1. Activation Strategy: Idea Intersection
Brand Activation Class
September 25, 2010

2. REMEMBER: The Journey is as important as the Destination.
Having a thorough understanding of the Consumer at the start is like winning more than half the battle.
The most Creative Ideas will never fly without a solid strategy behind it.

3. The Idea Intersection Grid
6. Impact /
Assessment
The Idea Intersection Grid
1. Brand
Opportunity
5. Activation that creates Demand for Your Brand
-quali / quanti tests
Tools you can use:
-Sponge
-Brand-in-mind 4.
Idea/s!
2. Consumer
Insight
3. Intersection
Strategy
Tools you can use:
-consumer snapshot
-day in the life
- Brand in Hand
Tool to use:
-Path to intersection

4. STEP ONE: Business Opportunity
Getting smart on the business and the brand is the first step in Idea Intersection. Let’s face it: If we’re not smart, we can’t really define the business opportunity.
Throughout Idea Intersection, you’ll find a number of tools to help you through the steps to Activating Demand. Sponge and Brand-in-Mind are absolutely essential. They lead us to a clear understanding of our clients, their industry, their competitors and their consumers.

5. a. Sponge
Sponge is an easy-to-use tool that uses a series of very targeted, very important questions to arrive at a clearly defined business opportunity. The answers to these questions are necessary in strategy development.

6. a. sponge How does the brand / client make money?
this is the single most important question to answer before touching any piece of business.
define the business model and all relevant business “realities”, e.g., distribution, sales force, retail systems, etc.
What is the Brand in question?
category, products/ services, sub-brands, etc.

7. a. sponge What are the key objectives for the brand?
grow sales / share; change perceptions / positioning… etc.
What are the category trends?
source of growth, segment, innovation…?
Who is the target market?
Who is currently using he brand?
Who does the brand want to target?

8. a. sponge Who is the competition?
What is each brand’s unique positioning”
What target audiences represent their franchise?
What type of marketing has been done in the category?
note activity that is innovative, ownable, etc, and how well it worked..

9. b. BRAND-IN-MIND
Brand-in-Mind captures the brand positioning, meaning and personality. Key sources include client brand strategy documents and your own Brand-in-Mind exploration.
At times the brand positioning, meaning and personality are well-defined before we begin our work. Other times we need to do further exploration. With Brand-in-Mind exploration, we try to see the brand as the consumer does. Basically, we’re looking for the answer to the question: “In the mind of the consumer, what is the brand?”

10. Brand-in-mind Exploration
“when I say (brand), what comes to mind?”
(note: gut responses only; the exercise should be quick and spontaneous, and not over-rationalized…)

11. Brand-in-mind Exploration: adding frames of references
If (brand) became a person, what kind of person would he / she be? (physical characteristics, gender, age, hobbies, profession, etc..)
What type of party would (brand) have? (occasion, location, guest list, type of entertainment, food, etc..) this question is useful for discerning brand personality
If (brand) died, how will it be remembered? Or, if (brand) just graduated from school, what remarks will be written in the yearbook? ( this question taps into the relevance and legacy of the brand)
What would (brand) say about you? (tone, attitude, content… taps into the perceived “voice” of the brand)

12. Brand-in-mind Exploration: adding frames of references
Or you can get really crazy and create brand collages. Have target consumers cut images from magazines that represent the brand’s personality or meaning.
Note: of course, going through a Brand-in-mind exploration exercise depends on how much information is already made available to you about the brand, and how comfortable you are with the information. If you think you can work with the data you have, then obviously you don’t have to go through all this.

13. STEP TWO: Consumer Insight
Discovering the richest consumer insight is critical to engaging them. How do we do it? By understanding how consumers view and relate to the brand and what inspires and motivates them to act.
And we encourage you to dig deep. It's when we go beyond the research and engage with consumers in the real world, explore their passions and motivations that we uncover insight that will help us Activate Demand.

14. a. Consumer Snapshot
The consumer snapshot creates a foundation picture of the consumer. In many cases, the client will supply a portion of the snapshot.

15. a. Consumer snapshot Who is the target? (gender..age)
How do they live? (work, income, household composition)
What do they like to do for fun? What are their passions? (music, entertainment, sports, leisure…)
In general, how do they think feel and behave? (describe relevant attitudes and behavior)
What media do they consume?

16. a. Consumer Snapshot
Okay, we have the snapshot, our basic understanding of consumer. Now, we want to know more; we want Activation Insight. This next level of insight is different than simply defining the consumer and compiling statistics on how they live, it’s more about embracing the consumer, getting to know them personally, understanding their language and how to become a part of their lives.

17. b. Day-in-the-Life
Consumer “Day-in-the-Life” provides real-life, in-depth experiential consumer understanding. Recruit consumers from your target audience and select from a series of immersion techniques to get into their world, see things from their vantage point, or literally “walk a day in their shoes.”

18. b. Day-in-the-life
Note: identify what you want to learn from the consumers before you begin. Of course, you want to be open to discovering something “unexpected”, but having a clear sense of what you’re looking for will help you make the most of your exploration.

19. b. Day-in-the-life Diaries Storyboards Street talk
recruit consumer targets to chronicle their activities, feelings or thoughts in the course of a day
encourage them to do detailed logs…
Storyboards
Recruit consumer targets to take 5-8 snapshot pictures of things that will describe a typical “day in their life”, create a “what it is like to be me” storyboard
Street talk
Observe consumers in their real-life environments
Intercept and interview
(shopping, restaurants, clubs, sporting events…)

20. c. Brand-in-Hand
The brand. Where do consumers find it/buy it? What is the experience like?
Brand-in-Hand includes a set of questions that let you find out. So go explore. Take good notes. And share what you learn.
Activities include: retail and other on-site environment field trips, cataloging observations (videotaping, digital photography, written or dictated notes). Key questions include:

21. c. Brand-in-Hand Finding It / Buying It
 Where does the consumer find/buy the product? (List all: web, retail, catalog, etc.)
 With regard to retail, etc., what channels as well as exact stores/chains carry the product?
 What is the retail environment like?
 How is the brand presented?
Relevance of brand presentation to the consumer : packaging, merchandising, signage, and overall brand impact
Consistency of brand presentation across different channels, retailers or outlets
 Are other competitor brands presented? If so, how are they presented in comparison?
What is the consumer brand sales experience?
Ease of selection and shop-ability of the brand
Presence and effectiveness of promotions, educational materials, take-away literature, etc.
With regard to online, does the product have its own website? Links from other websites? Which ones? What key words will lead you to the product

22. c. Brand-in-Hand Using It
 How and where does the consumer consume the brand?
What is the consumption experience like?
To fully explore, you may want to …
 Describe the surroundings or
 Retrace the consumer’s steps before and after consumption. For example, what was she/he doing one hour before brand usage…one day…right after? Did something lead or prompt them to use the brand? Do you see additional opportunities to position or engage the consumer with the brand?
 What tangible and intangible value does the brand provide the consumer?

23. STEP THREE:  Intersection Strategy
PATH TO INTERSECTION
 What is our challenge?
 (This is a focused statement of the business situation. It combines our understanding of what the client is asking of us (the assignment) and our learning from the business opportunity step (the Sponge Tool). In other words, it succinctly defines the problem that will be solved by our idea.)
 What are we trying to achieve? (Objectives):
 What is to be accomplished through the idea/communications? For example, announce a new product, drive traffic to a location, reposition a product, change perception, etc. Utilize bullet format beginning with verbs.

24. PATH TO INTERSECTION  Who is our target consumer?
 Define/describe the target consumer. List key information from our Consumer Snapshot.
 How do they interact, relate or feel about the brand?
What is their current attitude/behavior toward the brand? What role does the brand currently play in their life?
 What is our consumer insight?
 What did we learn about the consumer that will impact their relationship/behavior with the brand? What is the key insight(s) that will inspire our creative idea? What motivates our consumer? What are the challenges we will have to overcome with the audience to motivate action?

25. PATH TO INTERSECTION
 What is the ONE thing we want the target to feel about the brand?
What do we want our target to know/feel that will drive the desired action? Emotional reaction from our idea.
 What is the action we want consumer to take in relation to the brand? (Desired consumer behavior.)
 What action do you want the target audience to take? Respond to a different offer?
Improve perceptions of a product, service or company? Utilize bullet format.

26. PATH TO INTERSECTION
 What is the Support for this Action or Behavior?
 Why should the consumer believe us? Why will this motivate them to engage with the brand? List specifics – benefits of the product/service you need to promote; i.e., great meals, low pricing, variety and selection, etc. Utilize bullet format.
 How should we deliver the brand idea, i.e., events, promotions, sponsorship, retail, other, a combination of several?
 What is the brand snapshot? (Include two or three adjectives for each. Utilize bullet format.)
a. Personality
b. Meaning
What is the single, potent thought or platform that will inspire powerful creative?
The synthesis of the Path to Intersection – synthesis of what’s right for consumer and the brand. A statement that is powerful/meaningful that will unlock our creative imagination – the creative spark.

27. PATH TO INTERSECTION Other Relevant Information:
 Specific creative parameters / mandatories:
 What needs to be included/considered, i.e., must use existing tagline; leave room for customization, etc? Is there a broader marketing communications program that this particular assignment needs to family with? Utilize bullet format.
 Budget: Ballpark guidelines – total budget, concept budget only, or rough ballpark for separate production budget.
 Timeline: Approximate start date for the campaign. Please include any print closing dates or broadcast ship dates. Also set dates and times for internal reviews and client presentation.

28. STEP FOUR: IDEAtion
Now we have our Path to Intersection. We have the insight, inspiration and strategy to create ideas.
This is not about account service handing out the brief and then going into hibernation, leaving the creative people bouncing off the walls. The account and creative teams work together, along with the client, to achieve this.
Get the entire team together and bring the briefing to life so that everyone is inspired and energized. Surround yourselves with the images and insights you have uncovered. Create a brand immersion room. Have fun!

29. STEP FIVE: IDEA Assessment
Rate Idea Performance
(1 – 10)
Brand Connection
 Supports the Brand Positioning
 Reinforces the Brand Personality
 Enhances the Brand Values
TOTAL BRAND CONNECTION SCORE:
Consumer Connection
 Matches the consumer demographic target
 Fits the target’s needs and lifestyle
 Potential to Activate Demand
 Unique idea for the category
TOTAL CONSUMER CONNECTION SCORE:

30. The Idea Intersection Grid
6. Impact /
Assessment
The Idea Intersection Grid
1. Brand
Opportunity
5. Activation that creates Demand for Your Brand
-quali / quanti tests
Tools you can use:
-Sponge
-Brand-in-mind 4.
Idea/s!
2. Consumer
Insight
3. Intersection
Strategy
Tools you can use:
-consumer snapshot
-day in the life
- Brand in Hand
Tool to use:
-Path to intersection