Responsive Brand Positioning

Evolution.

When Nintendo started out hand making playing cards in 1889, one of their founding principles was always maintaining the ability to adapt to the prevailing market. Nintendo has thrived during 131 years of economic uncertainty and now in 2020 has evolved into the worlds largest video game company by revenue. They have achieved this by being ever responsive to changes in the market and technology.

With the COVID-19 pandemic the world has witnessed a seismic shift in market conditions for most businesses. From new consumption habits to engineering new ways of employee engagement, our collective anxiety levels have risen and conditions look uncertain but history teaches us that while periods of economic uncertainty have always presented risk it also presents unique opportunities for new brands to emerge and for exsisting brands to evolve and thrive.

Global businesses launched during a recession;

·       General Electric. 1892

·       General Motors. 1908

·       IBM. 1911

·       Disney. 1929

·       HP. 1939

·       Hyatt. 1957

·       Trader Joe's. 1958

·       FedEx. 1971

·       Microsoft. 1975

·       Netflix: 1997

·       Airbnb.  2008

·       WhatsApp. 2008

·       Groupon. 2008

·       Slack. 2009

·       Instagram. 2010

·       Pinterest. 2010

As Mike Tyson eloquently once stated “Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth”.

A pretty basic analogy but it highlights the need for brands to adopt a radically different approach to surviving the here and now and moving forward to potentially even greater success in the future.

A proven method to ensure your brand is ready to identify and maximise opportunities is by Responsive Brand Positioning. 

Responsive Brand Positioning is an agile approach to positioning your brand for a new market environment. Based on our 20+ years of experience, working with brands at all levels and size we have designed this programme to give your brand the best chance to not only survive the economic downturn, but actually thrive in the months and years ahead.

What is Responsive Brand Positioning?

Responsive Brand Positioning is a 4-step process that we have designed to rapidly audit and reposition a brand in response to unforeseen external forces.

The process is focussed around four key areas:

Brand Foundation, Brand Analysis, Brand Positioning and Brand Activation.

1. Brand Foundation

This is where we get clear on what a brand is and what a brand isn’t. Our aim is that from the outset all stakeholders are clear on current philosophy and how it applies to them.

·       Old Brand vs New Brand model

·       The Brand Power Shift

·       A Brands Hierarchy Of Needs

·       Brand Led Growth vs Sales Led Growth

·       Mental Availability

·       Short-Termism

·       Building a Brand vs Growing a Brand

2. Brand Analysis

The initial phase includes an objective analysis of the three fundamental components that will determine your optimal positioning in the new market landscape; your current brand, your customers, and your competitors.

Internal Analysis: 

The internal analysis comprises of an audit of your current brand along with in-depth interviews of internal stakeholders. The audit gives you a clear, objective understanding of your brand’s strengths and weaknesses, while the interviews highlight shifts in the way employees perceive your brand.

Questions include: 

·       How are the needs of our customers changing?

·       What unique value do we offer in this period of uncertainty?

·       How can we improve our offerings to make them more compelling?

·       What ways can we attract new customers outside of what we’re currently doing?

·       Is our value proposition still unique?

Your employees are on the front lines of your business. They hear your customers’ questions and concerns on a daily basis.

Their responses to these questions will reveal valuable opportunities to reposition your brand.

Customer Analysis: 

The shadow of a looming recession is an ideal time to analyse changing customer needs. Economic recession realigns customer behaviour, often forcing customers to reconsider their priorities. Structured customer interviews are an invaluable way to understand changing needs, motivations, and trends. 

Insights include:

·       What new challenges are you currently facing in your position?

·       How can we help you solve these challenges?

·       How confident are you in your ongoing ability to meet your customers needs?

·       Where are you adding the most value in the current environment?

·       What could you do better or differently during these times?

Repositioning requires perspective armed with qualitative research which will quickly identify meaningful trends and patterns.

Competitor Analysis: 

Competitor analysis is driven by a thorough audit of your top competitors.

Understanding how your competitors are positioned will help to identify opportunities to differentiate your brand in the minds of your existing and potential customers as they face the looming recession. 

Audit your top competitors by analysing their current media channels such as website, social, PR, other marketing collateral and wider market intelligence.

Insights include:

·       How does the brand position itself within the current market landscape? 

·       To which audience are they speaking?

·       How do they differentiate themselves from the competition?

·       Which value propositions are they focusing on?

3. Brand Positioning

The brand positioning phase is a process where we leverage insights from the analysis phase to reposition your brand for the new market environment. Positioning is about refocusing your brand for the new market landscape. 

Positioning Platform: 

The result of the positioning phase is the positioning platform, which clearly delineates each of the core elements in a central, actionable document designed for marketing and sales teams alike. 

The platform will include key messaging precisely aimed at your newly defined target audiences, in a cohesive narrative that addresses customer needs in the new market landscape.

The Positioning Platform includes:

·       Target Audiences

·       Core Offering

·       Brand Compass

·       Value Proposition

·       Brand Personality

·       Competitive Advantage

·       Brand Promise

·       The Big Idea 

·       Brand Narrative

4. Brand Activation

The final step in the process is where you launch the new positioning to the market. Activating new positioning is usually a multi-stage process. At the core of every successful positioning project is the development of a comprehensive Activation Plan as well as strategic campaign assets.

Activation Plan: 

The campaign brief outlines strategy and architecture of your activation campaign. It includes a detailed rollout plan with important milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the real-world performance of the new positioning. These actionable steps provide a roadmap for how to bring the new positioning to the market. 

Activation Assets:

In addition to the strategic campaign brief, activation includes the creation of core campaign assets that will be deployed at various stages of the rollout. Assets include messaging, design, landing pages, and collateral designed to deliver your repositioned brand to target audiences in a cohesive, compelling brand experience.

Activation Management:

When the campaign direction and assets have been agreed in principle, responsibilities around resourcing need to be confirmed. Are we capable of managing in house? Or are we best off outsourcing all or some of the core campaign functions?

What’s Next?

To make Responsive Brand Positioning successful the most important thing is to be open to change. All too often, stakeholders like the idea of change but when the chips are down, they second guess themselves and a lack of inertia takes over, when the logical course of action is to trust the process and summon the courage to see it through.

One of the most valuable things Responsive Brand Positioning offers is to tackle this lack of confidence. From your leadership team to frontline employees to customers themselves, few things are as important as confidence when it comes to business.

All the current financial indicators are stating that we are on the cusp of an economic downturn, the marketplace is changing by the day. With it, the needs and challenges of your customers change too. Businesses that can adapt to that environment are those that will emerge from this period of economic uncertainty stronger, ready to compete successfully in a new market landscape.

Responsive Brand Positioning gives you the tools to do just that.