Profitable Model Administration Requires Context
Very often marketers are asked by customers or other interested parties to solve complex problems or to break new ground with new products or markets. In these cases, there is a natural tendency to immediately dive into the numbers and various details of the target, as if the answer in column G, row four of the table is hiding in front of you. The numbers and analysis in determining a new strategy are important, but that's only part of the picture. They mean nothing without the context that the bigger picture brings. The statistics, percentages and graphs quantify trends, performance and proportion, but can never reveal the soul, essence and passion of a brand or a brand.
Am I at risk of overdoing the obvious? Yes. But someone has to be in this overly analyzed marketing culture.
How do you see the bigger picture?
When we set out to meet customer needs, we begin the discovery process. For many agencies and consultants, this includes a look at historical data, sales figures, past marketing efforts, competitor reviews, current plans, performance on social media, etc. Of course, all of this is worthwhile, because often a fresh look from the outside can easily see where a problem is or manifest an opportunity. Unaffected by previous perspectives is the key to seeing the invisible.
Every brand has a story.
Brands have a creator – a person. And brands belong to their customers – people too. Without knowing what motivated the creation of the brand or the loyalty to it, you simply cannot see, experience and appreciate the real story behind it. Discovery needs to research and challenge customers as to why a brand exists and what, if at all, would happen if it didn't exist at all. You will never get this from an S.W.O.T. Analysis. As my friend and partner Derrick Daye often quipped, brands and their perceived worth must be "brought to justice" for their lives to fully understand them. Without this understanding, how can you possibly market them effectively?
Brand stories are based on decisions, on decisions.
If you ask the right questions, you'll learn why and how brands are what they are.
You have the idea.
Don't be judgmental.
Brands are where they are for a number of reasons. If they are challenged, it is mostly due to:
- Underfunded growth and competitiveness
- Lack of marketing investment
- No or weak innovation
- Cultural irrelevance or deafness
- Badly advised extensions
- Sales vs. Management Wars
- Tinkering or brand identity inconsistency
- Ignore the customer
- Bad press due to self-inflicted error
And so on. Remember, you are being asked to transcend, not exacerbate, these parts of the branding story.
The story is the foundation.
Exploring the brand's history is crucial to determine the history of corrective action or the exploitation of opportunities. “Reaching the roots” of a brand can bring its most valuable asset – the story itself: the protagonist and antagonist, the fight and the victory. And always the articulation of the differentiating big idea together with the big picture.
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