Tuesday 30 December 2008

Creative Destruction - a chance to change

The value of many brands will be destroyed by the current global turmoil.

It is a scary time.

This period of creative destruction will mean brand organisations will have to change.

Make a resolution tomorrow night…..

From next week review whether you think you have the right PDD balance to survive and thrive in 2009 and beyond. If you don't..then change it.

Monday 29 December 2008

Brand strategy and the PDD Framework

How should brand organisations be thinking about consumer brand experience; and the Promise, Delivery and Delight (PDD) framework?

Brand strategy is all about choices. A key strategic decision all brand owners have to make is what PDD balance should be delivered to consumers between each of the PDD components, in terms of finance and resource.

On the face of it shouldn’t be complicated.

Do brands need to Promise? YES…if they don’t they will not generate consumer interest and desire (to try/buy).

Do brands have to Deliver? YES… if they don’t they will not survive (secure repeat purchase).

Do brands need to Delight? YES…if they want to drive advocacy.

The balance varies a lot by category but in my experience a lot of brands don’t get the balance between each right.

The credit crunch is going provide few opportunities for brands. However, one opportunity they will have is to review their PDD balance and consider whether to change it.

Saturday 27 December 2008

Brands that get the PDD Balance right will win

Brand experience can be split into three parts:

Promise - this is the start point. It's the part marketing people focus most of their time on. The brand essence, character, benefits, etc that are usually promoted via advertising.

It is when consumers are told all about the brand and what will happen/how they will feel when they buy/use the brand.

Delivery - this is what actually happens when the consumer buys/uses the brand.

It is when the promise that the brand has made has to be delivered.

Delight - this is when the brand goes beyond what was expected.

It can be the magical bit because when consumers are delighted by a brand they turn into a powerful and positive force.

It is the brand that gets all three parts of this PDD framework right that win. They turn consumers onto the brand - they deliver what they promise - they then exceed expectations and can transform buyers/users into advocates.

We know from The Ultimate Question work that brands that achieve the highest category NPS score (a good indicator of brand advocacy levels) will win.

The challenge for businesses is to get the balance between all three parts right. Not to over-invest in the Promise and fail on Deliver and Delight. It is about PDD balance.

Friday 26 December 2008

Brand Experience

What is a brand?

There are loads of different definitions out there, but the one I like best is:

A brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer”.

So, what shapes consumer perceptions?

A load of stuff will shape their perceptions but a key driver of it will be their experiences of a brand. It is each and every brand experience that shapes what the brand is in the mind of consumer.

I think the process of managing how we deliver winning brand experience is the next BIG thing.

As the world wakes up to a really challenging 2009, it will be the businesses that work out how to consistently deliver great brand experiences to the consumer that will survive, and maybe even thrive.