brand growth strategy

A LONG-TERM MARKETING
STRATEGY ROADMAP
Marketing is considered the primary function responsible for driving
growth for a business, but is often only associated with the many
tactics that receive the lion’s share of resources and attention.

To truly be effective in achieving business objectives, marketing

must get its strategy right first. To develop an intelligent and
intelligible marketing strategy, a thorough approach is recommended
that starts with the market and ends with clear plans to guide the
many tactics in coordinated, focused ways.
This eBook provides a walk-through of the necessary
processes and frameworks to create a marketing
strategy for your company.

A High-Level Roadmap
Phase1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4
Strategic Development Creative Development Internal Launch External Activation
1 2. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Insight Value Activation Verbal - Visual - Internal Rollout / Omni- Measurement
Generation Proposition Planning Messaging Design Commu- Launch / channel Tracking
nications training Marketing /
Touch Points
Segmentation Internal Channel Narrative Design Segment Launch Analysisof Key metrics
Analysis Selection Development exploration employees planning marketing to track
Targeting channels
Concept Content Messaging Look & feel Articulate Training Cause / effect
Competitive Development Strategy Architecture messages modules Customer structuring
Assessment System and content journey
Build-out Measurement Message Design Implement mapping / Research
Articulation Determine rollout / identification instruments /
Creative optimal conduct of key TPs vendors
Assets vehicles training
sessions Marketing / Operational
customer plan
experience
planning

Strategic Development
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Insight Generation Value Proposition Activation Planning

To lay the market-based To hone in on the specific To plan out how to best
groundwork for strategic value provided by the reach target customers
development efforts organization to target
 Content Strategy
customers
 Segmentation
 Channel Selection
 Internal Analysis
 Targeting
 Measurement
 Concept Development
 Competitive Assessment
 Build-out

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step 1: Insight Generation
Segmentation
Segmentation is the foundation for any marketing strategy. It categorizes potential buyers into “like
groups” and provides valuable insight into anticipating future behaviors by correlating key dimensions
combining both “hard” data such as demographics/firmographics, sizing, etc. with “soft” data such as
needs, attitudes, and perceptions.

Key Activities:
Gather and synthesize existing information on current customers (secondary sources, research
reports, databases, etc.)

Interview your company’s senior managers— including executives, sales directors, and marketing
leaders—most knowledgeable of your customers behaviors.

Conduct primary research—both qualitative and quantitative depending on the data gaps that you
have.

Analyze results and combine them with existing information to establish either a “working” or final
customer segmentation scheme.

Build out customer segment profiles and develop a targeting strategy based on predetermined
criteria.

Segment Segment Segment Segment Segment

1 2 3 4 5

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Targeting
A critical next step after segments have been defined is to determine which of those segments to
target for brand and marketing efforts. There are several ways to determine who best to target, but
one of the best ways is to assign different roles to different segments based on two key measures:
overall attractiveness of segment and your company’s ability to win with them.

Attractiveness can be defined in a number of ways, often by some combination of size of their current
spend in the category and the growth of the segment over time. Ability to win can be defined by how
well they perceive your brand compared to other brands, and fit of your company’s capabilities with
the needs of that segment.

Depending on where each segment falls relative to these two dimensions, each one might fall into
one of three categories of roles: 1) Strategic Targets, or those segments that represent the biggest and
best opportunity to grow the business, 2) Sources of Volume, or those segments that are required
to ensure sufficient levels of sales volume, but probably won’t grow significantly in the future, and
3) Opportunistic, or those segments that are neither large nor strategically important to the
organization, and with whom few resources should be allocated to acquire.

Seg 2

Seg 1 Seg 4 Seg 3

Seg 5

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Competitive Assessment
An impactful step in the Insight Generation phase is looking at your competitors comprehensively. You
want to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, but you want to do so both from a
close-in and further-out perspective. Look at how competitors position their brands in similar markets
as yours, but also look at how competitors position other products or services in markets different
than yours.

Key Activities:
Conduct a teamwork session to frame the competitive set—both current and future.
Gather and synthesize the current communications of key competitors.
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of those communications.
Gain additional insights on competitors through primary research.
Synthesize insights into perceptual maps that clarify the competitor’s positionings, key patterns,
and white space opportunities.
Clarify implications on brand, marketing, and communications going forward

Dimension 1

Competitor 1 Oppty
Area
Competitor 2
Dimension 4 Dimension 2
Competitor 3 Competitor 4
Competitor 5

Dimension 3

Frame of Reference

A
Characteristics
Distinguishing

D
1 2 3 4 5
Competitors

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Brand Building
Strategy
Roadmap
Roadmap www.fullsurge.com
step 2: VALUE PROPOSITION
A customer value proposition is a promise made by a company to the audiences with whom it wants
to build relationships. Key to success in developing a value proposition is to emphasize tangible
aspects including offer, process, price, technology, etc. Clarifying the value exchange (benefit minus
the cost) is critical early on in the process to set the right strategic direction for development. It is also
important to identify meaningful proof points—or reasons to believe—which add credibility to the core
promise you're making to customers.

Value Statements

Audience Audience Audience

1 2 3

Value Drivers

Product Price Experience

Service Knowledge Relationship

Proof Proints

cases data evidence testimonials

Value Statements
Brief statement for the target within each audience that articulates the specific value to be provided,
typically in the form of economic or functional benefits.
Best used for divisions or groups within a greater enterprise, where brand is more appropriate.
Typically, a translation of the brand positioning for specific audiences to enhance its relevance to
different need-states.

Value Drivers
Specific facets of the value exchange that directly support the proposition for a specific audience.

Proof Points
Examples where value has been provided to specific audiences.

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Internal Analysis
The value proposition an organization provides to the market should be based on a combination of its
current capabilities and vision for the future. To determine those organizational strengths most
relevant to the value proposition, an internal analysis is often beneficial. An analysis of this nature
seeks to identify those aspects of the organization that are most relevant and meaningful toward
delivering a specific benefit and desired experience to customers.

Concept Development
To establish a value proposition that is relevant to customers’ needs, differentiating from competition,
credible to what the organization delivers, and compelling to all audiences, it is helpful to develop
alternative concepts before landing on the final platform for the value proposition. An effort like this
helps the team responsible for this work stretch its thinking, resulting in a more powerful foundation
for future development.

Key Activities:
Summarize key inputs including competitive assessment, internal analysis, and relevant planning
documents

Look outside industry for additional inspirations (desk research, site visits, etc.)

Develop hypotheses for alternative value prop concepts

Conduct open-ended qualitative research with target audience to gain feedback on hypotheses

and unearth additional insights

Brainstorm a wide variety of ideas (diverge)

Establish criteria from which to assess ideas (judge)

Narrow multiple ideas down to bigger, broader concepts (converge)

Expand on core concepts with visualizations and narratives that further articulate the value
proposition experience it provides

Select final value proposition concept and prepare to build it out.

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Build-out
Once the final concept for the value proposition is determined, it will need to be built out with enough
detail to guide internal teams on how to communicate and operationalize it. To deliver the benefit
promised, a host of dimensions or value drivers should be considered, including:

Product Service Price

Features Activities Budget

Attributes Support Value

Specifications Value-adds Premium

Knowledge Experience Relationship

Information Touchpoints Interpersonal

Education Interactions Human aspects

Content

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Step 3: ACTIVATION PLANNING
Content Strategy

To optimize content marketing efforts and resources to achieve business objectives, a solid strategy is
required, built on a foundation of the brand’s perspective on its category.

For many companies today, content marketing IS marketing. It represents both new ways of better
engaging customers and prospects than traditional marketing by providing them with valuable
information that draws them into a company. While the promise of content marketing is great, the
realization of its power can often be elusive. Because of its popularity, more and more companies are
pumping out more and more content, resulting in leaving market chatter that is saturated and
overwhelming. To optimize content marketing efforts and resources to achieve business objectives, a
solid strategy is required, built on a foundation of the brand’s perspective on its category.

Elements of Content Strategy

WHAT WHERE WHEN

to create to distribute to distribute

 Content Platforms  Channels  Content Calendar

 Topics  Social Media  Process Steps
 Formats  Publishing

HOW HOW
to manage process to optimize

 Governance  Optimizing Links

 Roles & Responsibilities  Content management system
 Workflows  Marketing automation

MEASURE
What works and doesn’t

 Dashboard  Test & learn

 Analytics  Attribution
 Reporting

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Channel Selection

Today's firms have an increasing number of channels from which to choose. Selecting the best
marketing channels is critical because it can mean the success or failure of a product or service.
Ultimately, when it comes to finding the right mix, what matters most is having a deep
understanding of customer behavior and expectations - a 360-degree view of customers across
every marketing channel.

Enlightened companies mix digital and traditional channels to satisfy their clients and achieve
business objectives. Success lies in the ability to architect an integrated omnichannel channel
strategy that balances customer preferences with channel functions - developing strategies
that use the right channels to engage the right audience in the right way at the right time.

To further complicate the situation, channels don't operate independently; they often assist
each while customers 'mix and match' channels on their path to purchase. Marketing managers
should answer following questions:

• Who are potential customers?

• Where do they buy?
• When do they buy?
• How do they buy?
• What do they buy?

Forward-looking brands seek to align internal business processes and technology infrastructure
to advance their omnichannel efforts. Customer-focused organizations need specific business
capabilities to meet customer expectations and drive growth. Solutions must focus on
understanding, and delivering against, changing customer expectations.

The key to success is enhancing the customer experience with the brand as a whole, rather than
with any individual channel. It is important to recognize that today's consumers have different
channel behaviors. A new generation of customers has grown up in a digital society with
radically different ways to communicate with each other-and with brands."

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Measurement

Ongoing measurement and tracking is an essential component of any sound business strategy. A
comprehensive and carefully constructed marketing metrics system can contribute to strategic growth
by providing an ongoing understanding of how business-building efforts are performing across various
dimensions. Importantly, this should encompass both the "means" and the "ends.”

Four common categories of a Marketing Dashboard include:

 Action—what employees do
 Interaction—how customers interact
 Perception—how stakeholders view
 Performance—business and financial results achieved

Means Metrics Ends Metrics

Actions Interactions Perceptions Performance

What employees do to build the How customers interact with Resulting customer perceptions Resulting business impact
brand the brand
 Employees understanding  Awareness  Customer satisfaction  Lead generation
 Employees engagement  Consideration  Net promoter scores  Purchases
 Experience delivery  Reach / frequency  Relevancy Measures  Market Share
 Communications  Web traffic  Differentiation Measures  Wallet Share
 Service levels  Social index  Favorability  Profit Margin
 Content Marketing  Demo trials  Preference  Premium pricing
 Content Marketing  Shared content  Purchase intent  Lifetime value
 Social Activity  Downloaded content  Advocacy intent  Conversion rate

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Building a strong brand can have positive impacts on many different aspects of the business. Often
times, reassessing and repositioning even the most successful of brands leads to even further, more
stable growth. The process of building a strong brand requires insightful looks into your organization
by breaking down your brand portfolio and looking at the individual impacts of each brand.

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 brand growth strategy

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