BRAND ACTIVATION

Unlocking the profit

potential of your brand
 .

Brands have a job to do:

making businesses
more effective
and more profitable
 This is about
putting brands to
work.
What exactly is a brand, anyway?
2 ways to think about brands
1 Strategic brand

The brand as
you want it
to be
Answering the big questions:

What is our purpose?

(beyond profit)

Why should customers value

our product or service?
2 Real brand

The brand that

actually exists in
the minds of
customers
 Its what people
say about you
or in other words when you leave
the room
Bridging the gap

strategic real
brand brand
Why is it about the brand?
Brands supercharge the strategic process.

How?
1. Brands promote customer orientation

2. Brands are penetrating and sticky

3. Brands bridge functional

silos
 Brands improve business performance

Increase revenues
Command premium pricing
Deflect competition
Resist commodification
Integrate new and acquired brands
Improve operational efficiency
Engage and retain employees
Build customer relationships
Some facts

B2C brands contribute up B2B brands account for

to 70% of total shareholder 5% to 20% of total
value.* corporate
value.**

BRAND
For B2B, brand contributes 18% of the
purchase decision, compared to 17% SALES
for sales operation.**
PRODUCT,
PRICE, OTHERS

* Interbrand, Best Global Brands 2012 ** McKinsey: Business Branding, 2013

About brand activation
Brand activation: 5 easy pieces

Exploration
define the
brand
Auditing Creation
measure formalize
the brand the brand

communicate operationalize
the brand the brand

Connection Coaching
1

Brand Exploration
discovering what makes
the brand great
 Brand exploration = brandified strategy

find: prioritize: articulate:

goals has meaning
strengths we can do it
differentiators has legs
Brand statements
Why we exist

What customers can expect

mission What we aim to achieve

(purpose)
What we believe,
promise
how we behave
vision
What were like
values
Where we operate,
personality how were different
positioning
2 hints:
involve the whole organization

dont forget the customer!

2

Brand Creation
formalizing the brand so that all
can see and understand
Brand statements
Brand logo
Visual identity
Brand slogan/tag line
Brand implementation
Brand story
3

Brand Coaching
building the brand into
the business
From knowing the brand to living the brand

brand: brand operationalization:

our promise to how our actions, processes
customers and investments deliver the
promise
3 stages of brand coaching

internal training
internal communication

knowledge motivational activities

team activity
competitions and rewards
attitude
behavior standards
processes standards
skills individual coaching
evaluation and incentives
4

Brand Connection
building the brands relationships
with customers
Pull, dont push

less broadcasting more relationship building

3 relationship builders

content marketing
entertain give value
educate build trust

online communities event marketing

scale efficiencies face-to face
multiple parties source of content
5

Brand Auditing
assessing the brands value, using
feedback to make the brand better.
A dashboard, not a scoreboard

not a single number a balanced scorecard

 The balanced scorecard

sales achievement brand awareness

revenue preference
market share 1. 2. satisfaction
price margins financial customer loyalty rates
profits metrics metrics NPS

3. 4.
efficiency internal culture understanding
operating costs metrics metrics motivation
utilization of assets goal alignment
sales performance process alignment
time to activate?
Brand: the essential link between strategy and
operations between what your business offers
and what the customer buys.

brand
what the what the
business customer
offers buys

strategy operations
 not an event

a journey
Unlock your brands potential.

make it work!
 www.tactus.co.jp

Copyright Tactus Associates, Inc., 2014. All rights reserved.