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    OKR, MBO, ROS.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. It is a John Doerr construct renaming and tweaking Andy Grove’s MBO or management by objectives. John and Andy were big deals back in the 90s and aughts. Measurement is always a good idea. And performance against objectives is marketing.

    OKRs, according to Wikipedia, are best when the success rate is 70%. The thinking being, if success is 100% the objective are too easy.

    In my business the framework for brand strategy is a Claim and Proof array: one claim, three proof planks. If we think about the brand claim as the objective (a business winning value) and the proof planks as the results (activities that support the claim) we have a way to begin to measure brand strategy success — getting us a little closer to the notion of return on strategy or, acronym baton please, ROS.

    While OKRs are internal business measures, ROS is a consumer-focused measure best derived from attitudes and beliefs. The degree to which a consumer can play back your brand claim, e.g., Coke Is Refreshment and proof of that claim, e.g., cooling affect on a hot day, or the bite of the cola bean – are measures that can be tracked to sales. Brand attitude trackers, when tied to sale, are how we build brands. It’s how we measure brand success.

    Peace.  

     

     

    Brand Taglines.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    At What’s The Idea?, the framework for brand building is one claim and three proof planks. The claim is the fulcrum for all branding activities. It’s the one thing you can say about a brand that distinguishes it from all others. And marketing goes to war each day to proof it and bring it to life. Any marketing breath not supporting the claim is wasted.

    For most companies the brand tagline is synonymous with the claim. Sometimes and this happens more often than it should, the tagline is the work product of the ad agency. Usually siphoned off of the advertising. If the adverting is on brand strategy and the adverting is good, it works fine.  Other times, the tagline is the result of brand planning prior to advertising. 

    Let’s look at a tagline gone wrong.

    Evan Williams. Bourbon Done Right.

    The construct “done right” has been used in taglines in every product category since modern marketing began.  It’s so overused it has lost all marketing flavor. Plus, it presumes there are lots of bourbons done wrong. In addition to using a commodity tagline, “done right” is hard to prove. With a cursory look at the Evan Williams website, the only proof laid out to support the claim is aged in charred oak barrels. And aged for 4 years. Kentucky’s first bourbon doesn’t directly support the claim, though it’s a proof (of something). 

    I’m sure Evan Williams is a wonderful product. It deserves a wonderful position in the minds and mouths of consumers. Letting a 32 year old copywriter, who probably drinks kombucha, write your tagline is a mistake. (At least that’s what this one feels like to me.)

    Find your proof. Find your claim. Then find your distinction.

    Peace.

     

    Brand Strategy Is Business Strategy

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0

    I spend most of my waking business hours talking about brand strategy. A topic so obfuscated and buried in marko-babble no one really understands it. It’s tough going. 

    The fact is, brand strategy is business strategy. Simplified. And packaged to be easily undertstood.  It’s business strategy boiled down, memorable and shareable.  One of the drivers of a good brand strategy is that is can be activated by everyone in the company. A good brand strategy in the hands of the receptionist or delivery driver or CEO is one that empowers business-building decisions.   

    If you work at a company where you don’t want anyone else to know how to make business advancing decisions, because you are fearful they’ll make mistakes, you don’t need a brand strategy. You need Xanax and blood pressure meds. But of you want your employees and as a result, customers and influencers, to understand why you are a better company than the competition, thanks to meaningful product and operating values, then you do want a brand strategy. Because it’s good for business.

    Imagine a retail package goods brand that changes its packaging every day. That’s kind of what happens to companies that operate sans brand strategy – AKA “an organizing principle for product, experience and messaging.”

    Peace.

     

     

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