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Building brands & innovative brand communication

Peter Janssen

CV speaker

• Graduated at Vlerick in 1984

• Almost 30 years of experience in Marketing,

Sales and Communication– At multinationals as Henkel, Borden and Schwarzkopf, but also

mediacenters as Full Page or retailers such as Value Retail (Maasmechelen Village)

– In various functions: Marketing, Account Management, Trade Marketing, Action Marketing and Category Management

– As well in B2C as in B2B– Being active in B, BNL and in G

• Between 2004 - 2009 at Vlerick: Vlerick Brand Management Centre (clients/partners e.g. AB Inbev, Beiersdorf, Opel, Nationale Loterij, ...)

• Since June 2009: Owner of LivingBrand – Branding Engineer

CV speaker

• Lecturing activities in Belgium and abroad

• Students

• In-company trainings

What is a brand?

Questions for you:

1. What is a brand to you?

2. What makes one brand stronger than the other?

3. What is the role of innovations?

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My mental picture of

What is a brand?

The brand is an individual’s total experienceof a product, a service or an organisation

Offices space

Organisation

Previously Andersen Consulting

Advertising

Customer meetings Reports and documentation

Recruiting

Sponsorship

What makes brands so successful?

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Brands offer quality and trust

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Brands offer convenience

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Brands offer innovative solutions

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Brands offer status

A brand = Value to consumers/customers

Tangible (concrete) functions of a product

– Speed of delivery: DHL

– Fast food: Mc Donalds

Intangible (psychological and social) functions

– Safety: Volvo

– Puma: fashion & sports’ lifestyle

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8 functions of a brand (Kapferer)

Brand

Recognition

User friendly

Guarantee

Optimization

Personalization

Durability

Hedonistic

Ethical

MECHANICAL

RISK REDUCTIONHEDONISTIC

Source: J.N. Kapferer

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A brand = Value to brand owner

Financial advantages

• Higher sales, margins, … + economics of branding

• Value for the future

Strategic advantages

• Vs. competition: entry barriers

• Vs. the trade/retailers: need for traffic builders

• Vs. the labour market: magnet in the war for talent

Management advantages

• Extension strategy

• Endorsement strategy

• Global branding

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2015: new range…

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10 basic positioning strategies

Product/service features

Design/style

Experiental stimulation

Values/personality

User image

Price

Saliency

Channel choice

Customer service

Customer intimacy

Think about…

1. What is your (brand) positioning?

2. Are recent innovations in your company/organizationsupporting your positioning?

What is happening today?

New brand reality

Consumers are Trading Down• People are buying cheaper

• Discounters Aldi and Lidl have increased their market share in the last 12 months

• Successful expansion of “discount fast fashion” (Primark, …)

• Price awareness and comparison is further growing (comparison websites)

Rival retailers are moving quickly

Colruyt CruStandaard Online 1/10Opening in november 2014

Companies are unsecure

Low trust indexes…

“Duitse investeerdersvertrouwen op laagste peil in bijna vier jaar”(Standaard online 14 okt 2014)

Consumers postpone large expenditures

People are more prudent:

• All time-high bank savings in Belgium!

• All inclusive holidays are growing each year

• On the other hand people tend to shop more?!?As well offline as online

COMPENSATION

BIPOLARISATION

MOMENT CONSUMER

More consumers are buying more on-lineOut-of-town shopping centres are bearing the consequences of the consumer slowdown and e-commerce

E-commerce in Belgium:

– 75% of online population makes online purchases

– 330.000 new customers in 2013 buying online for the first time

– Average spent of 161 Euro/month– 28% of all Belgians are buying

monthly– 33% is a replacement for buying

offline– Very high satisfaction: only 1% will

certainly NOT buy again– Price and convenience remain

main drivers for e-commerce

‘Make-do and mend’ attitude &Reclycing and upcycling

Consumers rewarding themselves –Compensation…

Consumers also feel that there are some things

that they should be able to buy that are

non-essential - wine , chocolate, champagne…

Even such items as a holiday are seen as a necessity

So people are still looking for compensation,

for fun and experience

Experience marketing…

Example: Globetrotter (G)

Brand equity

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Products come and go; brands are everlastingA brand is differentiating itself through permanently showing its distinctive character (identity)

Assignment

How could you stretch your brand? What are complementary products or services you couldalso offer?

Think about:

- Amazon… offering banking services

- Ikea… selling decoration books and

magazines

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Important consequences of the concept Brand Equity

1. Involvement of top management

2. End of fragmentation

3. Focus on innovations

4. More vision & identity (in stead of image)

5. Full exploitation of the brand capital

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Involvement of top management

Higher involvement of the board of directors– “We cannot leave the brand in the hands of the marketing

people.” (Y. Barbieux – CEO Nestlé France)

Brands are “lived” throughout the wholeorganisation (top-down and bottom-up)

Organizations are adapted to meet these new requirements

– Corporate communication– New structure of marketing organizations

⇨ NEW INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Led by example

Corporate branding

Involvement of … consumers & end users

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► End of fragmentation

The management of brands does cost a lot of money and energy; therefore you have to make choices

– Banque de Paris & des Pays-Bas becomes Paribas

Focus on the core brands of the company– Cfr. Unilever: from 1.600 to 400 brands– Gervais-Danone becomes Danone with

Gervais as a kind of serie-brand– Barco: focusing on B2B

More products under one brand name (umbrella brands)

⇨ NEED TO CAPITALIZE ON CORE BUSINESS & CORE BRANDS

The LEGO story

• Launch in 1934

• Line extensions withLego kids’ fashion,…

• Crisis

• Back to basics: toys

• Experience marketing (store, staff, movie, …)

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► Focus on innovations

To survive even strong brands do needinnovations and a continuous “update” torespond to changing consumer needs

– Translated into clear objectives: x % of the annual turnover

– To stay “young”: this is even more influenced by innovationsthan by advertising

Innovations need to be managed by the director of the brand portfolio who can decideabout which brand will be the “endorser” of thisnew product

⇨ INNOVATIONS ARE THE BOOSTERS OF A BRAND

New brand positioning and identity…

New products…

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► More vision and identity needed

Currently brand management and marketing are strongly influenced by brand image-research (=external)

Pure brand management starts from the identity of the brand: brand concept & territory

A lot of companies are in the meanwhileformulating their Brand Charter

⇨ IDENTITY IS THE DRIVER. NOT IMAGE

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► Full exploitation of the

brand capital

Brand extensions– Examples:

• Dove (Personal Care): “caring, with ¼ hydrating cream”

• Bic (stands for cheap, easy-to-use, relax) enters othercategories: disposable razor blades and lighters. However Bic failed in the perfume category (othervalues!)

New categories and new regions...

⇨ KNOW THE HEART OF THE BRAND

Growing your brand by means of…

Product development

– Line extensions

– Brand extensions

– Product acquisitions

Market development

– New channels & outlets

– New geographies

Growing your brand by more levels in your brand mantra

1 Key POD

2-3 Key POD’s

Higher orderPromise

Stage in BLC

Example:

From 1 POD to 3 POD’s

In the past:

– ….

Today:

– Degreasing power (‘miracle against fat’)

– Brilliant shine (‘your glasses shine’)

– Economically (‘one drop is enough’)

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Co-branding

Partnerships

Expanding brand usage

Expanding brand usage

Innovative brand communication

What the hell are we talkingabout?

- Well integrated marketing communication- 360° approach- One-on-one communication- Combination of offline and online- Use of communities…- … and Co-creation- Buzz tracking & passive measurement- Experience marketing- Importance of touchpoints- Internal communication & internal branding- Make use of your sales staff & personnel- Creativity… creativity… creativity- …

What is your experience withinnovative marketing communication?

Something you are proud of?

Or something your competitor

has been doing and you regret it(not doing it yourself)?

360° approach

Lidl going for fresh(ness)

Folder

Website

Image building via PR:Lidl promoting health (en vers)…

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Combining online and offlineNL: Coolblue

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Strategy: Combining ‘pure player’ and ‘physical store’… Shops where you can order, pick up and go for advice (or reparation)

Your offer: Long tail assortment?

Companies/retailers can expand their assortment in the physical stores by offering an online assortment

Example: Delhaize is selling online 1.150 wines, although the assortment in the shop is limited to 600 wines

Communities

Online communities (consumerinsights)

Advantages:

• Direct access to your consumers/customers

• Generating instant feedback & insights

• Motivation!

• Brand experience…

• WIN-WIN for all parties involved

HOW TO SCORE WITH ONLINE COMMUNITIES AND

MOBILE

What did we do?

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65 MOTIVATED COMMUNITY MEMBERS - 3 WEEKS

40 DUTCH

SPEAKING

25 FRENCH

SPEAKING

20 WOME

N

45 MEN

FORUM

Fora topic themes 9

Fora questions 28

N° of posts +- 1200

CHALLENGES

Challenges 3

N° of posted challenge ideas

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Reaction posts to challenges 43

POLLS

N° of polls 14

Average participation rate 65%

The Community is a rich source of information

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HIGH ACTIVITY RATES

Co-creation

Buzz tracking (conversations) & passive measurement

Conversations…

De geboorte van Kai Mook

* BOONDOGGLE (25 juni 2010). Boondoggle wint Gouden en 2 Zilveren Leeuwen op het reclamefestival van Cannes. Geraadpleegd op 6 juli 2011, op http://press.boondoggle.eu/boondoggle-wint-gouden-en---zilveren-leeuwen-voor-kai-mook-op-het-reclamefestival-van-cannes

Story telling

Cisco = networking equipment. ‘How can you possibly humanise a B2B brand whose central focus is highly technical products?

So, how does Cisco constantly and consistently create quality content?

Cisco not only looks to its knowledgeable, authoritative staff for content but also taps up journalists from a variety of sectors. We’re all aware of the power of using journalists to create content and Cisco does this so well. Writers from the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, New York Times as well as freelance writers and University lecturers have all had a hand in building Cisco’s Newsroom to be an engaging, inspiring platform.

Experience marketing

Wienerberger showroom

Importance of touch points

• CRM (good and up-to-date database)

• Reception & welcome of clients

• Proposals & price offers

• Importance of showroom and POS

• Follow-up of proposals

• Sales transactions

• After-sales

• Cross selling & upselling

New touch points

Staff = your first brand ambassadors

Internal branding

Be MORE creative

Get out of your comfort zone BUT comfort your customers

• Good communication starts with a good briefing and target’ setting

• Synergies in a well integrated communication mix– Reinforcement of your brand positioning

• Are you daring enough?– Free publicity (Public Relations)

– Social media

– Website & SEO

– Cross-selling

– Co-branding

– Use your brand ambassadors… let your customers do the job for you

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Creativity… creativity…

En factureer 100 Euro voor de tijddie u daarvoor uittrekt…

Dare to do things differently…

Thanks for your attention…

… and good luck with all your future branding activities & marketing communication!

Peter JanssenE-mail: peter.janssen@livingbrand.beMobile: 0473 91 67 76

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