Finance 101 for Marketers
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The document discusses the importance of brand finance in managing brand profitability, emphasizing that understanding finance is crucial for marketers aiming for career progression. It outlines key financial metrics like growth rate, gross margin percentage, contribution margin, and the relationship between sales growth and spending, providing insights into brand performance. Additionally, it highlights how 'brand love' enhances brand power leading to competitive advantages such as premium pricing, market share increase, and improved margins.
Finance 101 for Marketers
- 1. Brand Finance 101 to help manage your brand’s profitability Anyone who does not include “profit” in their definition of a brand has never run a brand before. To me, a product is a basic commodity you sell. A brand creates a bond that leads to a power and profit beyond what the product alone can achieve. If you want to succeed in brand management, you have to understand brand finance. After all, you are running a business. If you only like the activity of marketing, then you should become a subject matter expert, because if you cannot work the finances of your brand, you will not get promoted beyond brand manager. I will go through everything you need to know so you can manage the profitability of your brands. In our book, I include all the essential formulas you need to know with examples to help follow along. Even if you are not a natural at finance, my hope is this chapter will help make you smarter at brand finance.
- 2. A quick dissection of the brand’s financial statement For many of us, we became marketers because we were attracted to the strategic, creative, and the psychological aspects of business. So if finance is not a natural skill, when your finance manager hands you the brand’s profit and loss (P&L) statement, it can be intimidating. I come at this as a fellow marketer, not a finance expert. To assess the performance of your brand, and begin knowing where to dig deeper, I recommend you break it down by looking at four key numbers. 1. As a leader of the brand, I start by trying to understand the growth rate. Most brand leaders have brand growth as their number one objective. You can do a quick calculation to figure out the average growth rate but, as you dig in, you should try to find out what happened each year to give you a better feel of the brand performance. There are two calculations you can use, either average growth rate or compound annual growth rate (CAGR). In this example, the average growth rate is 7%, and CAGR % is 9.1%, both very high compared to the overall economic growth of 2-3%. My first instinct would be to look at the category growth to see if the brand is gaining or losing market share. Next, the year-by-year growth shows the growth rate has shot up to 12% over the past two years. I would make a mental note to expect to see this as an investment brand and determine whether the profit is paying off yet. 2. My eye is drawn immediately to figuring out the gross margin percentage, as a first signal of brand health or to try to understand the strategy behind the brand. Divide the absolute gross margin by the sales. You can assess the brand’s health by comparing the margin percent over time to see the trend line, with other brands in your portfolio to evaluate the opportunity cost, or with other competitive brands in the category. In this example, the gross margin percentage has fallen from 43% in 2018 down to 37% in 2020, which should prompt you to go a layer deeper to look at price and cost of goods. Regarding price, dig around to see if there has been an average price decrease, then look to see if it is due to an increase in trade spend, a shift in the sales mix to lower-priced items, or even a shift to lower margin items. The starting point is the P& 2019 2020 2021 $ g% $ g% $ g% Net Sales 21,978 44% 27,354 24% 30,385 11% Cost of Goods Sold 10,333 40% 12,606 22% 13,237 5% Gross Margin 11,645 49% 14,748 27% 17,148 16% GM % 53% 54% 56% R&D 346 3% 352 2% 360 2% Marketing Budget 5,528 22% 7,962 44% 8,850 11% Advertising 4,015 22% 5,062 51% 5,550 -1% Research 200 55% 300 50% 500 67% Packaging 133 66% 100 -25% 50 -50% Trade Expense 1,180 44% 2,500 202% 2,750 8% Other SG&A 2,000 22% 289 -86% 989 242% Contribution Margin 3,771 22% 6,145 63% 6,949 13% CM % 17% 22% 23% Brand Financial Statement
- 3. 3. Next, look at the contribution margin percentage, dividing the bottom line contribution income by the overall sales. Some cost factors are outside the brand’s control, such as foreign exchange, raw material cost increases, duties, and transportation costs. However, look out for factors within the brand’s control. Was there a strategic decision to change to a higher cost of raw material? Was there increased quality control at the manufacturing site? Did you switch to a more expensive supplier or change the location of your production? In the example, an alarm bell goes off when I see the contribution margin percentage has fallen from 26% to 17% in three years. My first observation is the sales are up dramatically, yet both the gross margin percentages and contribution margin percentages are down. While the gross margin percentage is down, the gross margin dollars increased. However, in this case, the contribution margin dollars have gone down from $5,763 to $4,772. After two years of investment, the brand is not responding fast enough to cover that spend level. 4. Look at the comparison between the sales growth rate and the spending growth rate. While sales are growing at 12% over the past two years, spending is up 22%. The brand is not covering the spending increase. Dig in to understand if the payback was expected to be slower. If not, I would dig in to explain why it is not paying back: not the right message, competitive activity, or market dynamics. With each of these four questions, view it as a starting point to dig in deeper and ask questions of the experts around you. From my experience, every P&L is as unique as a fingerprint. As the business leader, you run your brand’s P&L. !3 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Net Sales 19,483 20,383 21,978 24,616 27,569 Growth Rate 5% 8% 12% 12% 1 Start with the overall sales line, and explain year-by-year growth rates Explain growth rates of each year. We see a healthy average growth rate is 7%, and a strong compound growth rate is 9%. 2018 2019 2020 Sales 21,978 24,616 27,569 Gross Margin 9,482 9,862 10,225 Gross Margin % 43% 40% 37% 2 Look at the Gross Margin %, by dividing the gross margin by Sales Over the 3 years, the gross margin % is down from 43% to 37%. Either overall pricing has been cut or the costs are up. 3 Look at Contribution Margin %, dividing contribution margin by sales Over the 3 years, the CM% fell from 26% to 17%. There a problem with the top-line margin, and gross margin is not covering off the increase in spend. 2017 2018 2019 2020 Sales Growth 5% 8% 12% 12% Spend Growth 5% 22% 44% 11% 4 Compare the sales growth rate with the marketing spend growth rate There was a significant spend increase, yet sales growth not keeping pace. Is it strategies, message, competitive activity or changing market dynamics? 2018 2019 2020 Sales 21,978 24,616 27,569 Contribution Margin 5,763 5,244 4,772 Contribution Margin % 26% 21% 17% Financial Statement Review
- 4. Brand love generates brand power The tighter the bond a brand creates with its consumers, the more powerful the brand will become with all stakeholders. Think of brand love as stored energy a brand can unleash in the form of power into the marketplace. You can use that power with consumers, competitors, new entries, employees, influencers, media, suppliers, and channel partners. These beloved brands command power over the very consumers who love them, as consumers feel more and think less. These consumers pay price premiums, line up in the rain, follow the brand as soon as it enters new categories, and relentlessly defend the brand to any attackers. They cannot live without the brand. Beloved brands have power over channel customers, who know their consumers would switch stores before they switch brands. Stores cannot stand up to the beloved brand; instead, they give the brand everything in negotiations. The beloved brand ends up with stronger store placement, better trade terms, and better promotions from retail partners. The competitors, whether current competitors or new entries, cannot match the emotional bond the beloved brand has created with their brand fans. The beloved brand has a monopoly on emotions, making the consumer decisions less about the actual product and more about how the experience makes consumers feel. Unless a new brand has an overwhelming technological advantage, it will be impossible to break the emotional bond the consumer has established with the beloved brand. The beloved brand also has power over the media whether paid, earned, social, or search media. With paid media, the beloved brand gets better placement, cheaper rates and they are one of the first calls for possible brand integrations. The beloved brand is considered newsworthy, so they earn more free media via mainstream media, expert reviews, and bloggers. The playbook for how to create brand your consumers will lo The tighter the bond the brand creates with their consumers, the more powerful that brand will be with all stakeholders Brand fans think less and feel more Get them to cut costs or terms. Reduce their impact and create a failure Gain a positional per and change momentum Engaged, motivated, outspoken culture. Get outspoken brand fans to influence others Leverage paid, earned, search, social or home Channels Competitors New EntriesSuppliers Media Influencers Employees Consumers Use retailers to gain a competitive advantage Brand Power
- 5. Being a famous, beloved brand helps bypass the need for search engine optimization (SEO). The beloved brands become part of the conversation, whether it is through social media or at the lunch table at work. Beloved brands can use their homepage website to engage their most loyal users, inform the market of upcoming changes, allow consumers to design their version of the brand and then sell the product directly to brand lovers. Suppliers serve at the mercy of the beloved brand. The high volumes drive efficiencies of scale that drive down production costs, backing the supplier into a corner before they offer up most of those savings. Plus, the supplier becomes willing to give in, so that they can use the beloved brand as a selling tool for their supplier services to other potential brands. Beloved brands even have power over employees, who want to be part of the brand. They are brand fans, who are proud to work on the brand. They embody the culture on day 1 and want to help the brand achieve success. The beloved brands have power over key influencers, whether they are doctors recommending a drug, restaurant critics giving a positive review or salespeople at electronics shops pushing the beloved brands. These influencers become fans of the beloved brand and build their own emotions into their recommendations. Beloved brands can use higher prices and lower costs to drive higher margins With all the love and power the beloved brand generates, it becomes easy to translate that stored power into sales growth, profit, and market valuation. Most beloved brands can use their loyal brand lovers to command a premium price, creating a relatively inelastic price. The weakened channel customers cave in during negotiations to give the brand richer margins. Satisfied and loyal consumers are willing to trade up to the next best model. A well-run beloved brand can use their high volume to drive efficiency, helping to achieve a lower cost of goods structure. Not only can they use their growth to drive economies of scale, but suppliers will cut their cost to be on the roster of the beloved brand. The beloved brand will operate with much more efficient marketing spend, using their power with the media to generate lower rates with plenty of free media. Plus, the higher sales volumes make the beloved brand’s spend ratios much more efficient. The consumer response to the marketing execution is much more efficient, giving the brand a higher return on investment. Beloved brands can use higher prices and lower costs to drive higher margins Most beloved brands can use their loyal brand lovers to command a premium price, creating a relatively inelastic price. The weakened channel customers cave in during negotiations to give the brand richer margins. Satisfied and loyal consumers are willing to trade up to the next best model. A well-run beloved brand can use their high volume to drive efficiency, helping to achieve a lower cost of goods structure. Not only can they use their growth to drive economies of scale, but suppliers will cut their cost to be on the roster of the beloved brand. The beloved brand will operate with much more efficient marketing spend, using their power with the media to generate lower rates with plenty of free media. Plus, the higher sales volumes !5
- 6. make the beloved brand’s spend ratios much more efficient. The consumer response to the marketing execution is much more efficient, giving the brand a higher return on investment. Beloved brands use higher shares of a bigger market to drive higher volume The beloved brands use their momentum to reach a tipping point of support to drive higher market shares. They can get loyal users to use more, as consumers build the beloved brand into life’s routines and daily rituals. It is easier for the beloved brands to enter new categories, knowing their loyal consumers will follow. Finally, there are more opportunities for the beloved brand to find more uses to increase the number of ways the beloved brand can fit into the consumer's life. How brand love drives profits 1 Premium Pricing 2 Trading up 3 Lower cost of goods 4 Efficient Program Spending 5 6 Get loyal users to use more 7 Enter new markets 8 Find new uses Lower Costs Bigger Market Higher Margins Higher Volume Steal competitive users Higher Share Higher Prices How brand love drives profits 1 Premium Pricing 2 Trading up 3 Lower cost of goods 4 Efficient Program Spending 5 6 Get loyal users to use more 7 Enter new markets 8 Find new uses Lower Costs Bigger Market Higher Margins Higher Volume Steal competitive users Higher Share Higher Prices
- 7. There are eight ways you can drive brand profits 1. Premium pricing 2. Trade loyal consumers up to a higher price 3. Lower cost of goods 4. Lower marketing and selling costs 5. Steal competitive users 6. Get loyal users to use more 7. Enter into new markets 8. Find new uses for the brand Profit = (Price - Cost) x (Market Share x Market Size)* !7
- 8. 1. Premium Pricing Simply put, brands can execute a price increase when the market or consumers allow the brand to do so. A beloved brand will have an easier time pushing through a price increase as it can use the power of its brand versus consumers, competitors, or channels. When pushing a price increase through retail channel partners, brands usually require proof that the new price will work or that product costs have gone up. Factors that help the brand story include the health of the brand and market. Use this tactic when battling a competitor, in reaction to sluggish economic conditions or retail channel pressure. You can also use an aggressive price decrease when you have a cost advantage, whether that’s manufacturing, materials or distribution. When you have that cost advantage, it may make sense to deploy a lower price to deplete the resources of your competitor. 2. Trading consumers up/down on price To trade consumers up on price, make sure your brand can carve out a meaningful difference to create a second or third tier, so consumers can see an apparent reason to move up. Many brands will deploy a good/ better/best approach to pricing. When your brand secures trust or a bond with the consumer, it will be easier to use your brand reputation and product performance to move loyal consumers up to the next level. Use trading consumers down, your brand sees a potential unserved market, it can trade consumers down when the move brings minimal damage to the brand image or reputation. In a tough economy, creating a lower-priced set of products can be a smarter strategy than lowering the overall price of your main brand. Once the economy bounces back, you can discontinue the lower-priced product option. 3. Efficiency through lower Cost of goods Decreasing the cost of goods: There are a few ways to drive down cost of goods (COGs). First, you can use your brand power and higher volumes to negotiate with suppliers. You can choose to use lower-priced raw materials, drive process efficiencies, or explore offshore manufacturing. Increasing the cost of goods: The most significant reason to increase cost of goods (COGs) is when upgrading to a premium market or an added benefit. Watch out for suppliers trying to pass along costs beyond inflationary rates. The playbook for how to create brand your consumers will lov Trade the consumer up or down • Trading consumers up on price: Make sure your brand can carve out a meaningful difference to create a second or third tier, so consumers can see an apparent reason for wanting to move up. Many brands will deploy a good/better/best approach to pricing. When your brand secures trust or a bond with the consumer, it will be easier to use your brand reputation and product performance to move loyal consumers up to the next level. • Trading consumers down: When the brand sees a potential unserved market, it can trade consumers down when the move will bring minimal damage to the brand image or reputation. In a tough economy, creating a lower-priced set of products can be a smarter strategy than lowering the overall price of your main brand. Once the economy bounces back, you can discontinue the lower-priced product option. Current New Price $2.50 $2.75 COGs 1.00 1.00 Margin 1.50 1.75 Margin % 60% 64% Unit Forcast 100,000 90,000 Revenue $250,000 $247,500 Profit $150,000 $157,500 Profit impact of a price increase ((New Price - COGs) x new unit volume) MINUS ((Old Price - COGs) x old unit volume) = ((2.75-1.0) x 90,000) - ((2.5-1.0) x 100,000) = $7,500 With a 10% price increase against a 10% volume decrease, you will generate $7,500 more profit. Price Increase Formulas
- 9. 4. Lower marketing and selling costs Marketing cost decrease: Many times companies look at cost-cutting to counter short-term changes happening within other parts the P&L (price, volume or COGs). However, many of the best-run brands keep the investment strong, aligning with the longer-term strategy instead of a short- term situational need. Marketing cost increase: Used when there is an opportunity to gain share against a competitor or as a defensive position trying to hold share. The brand should see an opportunity where significant revenue gains can cover off the lower profit ratios. 5. Steal competitive users Offensive share gains: Look to gain share using a significant competitive advantage against an opportunity in the marketplace, whether that is a first-mover advantage into new technology, an unmet consumer need, a changing retail channels, or a chance to steal share, using your brand’s superior performance against a vulnerable competitor. Defensive share stance: Hold your market share or minimize the share losses until your brand can catch up on technology. The best way to protect your brand is to feed your loyal base of consumers who are less likely to switch. 6. Higher usage A higher share of requirements: In many categories, even loyal consumers will work within a competitive set of favorite brands. You need to provide a reason, through product superiority claims, consumer experiences, or emotional benefits to persuade loyal consumers to use your brand for every occasion. Get current users to use more: Look for opportunities with loyal users to create a potential routine or ritual around your brand. 7. Enter new categories When your brand has a strong base of loyal consumers, and you see an opportunity to take those consumers into a new peripheral category, you can open up new revenue streams for your brand. Make sure the new category fits with the brand idea, and you can transfer elements of your brand reputation into the new product. !9 The playbook for how to cre brand your consumers wil • Marketing cost decrease: Many times companies look at cost-cutting to counter short-term changes happening within other parts the P&L (price, volume or COGs). However, many of the best-run brands keep the investment strong, aligning with the longer-term strategy instead of a short-term situational need. • Marketing cost increase: Used when there is an opportunity to gain share against a competitor or as a defensive position trying to hold share. The brand should see an opportunity where significant revenue gains can cover off the lower profit ratios. Program Incremental Sales Volume $5,000,000 Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) $3,000,000 Gross Margin $2,000,000 Gross Margin % 40% Total Investment Spend $1,500,000 Contribution Margin $500,000 Formulas for ROI Gross Margin = Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold $5 Million - $3 Million = $2 Million Contribution Margin = Gross Margin - Spend $2 Million - $1.5 Million = $0.5 Million ROI = Contribution Margin divided by spend $0.5 Million divided by $1.5 Million = 33% Return on Investment (ROI) for a marketing investment
- 10. 8. Create new uses Take the brand and create similar experiences into a new format or new offering. You need to make sure your current brand is in order before you divert attention, funding, and focus on a potential blue ocean expansion area. Using the brand funnel to determine your sales forecast The playbook for how to create a brand your consumers will love Enter new categories Awareness Familiar Consider Purchase Repeat Loyal Assumptions 10 million people, $5 per item Awareness Familiar Consider Purchase Repeat Loyal 90% 75% 50% 25% 10% 2% 9 million people aware 7.5 familiar Half of people consider 2.5 million first purchase at $5 per 1.0 million buy a 2nd time at $5 per 200k buy a 3rd time at $5 per Using the funnel for a forecast Purchase: Repeat: Loyal: $12.5 Million $ 5.0 Million $. 1.0 Million $18.5 MillionTotal Sales
- 11. How the Beloved Brands playbook can work for you It takes a fundamentally sound marketer to figure out how to win with brand love in this crazy cluttered world of brands. The fundamentals of brand management matter more now than ever. Today’s marketers have become so busy, as they run from meeting to meeting, they have become a little overwhelmed and confused. They have no time to think. Marketing has become about ‘get stuff done,’ never taking the time to stop and ask if it is the right stuff to do. To build a relationship, you must genuinely court your consumer. To move your consumer from stranger to friend and onto the forever stage, you need to think all the time. With the focus on access to big data, marketers are drowning in so much data they do not even have the time to sort through it all to produce the analytical stories that help to make decisions. Marketers are so overwhelmed by the breadth of media choices and the pressure to be everywhere that the quality of the execution has suffered. If marketers do not love the work they create, how can they ever expect the consumer to love the brand? My goal in writing this book is to make you a smarter brand leader so your brand can win in the market. I know your role and the challenges you face. I have been in your shoes. I will share everything I have learned in my 20 years in the trenches of brand management. I want to help you be successful. This book is intended as an actionable “make it happen” playbook, not a theory or opinion book. !11 Beloved Brands is available
- 12. Learn to think, define, plan, inspire and analyze 1. How to think strategically Too many marketers are so busy that they do not even have time to think. The best brand leaders do the necessary critical strategic thinking to find ways to win in the market. Strategic thinking is an essential foundation, forcing marketers to ask big questions that challenge and focus brand decisions. I will show you four ways to enhance your strategic thinking, using the brand’s core strength finder, consumer strategy, competitive strategy, and situational strategy. You will learn how to set a vision for your brand, focus your limited resources on breakthrough points, take advantage of opportunities you see in the market, find early wins to leverage to give your brand a positional power to drive growth and profits for your brand. 1. Learn new strategic thinking methods, looking at core strength, competitive landscape, consumer relationship, and situation you face. 2. Brand positioning statements start with a consumer profile, uses our consumer benefits ladder with functional and emotional benefits. Then, build out a brand idea that organizes everyone who works on your brand. 3. In teaching brand plans, we go through each element needed for a long- range brand strategy roadmap and your annual brand plan. 4. Learn to make smart and creative decisions that inspires outstanding marketing execution with your creative advertising and media choices. 5. Use brand analytics to write a deep-dive business review, looking at the Strategic Thinking Positioning Statement 2 4 1 Marketing Execution What consumers want What your competitor does best What your brand does best Winning Our marketing training helps realize the full potential of your marketing team Brand Plan 5 The playbook for how to create a brand your consumers will love ✓ How to think strategically ✓ Write a brand positioning statement ✓ Come up with a brand idea ✓ Write a brand plan everyone can follow ✓ Write an inspiring creative brief ✓ Make decisions on marketing execution ✓ Conduct a deep-dive business review ✓ Learn finance 101 for marketers Beloved Brands Beloved Brands is available on Amazon and Apple Books The playbook for how to build a brand your consumers will love. Measuring the brand love, to determine the love, power and profit progress of the brand • Brand funnels become thicker as the brand becomes more loved. It’s not just about driving particular numbers but about moving them from one stage to the next. • Awareness is never enough. Anyone can get that. Consideration is the point you start to see that your brand idea starts to connect and move the consumer. • To drive trial you need to gain consideration first (the brain) and then you need to move the consumer towards purchase and through the experience. • To drive loyalty (the heart) you need to create experiences that deliver the promise and use tools to create an emotional bond with the consumer. Use the brand funnel to measure health Awareness Familiar Consider Purchase Repeat Loyal !1 Dad’s wins on innovation and deep price discounts, but is weak on taste. • Dad’s brand is the mature brand in the “good for you” segment holding on average a 25% share over the past 10 years. • Dad’s scores low on taste quality, but higher on innovation than Gray’s, launching 2 new flavors each year. • Dad’s fought declining share with a “buy one get one free” that we decided not to match Gray’s needs to step up on innovation to use superior quality to gain share against Dad’s. 0 2 3 5 6 2018 2019 2020 2021 3.19 3.613.773.99 5.495.395.294.97 Business Review GRAY’S Cookies Exceptional scores among early Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”) making it highly beloved among the niche. • Gray’s is very healthy among “Preventers” with strong awareness at 80% and all related Brand Funnel scores significantly above norm. However, that strength has not carried over to the overall market, where Gray’s is significantly under-developed in the overall market. Explore ways to leverage Love from Preventers, as early adopters, to influence the rest of the market. Preventers Overall Norm Brand Funnel Scores Preventers vs. Overall 0 20 40 60 80 Awareness Gray’s Dad’s Business Review GRAY’S Cookies Exceptional scores among early Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”) making it highly beloved among the niche. • Gray’s is very healthy among “Preventers” with strong awareness at 80% and all related Brand Funnel scores significantly above norm. However, that strength has not carried over to the overall market, where Gray’s is significantly under-developed in the overall market. Explore ways to leverage Love from Preventers, as early adopters, to influence the rest of the market. Preventers Overall Norm Brand Funnel Scores Preventers vs. Overall 0 20 40 60 80 Awareness Average Price per unit 0 22.5 45 67.5 90 2018 2019 2020 2021 Gray’s Dad’s Blind taste test performance Analyze Performance Annual Marketing Plan Analysis Issues and Strategies Execution Plans P&L forecast • Sales $30,385 • Gross Margin $17,148 • GM % 56% • Marketing Budget $8,850 • Contribution Margin $6,949 • CM% 23% Drivers • Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to Purchase • Strong Listings in Food Channels • Exceptional brand health scores among Early Adopters. Highly Beloved Brand among niche. Inhibitors • Low familiar yet to turn our sales into loyalty • Awareness held back due to weak Advertising • Low distribution at specialty stores. Poor coverage. • Low Purchase Frequency among most loyal. Risks • Launch of Mainstream cookie brands (Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco). • De-listing 2 weakest skus weakened our in- store presence • Legal challenge to taste claims Opportunities • R&D has 5 new flavors in development. • Sales Broker gains at Specialty Stores • Use social media to convert loyal following. Key Issues 1.What’s the priority choice for growth: find new users or drive usage frequency among loyalists? 2.Where should the investment/resources focus and deployment be to drive our awareness and share needs for Gray’s? 3.How will we defend Gray’s against the proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’ launches from Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco? Strategies 1.Continue to attract new users to Gray’s 2.Focus investment on driving awareness and trial with new consumers and building a presence at retail. 3.Build defence plan against new entrants to defends with consumers and at store level. Goals • Increase penetration from 10% to 12%, specifically up from 15% to 20% with the core target. Monitor usage frequency among the most loyal to ensure it stays steady. • Increase awareness from 33% to 42%, specifically up from 45% to 50% within the core target. Drive trial from 15% to 20%. Close distribution from 62% to 72%. • Hold dollar share during competitive launches. Grow 11% post launch gaining up to 1.2% share. Target zero losses at shelf. Advertising • Use awareness to drive trial of the new Grays. Target “Proactive Preventers”. Suburban working women, 35-40.Main Message of “great tasting cookie without the guilt, so you can stay in control of your health”. Media includes 15 second TV, specialty health magazines, event signage, digital and social media Sampling • Drive trial with In-store sampling at grocery, Costco, health food stores and event sampling at fitness, yoga, women’s networking, new moms. Distribution • Support Q4 retail blitz with message focused on holding shelf space during the competitive launches. Q2 specialty blitz to grow distribution at key specialty stores. Innovation • Launch two new flavours in Q4/15 & Q4/16. Explore diet claims, motivating and own- able. Competitive Defence Plan • Pre Launch sales blitz to shore up all distribution gaps. At launch, heavy merchandising, locking up key ad dates, BOGO. TV, print, coupons, in-store sampling. • Use sales story that any new “healthy” cookies should displace under-performing and declining unhealthy cookies. Brand Vision: Be first ‘healthy cookie’ to generate craving, popularity and sales of a mainstream cookie. $100 Million by 2024. 3 Brand Plans Brand Plan
- 13. In our section on strategic thinking, you will learn how to: ✓ Use five elements of smart strategic thinking ✓ Engage our ThinkBox 360-degree strategic thinking model to trigger new questions ✓ Build everything around your brand’s core strength ✓ Think strategically to tighten your brand’s bond with consumers ✓ Think strategically to win the competitive battles you face ✓ Think strategically, within the brand’s current situation ✓ Write strategic objective statements for each of the four strategies 2. How to define your brand positioning Too many marketers are trying to be everything to anyone. This strategy is the usual recipe for becoming nothing to everyone. The best brand leaders target a specific motivated consumer audience and then define their brand around a brand idea that is interesting, simple, unique, motivating, and ownable. I will show you how to write a winning brand positioning statement with four essential elements: target market, competitive set, main benefit, and reason to believe (RTB). You will learn how to build a brand idea that leads every touchpoint of your brand, including the brand promise, brand story, innovation, purchase moment, and the consumer experience. I will give you the tools for how to write a winning brand concept and brand story. In our section on defining your brand, you will learn how to: ✓ Write brand positioning statements ✓ Define your target market, with insights, enemies, and need states ✓ Define consumer benefits, both functional and emotional ✓ Come up with brand support points and claims ✓ Understand the relationship between brand soul, brand idea and brand reputation ✓ Come up with your brand idea ✓ Write brand concept statements ✓ Turn your brand concept into a brand story ✓ Use the brand positioning and brand idea to build your internal brand credo !13
- 14. 3. How to write Brand Plans Too many marketers focus on a short-term to-do list, not a long-term plan. The best brand leaders write brand plans that everyone in the organization can follow with ease, including senior management, sales, R&D, agencies, and operational teams. I will teach you how to write each element of the brand plan, including the brand vision, purpose, values, goals, key Issues, strategies, and tactics. Real-life examples will give you a framework to use on your brand. You will learn to build execution plans including a brand communications plan, innovation plan, and in-store plan. In our section on how to write brand plans, you will learn how to: ✓ Use five strategic questions as an outline for your entire plan ✓ Write an inspirational brand vision statement to frame your brand plan ✓ Come up with a brand purpose and brand values ✓ Summarize your brand’s situation analysis ✓ Map out the key issues your brand faces ✓ Write smart, brand strategy objective statements to build around your brand’s core strength ✓ Write smart, consumer brand objective strategy statements ✓ Write smart, competitive brand objective strategy statements ✓ Write smart, situational brand strategy objective statements ✓ Focus tactics to ensure a high return on effort ✓ Write specific execution plans for brand communications, innovation, and in-store ✓ Come up with a profit statement, sales forecast, goals, and marketing budget for your plan ✓ Use an ideal one-page brand formats for the annual brand plan and long-range strategic roadmap 4. How to inspire marketing execution Too many marketers are becoming task-masters and step over the line into execution. The best brand leaders need to inspire experts to produce smart and creative execution. I will provide tools and techniques for judging and making decisions on creative advertising from your agency. For judging execution, I use the ABC’s tool, believing the best executions must drive Attention (A), Brand link (B), Communication (C) and Stickiness (S). I will provide a checklist for you to use when judging executions, then show you how to provide direction to your agency to inspire and challenge great execution.
- 15. In our section on how to lead the marketing execution, you will learn how to: ✓ Understand the crucial role of the brand leader in getting great creative execution ✓ Be the brand leaders who can successfully manage the 10 stages of the advertising process ✓ Write a brand communications plan ✓ Turn the brand communications plan into a creative brief ✓ Leverage smart and bad examples of the creative brief ✓ Use the ABC’s advertising decision-making tool ✓ Give inspiring feedback on advertising that pushes for great work ✓ Build your media planning with six media questions ✓ Line up media choices to where consumers are most willing to engage with your brand 5. How to analyze your brand’s performance Too few marketers take the time to dig into data analytics. There is no value in having access to data if you are not using it to discover meaningful insights. The best brand leaders can tell strategic stories through analytics. I will show you how to create a deep-dive business review, looking at the marketplace, consumers, competitors, channels, and brand. I will teach how to turn your analysis into a presentation for management, showing the ideal presentation slide format. I will also provide a Finance 101 for Marketers, giving you every financial formula you need to run your brand. In our section on how to analyze the brand’s performance, you will learn how to: ✓ Analyze the marketplace your brand plays in ✓ Assess your consumers ✓ Assess the retail channels you sell through ✓ Analyze the competitors ✓ Analyze the health of your brand ✓ Use 60 of the best analytical questions to ask ✓ Bring the analysis together into the drivers, inhibitors, threats, and opportunities ✓ Know the financial formulas for compound CAGR, price increases, COGs. and ROI ✓ Prepare a deep-dive business review presentation !15
- 16. Who should read the Beloved Brands playbook? Marketing pros and entrepreneurs, this book is for you. Whether you are a VP, CMO, director, brand manager, or just starting your marketing career, I promise you will learn how to realize your full potential. You could be in brand management working for an organization or an owner- operator managing a branded business. Beloved Brands is a toolbox intended to help you every day in your job. Keep it on your desk and refer to it whenever you need to write a brand plan, create a brand idea, develop a creative brief, make advertising decisions or lead a deep-dive business review. You can even pass on the tools to your team so they can learn how to deliver the fundamentals needed for your brands. This book is also an excellent resource for marketing professors, who can use it as an in-class textbook to develop future marketers. It will challenge communications agency professionals, who are looking to get better at managing brands, including those who work in advertising, public relations, in-store marketing, digital advertising, or event marketing. If you are an entrepreneur who has a great product and wants to turn it into a brand, you can use this book as a playbook. These tips will help you take full advantage of branding and marketing, and make your brand more powerful and more profitable. How good is your brand playbook? Where are the gaps on your team? Target Name Description Needs Enemy Insights They think now? Buying process Desired response The playbook for how to create a brand your consumers will love Bring all the work together to create a winning brand positioning statement To (Target) • Healthy proactive preventers who want to do more for their health, working moms, 35-40 years old. Gray’s is (Category) • The healthy cookie option That is the (Benefit) • Guilt-free cookie to help you stay in control of your health That’s because (Support Points) • In blind taste tests, Gray’s matched the leaders on taste, but has only 100 calories and 3g of net carbs. • In a 12-week study, consumers using Gray’s once a night as a dessert were able to lose 5-10 lbs. 1 2 3 4 GRAY’S Cookies More Cookie. Less guilt. Annual Marketing Plan Analysis Issues and Strategies Execution Plans P&L forecast • Sales $30,385 • Gross Margin $17,148 • GM % 56% • Marketing Budget $8,850 • Contribution Margin $6,949 • CM% 23% Drivers • Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to Purchase • Strong Listings in Food Channels • Exceptional brand health scores among Early Adopters. Highly Beloved Brand among niche. Inhibitors • Low familiar yet to turn our sales into loyalty • Awareness held back due to weak Advertising • Low distribution at specialty stores. Poor coverage. • Low Purchase Frequency among most loyal. Risks • Launch of Mainstream cookie brands (Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco). • De-listing 2 weakest skus weakened our in- store presence • Legal challenge to taste claims Opportunities • R&D has 5 new flavors in development. • Sales Broker gains at Specialty Stores • Use social media to convert loyal following. Key Issues 1.What’s the priority choice for growth: find new users or drive usage frequency among loyalists? 2.Where should the investment/resources focus and deployment be to drive our awareness and share needs for Gray’s? 3.How will we defend Gray’s against the proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’ launches from Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco? Strategies 1.Continue to attract new users to Gray’s 2.Focus investment on driving awareness and trial with new consumers and building a presence at retail. 3.Build defence plan against new entrants to defends with consumers and at store level. Goals • Increase penetration from 10% to 12%, specifically up from 15% to 20% with the core target. Monitor usage frequency among the most loyal to ensure it stays steady. • Increase awareness from 33% to 42%, specifically up from 45% to 50% within the core target. Drive trial from 15% to 20%. Close distribution from 62% to 72%. • Hold dollar share during competitive launches. Grow 11% post launch gaining up to 1.2% share. Target zero losses at shelf. Advertising • Use awareness to drive trial of the new Grays. Target “Proactive Preventers”. Suburban working women, 35-40.Main Message of “great tasting cookie without the guilt, so you can stay in control of your health”. Media includes 15 second TV, specialty health magazines, event signage, digital and social media Sampling • Drive trial with In-store sampling at grocery, Costco, health food stores and event sampling at fitness, yoga, women’s networking, new moms. Distribution • Support Q4 retail blitz with message focused on holding shelf space during the competitive launches. Q2 specialty blitz to grow distribution at key specialty stores. Innovation • Launch two new flavours in Q4/15 & Q4/16. Explore diet claims, motivating and own- able. Competitive Defence Plan • Pre Launch sales blitz to shore up all distribution gaps. At launch, heavy merchandising, locking up key ad dates, BOGO. TV, print, coupons, in-store sampling. • Use sales story that any new “healthy” cookies should displace under-performing and declining unhealthy cookies. Brand Vision: Be first ‘healthy cookie’ to generate craving, popularity and sales of a mainstream cookie. $100 Million by 2024. Deep-dive review summary GRAY’SCookies Marketplace Review: 1. Declining cookie sales have created a war among major competitors with lower prices and margins. 2. Category growth and Gray’s growth coming from the West, but facing poor performance in the East. 3. Continuous variations of diet with low calorie, low carb, low fat and gluten free. Consumers remain confused. As eating habits are changing the cookie category is shrinking, while the good-for-you segment thrives. Consumer Review 1. Gray’s taste drives a high conversion of trial to purchase (65% versus a norm of 50%). 2. Low purchase frequency (2.2 boxes per year vs. norm of 7.3) even among the most loyal early adopters. 3. Consumers love Gray’s new “guilt free” concept New consumers attracted to Gray’s “guilt free” positioning, but the great taste drives loyalty Channel Review 1. Successful listings has driven strong distribution in Food Channels (90%) 2. Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16% due to poor sales coverage. 3. Weak coop/display for Gray’s is directly linked to our lower trade terms being offered. Gray’s needs to close distribution gaps, but must maintain advertising investment to drive trial. Competitor Review 1. Re-evaluate strategy and use our power to begin to dominate the “good for you” segment. 2. Dad’s wins on innovation and deep price discounts, but is weak on taste. 3. Major risk if the major cookie brands launch healthy versions that are near-match taste versus current brands. Gray’s has an opportunity to dominate the “good for you” segment before traditional brands enter segment. Brand Review 1. Exceptional scores among early Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”), early base of brand lovers. 2. Brand funnel scores show we are still a niche player but yet to turn our sales into strong following 3. Awareness held back due to poor advertising scores with low attention scores and brand link scores. Gray’s growth due to taste quality, but new “guilt free” positioning will connect deeper and fuel new demand. Overall Brand Challenge: It is time to transition Gray’s from a product-led brand into an idea-led brand to connect with consumers by owning the idea of “guilt free” snacking, rather than just selling a great tasting cookie. Gray’s needs to begin to dominate and lead the “good for you” cookie segment. Brand Promise Consumer BrandBrand Idea Consumer Experience Brand Story Innovation Ideas Purchase Moment Packaging Logo/Slogan Culture and Operations Advertising and Media Product Development Sales and Retail Beloved Like It Love It Unknown We use our Brand Love Curve to chart how consumers feel about the brand Get noticed Establish positioning Influence friends Tighten bond Trusted following Indifferent Brand PlanDeep Dive Review Brand PositioningConsumer Profile Consumer StrategyBrand Idea Map
- 17. What will you get from the Beloved Brands playbook? In the past two decades, what makes brands successful has changed, and you must change with it. You will learn the fundamentals of managing your brand, with brand love at the core. I will show you how to improve your thinking to unleash your full potential as a brand leader. You will learn how to think, define, plan, execute, and analyze, and I provide every tool you will ever need to run your brand. You will find models and examples for each of the four strategic thinking methods, looking at core strength, competitive, consumer, and situational strategies. To define the brand, I will provide a tool for writing a brand positioning statement as well as a consumer profile and a consumer benefits ladder. I have created lists of potential functional and emotional benefits to kickstart your thinking on brand positioning. We explore the step-by-step process to come up with your brand idea and bring it all together with a tool for writing the ideal brand concept. For brand plans, I provide formats for a long-range brand strategy roadmap and the annual brand plan with definitions for each planning element. From there, I show how to build a brand execution plan that includes the creative brief, innovation process, and sales plan. I provide tools for how to create a brand calendar, and specific project plans. To grow your brand, I show how to make smart decisions on execution around creative advertising and media choices. When it comes time for the analytics, I provide all the tools you need to write a deep-dive business review, looking at the marketplace, consumer, channels, competitors and the brand. Write everything so that it is easy to follow and implement for your brand. You will learn everything you need to know so you can run your brand. My brand promise is to help make you smarter so you can realize your full potential. Graham Robertson Founder and CMO of Beloved Brands Inc. !17
- 18. BELOVED BRANDS Chapter Summaries Introduction: How the Beloved Brands playbook can work for you Page 5 • The purpose of the Beloved Brands playbook is to make you a smarter brand leader so your brand can win in the market. You will learn how to think strategically, define your brand with a positioning statement and a brand idea, write a brand plan everyone can follow, inspire smart and creative marketing execution, and be able to analyze the performance of your brand through a deep-dive business review. 1. Why being a beloved brand matters Page 12 • The more loved your brand, the more powerful and profitable your brand will be. While old-school marketers were yelling their message to every consumer, today’s brand leaders must build relationships and create a bond with their most cherished consumers. We will explore the concept of a brand idea, showing how it helps connect with consumers and organize everything you do on your brand. An overview of the brand love curve will steer your strategic thinking and execution decisions. 2. How to use strategic thinking to help your brand win Page 21 • Strategic thinking is the foundation of brand management. I will take you through the five elements of smart strategic thinking, including setting a vision, investing in a strategic program that focuses on an identified opportunity, and how to leverage a breakthrough market impact into a performance result. I will show how to turn smart thinking into strategic objective statements you can use in your Brand Plans. Moreover, I will set up the four types of strategy, looking at your brand’s core strength, consumers, competitors, and looking at the situation. 3. How to build your brand around your core strength Page 32 • Our core strength model forces you to select one of four possible options as your brand’s lead strength: the product, brand story, experience, or price. Each choice has a distinct strategic focus, brand communications, and desired reputation. I will show how the model comes to life with numerous brand examples and a case study on Starbucks as they build a reputation around their commitment to an exceptional consumer experience. 4. How to build a tight bond with your most cherished consumers Page 42 • Consumer strategy is about building a bond with your target consumer. I use the brand love curve to demonstrate specific game plans for each stage of the curve, whether your brand is at the unknown, indifferent, like it, love it or the beloved stage. This model sets up distinct strategies and 20 potential actions. A case study on Special K shows how they evolved from an indifferent brand to a beloved brand.
- 19. 5. How to win the competitive battle for your consumer’s heart Page 54 • The competitive strategy leverages the brand’s positioning to win in the market. Brands must evolve their strategy as they move from a craft brand to a disruptor brand to a challenger brand up to the dominant power player. Each of the four choices offers a different target focus, unique strategies, and tactics. 6. How to address your brand situation before you make your next move Page 68 • Before initiating your plan, you must understand what is happening internally, within your own company. You can learn four distinct situations, including fueling the momentum, fix it, re-alignment, or a start-up. Each situation has different indicators and recommended strategies, as well as advice on the leadership style to engage. 7. How to define the ideal target market to build your brand around Page 76 • Everything must start with the consumer target you will serve. I will show how to develop a consumer profile that includes a segmented definition, consumer insights, consumer enemies, need states, and the desired response that matches your overall strategy. 8. How to define your brand positioning to help your brand win Page 91 • You will learn the four elements of a brand positioning statement including the target you serve, the category you play in, the space you serve that will help you win, and deal-closing support points—the best positioning balances functional and emotional benefits. You will access a tool to choose from more than 100 benefits. 9. How to create a brand idea you can build everything around Page 102 • To become a successful and beloved brand, you need a Brand Idea that is interesting, simple, unique, inspiring, motivating, and own-able. I will introduce a tool to help build your Brand Idea, and how to build a winning brand concept. 10. How to use your brand idea to organize everything you do Page 113 • Use the brand idea to organize everything you do around five consumer touch-points, including the brand promise, brand story, innovation, purchase moment and the consumer experience. The brand idea should organize your brand positioning, advertising, media, product innovation, selling, retailing, and the consumer experience. Learn how to build a brand credo, and brand story. We use Ritz-Carlton and Apple case studies to support the learning. 11. How to build a brand plan everyone can follow Page 124 • Use a one-page format to simplify and organize your brand plan so everyone in your organization can follow it with ease. You will learn how to find your brand vision, purpose, key issues, strategies, execution tactics, and measurements. !19
- 20. 12. How to build your brand’s execution plans Page 142 • Once you draft your brand plan, it is time to build separate execution plans with crystal clear strategies for those who will execute on your brand's behalf. I will show how to complete a brand communication plan, execution plan, and sales plan. 13. How to write a creative brief to set up brilliant execution Page 151 • The bridge between your brand plan and marketing execution is the creative brief. I will show how to write a world-class brief using a recommended format. We will review smart and bad examples of a brief, broken out on a line-by-line basis. I also introduce a mini-brief for when you are time-pressed. 14. How to run your brand’s advertising process Page 164 • I will take you through the ten steps to inspiring greatness from those experts you engage. I will introduce a predictive model that measures branded breakthrough and a motivating message to consumers. 15. How to make advertising decisions using our ABC’s model Page 172 • This section outlines principles for achieving Attention, Brand link, Communication, and Stickiness—the model I call the ABC’s. I will show examples of some of the best ads in the history of branding, to support those principles. I hope it will challenge your thinking about your brand’s advertising. 16. How to make media decisions to break through the cluttered media world Page 187 • Six questions help you frame your media plan. Consider factors such as your brand's budget size, your brand's core strength and how tightly connected your brand is with consumers. Then identify which point on the consumer journey you wish to impact, where your consumers are most willing to engage your message and what media choices best fit with your creative execution. 17. How to conduct a deep-dive business review to uncover brand issues Page 199 • The deep-dive review forces a 360-degree view of your brand by looking into the marketplace, consumers, channels, competitors, and the brands. You will learn some of the best analytical tools, including consumer tracking, customer scorecards, brand funnels, and the leaky bucket. I provide the 50 best analytical questions to get you started, and a format for how to bring it all together into a business review presentation. 18. Marketing Finance 101 to help manage your brand’s profitability Page 214 • Learn what you need to know about brand finance, including the eight ways you can drive profit. Learn how to dissect an income statement and use the essential financial formulas that marketers need to know including return on investment (ROI), growth, forecasting, cost of goods sold (COGS), and compound annual growth rate (CAGR).