Monthly Archives: March 2022

Strategy. Tactics. Flow.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

The marketing world is overwrought with tactics. Tactics get budgets and we all know budgets are the oxygen that drive marketing.  

The total universe of marketing people, including those in allied industries advertising, web development, publishing and retailing, probably amounts to just under 75 million people globally. While I’m placing educated bets, I’d venture to say 98% of those people are involved in tactics – leaving 2% for strategy. If my math is correct that 1.5M strategists worldwide. 

Of that number what percent of people are mostly concerned with the strategy of tactics? Things like “open rate,” “CTR,” “A/B tests,” and “Advertising-to-Sales Ratio?” The analytics of success and failure? A big chunk is my guess.

Early in my career while working on AT&T I learned the organizing principle that is brand strategy can be measured scientifically and plotted in a way that explains sales. No really! People’s attitudes, beliefs, and loyalties toward a brand can be tracked directly to sales. Ergo a return on brand strategy (ROBS). Returns on tactics is what concerns most marketers but doesn’t take into account consumers’ psychological proclivities. Return on tactics is all plumbing. ROBS is about the flow.  And flow is what master brand strategists care mostly about.

Love to chat you up about improving your flow. Contact Steve@whatstheidea.com

Peace.

 

 

 

A Powerful Brand Idea is Indelible.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Mining consumer insights and understanding human behavior are the key tools of the brand planner. It’s our day job. How we mine varies from planner to planner. The secret sauce and what we get paid for, though, is using those insights and behaviors to position a product in a way that increases sales conviction among consumers.  

In my case, positioning is laid out as a single brand claim, supported by three proof planks. That’s my methodology.

Knowing which insights to develop into a claim and proof array is the money maker.  Most purchasers of brand strategy are looking for a strategic and maybe creative spark to ignite consumer sales conviction.  A pithy line perhaps. A magnetic logo visual. A campaign idea. Or a disruptive retail approach. Metaphorically, many sell the dressing on the salad or the icing on the cake. I sell the base idea. And the supporting science for the idea (the planks).

There’s a saying at What’s The Idea?, “Campaigns come and go, a powerful brand idea is indelible.”  And that idea is simply conveyed in words.  It’s the result of a boil-down of insights and behaviors stated in a clear but hopefully poetic way.  Steak not sizzle.  For examples please write Steve at WhatsTheIdea.

Peace.

 

Trust and Story.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I was reading an article in The New York Times (paper paper) on cryptocurrency this morning and it almost convinced me to buy a Bitcoin.  For $39k.  I index as kind of cheap so this was pretty scary. It got me thinking about how many things I chose to do because it was recommended or reported by The New York Times.  I watched a wacky show on HBO Max last week because a reporter said it might be the best thing on television. I spend money of Amazon for hiking gear I read about on the NYT. Wirecutter has helped me with various purchases. I’ve taken vacations and read books and and and, all because I trust the writers of The New York Times.

I do not like shopping, but apparently I am an impulse dude when it comes to trusted sources.

Trust, trusted content, and powerful, clean, articulation of a story are the beacons of commerce. And persuasion.  

I work in brand strategy. In my work I create an organizing principle for product, experience and messaging. The organizing principle is, by my methodology, one claim and three proof planks. But my work is not the story. It’s not the narrative. Sure, the proof planks are the persuaders. But sans story, they are words and scientifics on paper.

There is not better feeling than seeing a brand strategy brought to life.  And that is the job of the brand planner. Prompting, coercing and encouraging a great story. From a great creative ad agency.

Peace.

Every Company Can Benefit From Brand Strategy.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

It has been said, Margaret Mead when CEO of the American Museum of Natural History, required every employee to undergo psychiatric counseling. Her thinking was that all people can benefit from being in touch with their inner selves and that every wo/man can benefit from better mental health.  I love this woman.

In my opinion, every brand can benefit from being more self-aware and having better brand strategy health. Marketers are hyper-sensitive about their products. As they should be.  In service industries they are sensitive about service delivery.  Large companies have big departments dedicated to product management and product marketing. These people eat, sleep and live the product — from supply chain, to legal, to distribution, competitive position and pricing. But few people are in charge of actual brand strategy. (Large consumer packaged goods companies like P&G are the exception.)

AT&T Business Communications Services was the first service company I knew that actually managed the brand with a brand strategy. And it worked like crazy.  I have borrower their rigor for brand management and tweaked it a bit for use in my brand strategy practice. And though my clients don’t typically have the marketing budgets and data tracking of AT&T, the theory and practice is alive and well and still very effective.

Brand strategy, or the “organizing principle for product, experience and messaging” as I like to call it, is every bit as important and predictive of success as is proper product management.

Write Steve@WhatsTheIdea to begin a discussion of your brand strategy and a health-check of your brand.

Peace.

 

 

Imposter Syndrome.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

By definition strategy precedes action. I am not sure General Patton or Sun Tsu really knew their strategies would work. Were they imposters? The best we can do as brand planners is gather facts, array insights, organize and prioritize them then make decisions.

Do I get butterflies before presenting a master brand strategy? Even after days of self-congratulations for “nailing it?” Sure I do. Doubt can creep in. Worrying about your craft makes you a good planner. Question yourself, it’s healthy. But don’t let it overwhelm you. No one can see the future. But we can be prepared for the future. We can project what we learned and surmised and expect of the future. Then we stick a pin in it and commit.

All my brand presentations include a pros and cons section surrounding the main claim. Let your client know you’ve thought of all sides. And know your client’s business. Know how money is made so your pros aren’t touchy feelie, they are business-building.

I’m not a fan of terms like imposter syndrome. But I am a fan of the word doubt. And doubt is universal.  Foundations are what we build on.

“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow you house in…” if your foundation is weak.

Peace.

 

Strategy and Action.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Strategists sometimes get a bad rap for overthink. And overwrite. My brand briefs created to deliver master brand strategy are often 3 pages. That’s a lot of words. Brand briefs are not meant to provide by-the-pound insights and lovely writing. Nor are they to provide a circuitous narrative that makes a brand manager feel optimistic. They are designed to provide a serial story that builds a logic trail toward a business-winning claim about a product or service. That singular claim – yes, I said singular – is built upon customer care-abouts and brand good-ats.  That’s the strategy component… or the information and data boil-down for which I get paid the big bucks.

But strategy without action is simply ink. The best laid plans don’t work unless they’re acted upon and to be acted upon they must be advocated from on high, shared throughout the company, and operationalized. You can’t convince consumers unless you convince your workforce. Many practitioners believe brand strategy to be the sole domain of the marketing department. These companies are most likely to fail with marketing – even with $50 million budgets.  Brand strategy must be encultured throughout a company.

You can’t write an effective marketing plan without a brand strategy. And you can’t write an effective brand strategy without an effective marketing plan. And make no mistake a marketing plan is an action plan. Fully funded. Not piece meal funded. Measured and corrected.

Strategy and action.

Peace.                 

 

 

Strategy and Training.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I’m a fanboy of Julian Cole of Strategy Finishing School and also Mark Pollard of Sweathead. Julian came out of comms planning and has slid into brand planning. Mark has long been a brand planner. Both are sharers. That is, they post a good deal of social media – free media – in an effort to raise visibility. And both are at places in their careers where they are trying to monetize their wares. Like musicians who make most of their money now touring, Julian and Mark (sometimes together) are charging fees for webinars and in-person training sessions.

Faris Yakob, a longtime acquaintance, is also in the marketing and branding space. He, too, works for himself and with wife Rosie monetize a business called Genius Steal through paid events, speeches and training.  But he also consults. Faris is a sharer and networker and has been for a long time.

Giving away intellectual property in social media is a time-tested business builder. And it’s been going on for decades in the regular press and trade press.  Say something really smart to the reading/consuming public and they may reach out for advice. Paid advice. Start by giving it away, then sell it.

My approach is different. I’ve stayed away from monetizing through paid speeches and training.  I continue to give away my IP. My revenue goal is 100% consulting. I prime the pump with content and do biz/dev to generate leads and engagements.

One of my clients, Trail Of Bits, has built a crazy successful business giving away IP in the cyber security space.  They share code and tools for free on GitHub. They don’t train, they consult.  And they thrive.

I’m not knocking trainers and speaker. And as a longtime blogger, I’m all about teaching and learning. But for me the excitement is in the trenches. The excitement is in the strategies themselves.

Peace!

  

 

Anti-racism Campaign Idea.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I’ve been working recently with a woman whose reason-for-being is DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) education. It’s been wonderfully edifying and refreshing. When one wonders what to do to reduce racism in America the answers aren’t easy. Sure, I can look at a picture of 50 white people in a corporate setting and exclaim “White Much?” but that’s me attempting change through humor and doesn’t do much.

Coming out of the advertising business in NY and being married to a woman who worked at the Advertising Council, I believe advertising can be a tool for change when done well. So here is an idea for an anti-racist campaign I’d love to see produced.    

There’s a famous historical quote attributed to Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  And good men and women are, weekly, in contact with passive and aggressive statements of racism. I was buying a belt at a leather store last week where an older white women pulled her eyes sideways implying we should keep jobs in America.  (I smiled but left immediately. And I felt dirty for not saying anything.)

Playing off of the “Just say no” anti-drug campaign, launched decades ago by first lady Nancy Reagan, I’d like to suggest a “Just Say Whoa” initiative.  Whenever you hear someone cross the line in conversation, just exclaim “Whoa.”  Teach it in schools. Teach it in office settings. Post it in government buildings. Run it on sports programming. Just Say Whoa. You needn’t say more. Or you can. Up to you.

If you hear something say something.

Peace.

 

 

 

Why Proof in Branding?

By
Steve Poppe
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0

When I explain my brand strategy framework I boil it down to claim and proof.  One brand claim, supported by three proof planks. Claim has many synonyms in the marketing and ad world. People use words like “promise,” “key thought,” “position” and scads more.  I use claim because it fits nicely with proof.  The best branding – and advertising, for that matter – makes a claim of product superiority or differentiation then pooves it. Claim and proof fit like a glove.

After researching brands during the so-called discovery process, and when ready to actually developing a brand strategy, I am looking for real, tangible evidence of superiority and differentiation. Not marko-babble. Not copywritten superlatives. Real actions, outcomes and existential proof.  For instance, I don’t look for the word fresh, I look for the words locally grown. I’m not interested in quality furniture, I’m interested in hand-made by second-generation craftsman.

To be frank, claims are a dime a dozen. They are a drop in a tsunami of claims made every day in the advertising world.  Claims are just words, just copy. Without the proof that connects them to the consumers’ brain there’s no resonance. Proof makes a claim make sense.

Brand strategy needs to be steeped in proof. Ad agencies are responsible for bringing proof to life. Bad advertising brings the claim to life.

Peace.

 

 

Taglines and The Fruit Cocktail Effect.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Quality, commitment, character are qualities for which any company would be proud to be known.  Ironically, those three words as a tagline are a problem. I’ve ranted before about three unconnected word taglines and this morning listening to a radio spot was once again reminded.  

MB Haines, an Asheville area heating, air conditioning and refrigeration contractor, has been serving area for over 100 years. Not a bad feat seeing as in 1925 only half of all homes in the U.S. had electricity.  They must be doing a lot right.  That said, if you were to ask all the businesses in the country if quality, commitment and character are business fundamentals, all would say yes.

The problem is not that these are their values, the problem is they don’t work as a tagline. At What’s The Idea?, we advise clients to brand around one claim and three proof planks. MB Haines has the proof planks right, just not the claim. A claim — an overarching statement that covers the three values — is what’s lacking.  I’m not going to go on about information overload, but believe me it’s hard enough to own one brand position. Three is way, way too many.

And frankly, lofty words like quality, commitment and character are so over-used in advertising that they have almost become commodities.  

MB Haines, however, does a good job proving its three values. For instance, “100 years in business” shows commitment. An employee-owned company shows commitment. If I dug deeper I could find lots of examples of quality and character. This company is not built upon a tag cloud of copy and keywords. There’s here here.    

Brand strategy locates a brand in one spot. A spot that meets customer care-abouts and brand good-ats. A tagline is best when it highlights that one spot.

Brand strategy is hard work — often succumbing to the “Fruit Cocktail Effect.”  (Google it using quote marks.) It needn’t with a little brand planning.

Peace.

 

 

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