Building a Sustainable Brand

Cheatsheet Content

Building a Sustainable Brand A sustainable brand distinguishes itself through high consumer loyalty and keeps three pillars of sustainability at its core of operations and values. Introduction to Brand Management An organization's brand represents a promise to employees, consumers, and other stakeholders. It unites all aspects of the organization and differentiates it from competitors. Effective brand management drives growth by staying true to capabilities, core values, and heritage. Backbone Principles of a Sustainable Brand Innovation in Product Development and Manufacturing: Focus on continuous improvement and sustainable practices. Value-Based Pricing: Aligning price with the perceived value delivered to the customer. Customer Centricism: Placing the customer at the center of all business decisions and operations. Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who build enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. Innovation in Product Development and Manufacturing People-centric innovation Eco-friendly product design Low impact manufacturing processes Efficient packaging solutions Optimized distribution & logistics Optimized end-of-life strategies Perpetual Need (addressing ongoing consumer needs) Optimized lifetime for products Low-impact use by consumers The Brand Management Process (4 Stages) The brand process is organized into four stages: Understand: Laying the foundation for success. Create: Developing brand strategies and scenarios. Deploy: Implementing the brand strategy. Monitor: Tracking performance and making adjustments. Stage 1: UNDERSTAND This stage involves understanding objectives, how success will be measured, and who will make decisions. Executive buy-in is crucial. It also includes conducting a brand audit and messaging review. Brand Trust Model (Gelb) Organizes insights into key categories to establish how the brand creates value, differentiates itself, and delivers an exceptional experience: Customer Value: Examines criteria consumers use to choose, drivers of overall preference (e.g., medical technology, service range, patient care, nursing quality). Consistent Experience: Targets users of services to examine overall satisfaction in areas like communication with staff or responsiveness. Competitive Difference: Evaluates the strength of associations consumers make with your brand vs. competitors, focusing on awareness/preference, advertising recall, and market share. Familiarity: Measures overall awareness and knowledge of the organization. Additional Marketing Research After reviewing existing research, conduct additional quantitative and qualitative marketing research to fill information gaps and ensure the brand strategy is data-driven. This helps understand stakeholder motivation, loyalty, and critical success factors for internal buy-in. External Brand Audit Audience Purpose Community Leaders & Donors (Qualitative interviews or focus groups) Review their experience with your organization and competitors, evaluate marketing effectiveness, identify opportunities for improvement, and suggest prescriptions for growth. Referring Physicians (Qualitative interviews) Determine satisfaction with current referral process, perception of your organization and competitors, opinions regarding current brand strategy, and recommendations for change. Consumers (Focus groups or online survey of primary and secondary service areas) Examine current preferences, attitudes, satisfaction, and ways to improve familiarity, customer value, experience, and competitive difference. Internal Brand Audit Audience Purpose System and Program Leadership (Qualitative interviews) Review consumer research; determine critical success factors and criteria for gaining buy-in. Employees (Focus groups or online survey) Understand gaps between consumer research and employee perceptions; determine alignment with the organization's goals and willingness to adapt to organizational change. Also includes a messaging review of publicly-available marketing and communication materials (advertising, social media, websites, patient education). The goal is to inventory brand promise expression, identify key messages, visual vocabulary, and gaps in consistency, tone, and keywords. Stage 2: CREATE Synthesize information from the brand audit and messaging review into a presentation. Conduct a brand scenario workshop with the brand team to analyze research, brainstorm new ideas, and develop agreement around decisions. This collaborative environment fosters ownership and champions for the brand. Discussion Topics for the Workshop Research Review: Key takeaways from research How the brand is perceived today Opportunities for the brand Areas of greatest success Business Strategy: Guidance provided by business strategy Alignment of visions/missions/values with strategic priorities How the brand is reflected through customer and stakeholder interactions Possibilities: Current strengths, weaknesses, perceptions Future aspirations for the brand How success will be measured After the workshop, brand scenarios are created. Each scenario includes visual metaphors, a value proposition, positioning statement, service standards, brand promise, and key messages. These scenarios are then evaluated based on success criteria outlined at the beginning of the process. Scenario Evaluation Example Criteria Low Performance Moderate Performance High Performance Supports mission Believable Memorable Focus on customer needs Focus on business benefits Consistent messages Consistent images Recognizes current perceptions Once a brand scenario is chosen, guiding documents are created to guide decisions and communicate brand standards. Key Guiding Documents Brand Architecture Guides decisions regarding which entities of the organization (e.g., multiple facilities, partnerships) can benefit from the master brand. It establishes differences among current brands. THE Coca-Cola COMPANY CORPORATE BRAND Sprite FANTA Coca-Cola Coke FRESCA AHA DASANI POWERADE GLACEAU NESTEA Simply fairlife Message Map Guides future communications from the master brand and affiliated brands. It outlines how the brand is perceived today, how it should be perceived in the future, and how to convince stakeholders. Includes: Attitudes to overcome, reinforce Differentiating messages Reasons to believe How to leave a lasting impression How they see us today How we want them to see us How we will convince them Decision Drivers Positioning Concept Aligned Messaging Attitudes to Overcome Primary Differentiating Messages Touchpoint Management Attitudes to Reinforce Reasons to Believe Research Review Lasting Impression Message Mapping Growth PlayBook The Brand Book A document that provides guidance for marketing communication and executives. It serves as a guide for stakeholders in developing external and internal communications. It should include: Brand definition Reasons for change How decisions were made Current perceptions Value proposition Positioning statement Service standards Brand promise Expectation of staff Success measures The Brand Book empowers stakeholders to become brand advocates, understanding their role in bringing the brand to life and buying into the strategy. M McDonald's Brand Book Content History Logo Evolution Color & Guidelines Typography Products Technology Mockups