation should
commit itself to achieving a goal,
before this decade is out, of landing
a man on the moon and returning
him safely to earth."
16
Strategies
4
How can we get there?
What’s the Difference between a Strategic Thinker and a Non
Strategic Thinker? Great Marketers Must Be Both!
Strategic Thinkers see “what if” questions before they see
solutions. They map out a range of decision trees that intersect
and connect by imagining how events will play out. They reflect
and plan before they act. They are thinkers and planning who can
see connections. PLANNING!
Non Strategic Thinkers see answers before questions. They get
to answers quickly, and will get frustrated in the delays of thinking.
They think doing something is better then doing nothing. They
opt for action over thinking. They are impulsive and doers who
see tasks. They are frustrated by strategic thinkers. EXECUTING!
Marketing Chameleon: You must talk with and act like
both in order to manage both types of people. You need to
inspire non-strategic thinkers to be great on your brand.
18
Strategy is all about choices, not chances. Strategy helps
accomplishes goals that move you towards a vision.
Does your strategy have:
 An end in mind vision, pathway that has milestones,
objectives and specific goals.
 Specific choices on direction. Not a vague chance.
 Pin-pointed focus of resources (effort and investment)
 Leverage point to turn a small win into something big.
 Gateway, defined as a win for the brand that translates into
an increase in power or value.
19
Strategic Thinking: How to Think in a Different Way?
There are 4 elements of a good strategy: Focus, Early Win, Leverage
and a Gateway to something bigger.
1.
2.
3.
4.
FOCUS all your energy to a particular strategic point or purpose. Match
up your brand assets to pressure points you can break through,
maximizing your limited resources—either financial resources or effort.
You want that EARLY WIN, to kick start of some momentum. Early Wins
are about slicing off parts of the business or population where you can
build further.
LEVERAGE everything to gain positional advantage or power that helps
exert even greater pressure and gains the tipping point of the business
that helps lead to something bigger.
Seeing beyond the early win, there has to be a GATEWAY point, which is
the entrance or a means of access to something even bigger. It could be
getting to the masses, changing opinions or behaviours. Return on
Investment or Effort.
20
Strategic Thinking: Focus, Early Win, Leverage, Gateway
Example: World War II
• D-Day: 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
to focus all their attention on one beach, on one
specific day.
• The surprise attack gave them an early win, and
momentum which they could then leverage into a
bigger victory then just one beach.
• Getting on mainland Europe gave the allied forces
the gateway they needed to steamroll through on
a town by town basis and defeat the Germans.
The allied forces had been on the defensive for
years, but landing on D-Day gave them one
victory and the tipping point to winning the war.
21
Strategic Thinking: Focus, Early Win, Leverage, Gateway
Tim Horton’s Menu Expansion
• Tim Horton’s experienced tremendous growth through
the 80s and 90s, mainly because of the their coffee.
Added to that is the shift towards Canadian patriotism,
which Tim’s has taken advantage of. Tim’s quickly
become a life ritual in the morning to wake you up and
lunch to pick you up.
• The focus shifted to build a broader portfolio of products
around these two time slots. The early win were a series
of new products that made Tim’s seem big on innovation.
Maple Donuts, B.E.L.T.,Strawberry Muffins.
• The leverage point was turning a coffee routine into a
breakfast/lunch routine. The gateway is expanding the
life ritual of Tim’s so that it’s now a broad based place for
breakfast and lunch, but still connected with coffee.
Tim’s is now #1 for breakfast and #2 for lunch behind
McDonald’s.
22
Where the Brand stands on the Love Curve helps to pick the
Strategy Choice to move the Brand towards Beloved.
Establish in the Mind
About Brand X
• Mind Shift: drive a
new position or reenforce current equity.
• Mind Share: get more
attention than
competitors
• New News: launching
something new.
Drives the Feet
To Take Action
• Drive Acquisition: new consumers
to try Brand X.
• Consolidation: get consumers to
do everything with Brand X.
• Drive Penetration: get consumers
to use more or differently
• Cross Sell: getting current
customers to try other Brand X
Tugs at the Heart
To tighten the Connection
• Maintain: re-enforce our
Brand X equities.
• Deeper: consolidation or
broader usage of Brand X.
• New Reasons to Love:
target our most loyal users
first—building on their
good feelings.
The Love Curve Helps Pick Your
Brand Strategy Options
23
Key Issues and Strategies from the BURGER Example:
To have a very focused plan,
narrow the issues down to the
top 3, and then phrase it in a
reflective question.
The answer becomes the
strategy, with one strategy
matched up to deliver against
each issue.
Avoid having a strategy come
out of no where, neither
showing up in the analysis nor
in the issues.
Execute and Measure
5
6
Are we Getting there?
Execution Plan from the BURGER Example:
As you now cross reference it
per major executional bucket,
make sure that it still delivers
agaisnt the 3 major strategies.
Specific details help give
direction on the execution.
Activity options plus timing
expectation, with clear
budgets to deliver.
Make sure balance of budget
lines up to intent of the plan.
26
The Planning Process has Three Phases: Planning Foundation
Work, Communicating and Executing.
Strategic Planning
(Foundation)
Communicating
(Briefing)
Execution
(Align w/strategy)
Brand Vision/Mission
Where Are We?
Brand Issues We Face
Strategies/Tactics
Brand Foundation
Brand Platform
Creative Brief
Big Ideas
Creative Expressions
Architecture
Tone/Feel
Elements
Execution
Market Feedback
Each step must link together and stay true to
the vision and on strategy.
(Brand Review)
27
Leverage the Love Curve to Map the Tactics Up to the Various
Stages of the Buying System.
- Ads at first consideration
- Key Influencers: experts
- Advertising
- Events & PR
- Web Page & Links
- Ads at Search Point
- Experts, Partners
- Customer Service
- Product Quality
- Continuous Innovation
- Cross Sell Brand
- Transaction Options
- Ease of Purchase
- Consistent Display
- Sales Influence
- Pricing & Promotion
- Advocacy & Influence
- Loyalty Marketing
The Love Curve can even Help Match Up
Your Tactics to Consumer Stage
Beloved Brands have a focus in their approach. Prioritization
should focus on Return on Investment and Effort (ROI and ROE)
Focus Area
Every brand is constrained by resources.
 By mapping Big vs Small and Easy vs Difficult allows you to
focus your brands efforts.
 This helps to add profit and drive a bigger return against efforts.
29
Making Projections: Stake the + or The Stake in the Ground: A Comparison Measure
• The first thing to do is to find a comparative stake in the ground, which will help you to
make comparisons—either above or below the comparison.
• you can make a comparison from. It could be something from our own past, a
competitor’s past, another brand in the company…or even a different geography that
could be extrapolated to Canada.
The + or – Analysis
• Put together a chart that shows how your expectations of what you are trying to measure
in relative nature to the stake in the ground. Think things in your own market, that might
make it bigger or smaller then the stake in the ground projection.
Bigger Impact
Lower Impact
Examples:
We have a relatively bigger share
More advertising dollars
Consumers like that flavour better
It has a unique positioning
More doctor support
Example:
We are last in the market.
Pricing is lower.
Not as much consumer appeal.
Canadians don’t like that flavour.
We are 4th in market.
30
Making Projections Sales Projections for the Year: Put a stake in the ground,
then use estimates of + or – to determine the size.
How big is Brand x?
• Brand X is a new molecule in the OTC market
• It is a new brand that brings new hope for the allergy sufferer
Stake in the Ground: Brand X could be as big as Y in Year 1 (9% share)
Bigger Impact
Lower Impact
•
•
•
•
•
expected to get more A&P support then
what Allegra got
It has 24 hour claim while Brand Y was
only 12 hours
Strong HCP recos—especially
pharmacists
Already a 4% dollar share
•
•
•
market is a lot more crowded than it was in
97 when Y launched
Launching in March, missed Q1 sales
While it’s a new molecule, it really has very
little to say (congestion)
Launching at a significant price premium
Conclusion: Brand X will be slightly bigger then
Brand Y in Year 1 (Therefore it could be a 10% share)
31
Scorecard: Powerful Brands are Healthier and Wealthier
Brands. Track and Measure against these four areas.
Brand Health
The idea of the brand has to be
embedded right into the culture.
Employees need to get it and live
it. They have to realize their
impact on the end customer.
Connecting with consumer is a source
of power for brands. How your
consumer sees your brand, starting at
awareness, trial, repeat all the way
down the brand funnel to brand loyalty.
External
Internal
Everyone focused on Profit and
Value. Lining up and delivering the
brand promise to a clear set of
objectives, helps employees see that
they are contributing to and sharing
in the brand wealth.
Healthy and Beloved brands win.
They are more efficient, higher sales,
lower costs, better margins, higher
over all profits.
Brand Wealth
32
The Overall Plan
Writing the Plan
An Example of how a Good Brand Plan Comes Together in the End
Situation
Analysis
Plan Consistency and Flow: The Power of 3
Strategic Theme
Strategy #1
Strategy #2
Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic Tactic
Strategy #3
Tactic Tactic Tactic
The power of 3’s: you should have 3 core strategic pillars, and 3 supporting
tactics for each strategy. That means you are doing a maximum of 9 things in
a given year. Doing any more then that becomes daunting, but also divisive of
your budget and focus.
35
Tell The Brand Story Through Analysis
Stay strategic
• There's temptation to talk about all of the data that you’ve uncovered. But
really, what we want is to understand what it means for the business and
what we should do about it. It’s so easy to get lost in the mounds of data,
and it’s hard to get back out to get back on track.
Watch the Tactics
• If its a strategic meeting, you owe your audience strategic direction. Watch
how tactical you get. Its very tempting to get excited about tactics
Strategic Story Telling
• In presenting, take your audience on a journey from your vision to your
strategy, using the facts to support your thinking. Don't start with the facts
or get hung up in them.
Controlling the meeting
• Some people used the sheets too much, and some not enough. The
balance is the ability to speak above your sheets when talking strategy, and
then reach for a point on the sheet to bring your audience back on track.
36
Plan Consistency and Flow: “Finding Tubas”
•
•
•
•
A good brand plan should have a consistency from the vision all the way down to the
execution. Think of a band playing in perfect harmony. When you write something
that doesn’t fit, it should stand out like a “Tuba” player, trying to play his own song.
It’s misfit to the plan.
Go through your document and see if you can spot misfits. Is your mission to drive
trial and you aren’t sampling? If you want to be the “category leader in innovation”,
then why are we not launching any new products til 2015? If your mission is “become
#1”, why do we not have a growth or share objective?
Make sure things don’t “die a quick death” in the document….or that they don’t
“come from out of no where”.
Senior Managers are skilled at finding Tubas—find them before they do.
Vision
Mission
Tactic
Objective
Strategy
37
Be Concise in your writing
• Take out any meaningless words….especially on vision and strategy.
Make sure your idea is complete, but see how fast you can explain it.
Bad Writing
Good Writing
The strategic intent for LPP is to get consumers to
make a first time purchase.
Drive Trial.
Get consumers to add Listerine whenever they brush
their teeth—every day, all the time. .
Become part of the consumers
brushing routine.
Use Prepack program as a way to convince Variety
Stores to list the LPP 24s at the front check out
counter.
Drive C&G distribution for LPP.
• If you have the shortest brand plan, and then idea gets through—then
you will have the best plan.
38
Summary Thought Starters for Brand Plans
•
Before trying to write it, start off with five key questions that set the
context for the key areas of the plan: analysis, issues, vision/mission,
strategies/tactics and execute/measurement
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
•
•
•
Where are we?
Why are we here?
Where could we be?
How can we get there?
Are we getting there?
Situation Analysis
Key Issues
Vision/Mission/Goals
Strategies/Tactics
Execute & Measure
A simple analysis around drivers, inhibitors, risks and opportunities helps
uncover the key issues. Ask the Key Issues in question style with the
Strategy serving to answer the questions. Focus on top 3 issues/strategies
which sets up 3 Tactics per—for a total of 9 per year—enough for any plan.
A good brand plan should have consistency from the vision all the way down
to the execution. It should all fit. Avoid “Tubas” playing their own song.
Let the Love Curve provide context—helping identify issues related to the
brand funnel, connecting strategy and tactics to the consumer buying
system. Lastly, the brand funnel is an excellent tool for measurement.
39
The more beloved the brand,
the more valuable the brand.
beloved
power
growth
profit
Graham Robertson
“If you don’t love the work, how
do you expect the consumer to fall
in love with your brand?”
website: beloved-brands.com
email: grahamrobertson@live.com
linked in: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/grahamrobertson1
phone: 905.884.9115