Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Customer Satisfaction

How satisfied are your customers with you, your products and your service?

You should know!  You also should know that customers are becoming deeply engaged with brands across the entire digital channel - and it’s by choice. 73% of customers have posted a brand review on sites like Amazon, Yelp, Twitter and Facebook, and more than 52% of them post a response on a company’s blog. Customers are letting companies know just how satisfied they are.  As customers come across other experiences, they will switch to the product or service that offers the best one.  That’s why smart companies, like Procter & Gamble have specific contact sites for each of their products in addition to the overall company and are putting customers at the center of their business.

In today’s world, any business can connect to its customers via many channels -- email, Facebook, Twitter, phone, live chat, web -- and the technologies to do this are available and within reach of even the smallest of small businesses. Where a business focus on customer satisfaction used to be a rarity, it’s now commonplace.

Experts agree that there are 3 main strategic paths that a company can follow to success.  Which one is chosen, comes directly from their Core Strengths and Strategic Planning.  These are product innovation, price and customer service.  All can lead to customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction can be embellished beyond these basics through the following:

1) The quality of your product or service

While the company focuses on one of the basic strategic paths, it also must also have at least threshold levels of the other two in order to stay competitive in the face of competition.

2) The relationship with your customers

Strong customer support and service measures in place result in better service, less training, faster resolution and happy customers. You’ll build customer loyalty for your brand.

3) The overall customer experience  

People don't buy products or services.  They buy experiences. Creating experiences that will make customers feel good about the reward product.

4) The financial cost vs. benefit

If you are in a dialog with your customer, you can more clearly identify their true needs and create the product, service and experience that best meets that need.  It takes away the guess work and non-productive costs.

The best companies today understand that customer satisfaction is not just about being nice to your customers, it’s about understanding how strong customer relationships are pivotal to a company’s success. If you don’t know the answers to their questions, you aren’t really serving the customer. Every interaction your customers have with your company is an experience, and customer care should be the first responsibility of your business. If you do it right, you'll not only score a lifelong customer, but also an advocate for your brand—and that's a lot more valuable.

Thanks,

John

John Maver
Founder and Managing Director of Moon & Stars Consulting
President Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from P&G – Making the Number

How’s business?  Are you and your company on track to deliver the promised results for the year? 

 

Do you require a boost in performance?

While this is written to address the companies who are not at desired levels, the basic message holds true for those that are doing well and want to continue the progress.

We are entering the last quarter of the calendar year and incremental effort may be required.  At Procter & Gamble, this was the time to call in the experienced help.  It wasn’t just the senior management.  It was getting advice and assistance from others who had fresh ideas and could identify opportunities.  They had the experience to know what would work and what could deliver the number without increasing the resources.

In today’s world companies generally have the financing required and of course the product ideas.  It is the experienced management talent that is often missing. That was a big difference compared to Procter & Gamble where there was an abundance of highly trained and experience management.

So what can a company do today?  In some instances, the C level executive has the skills but not the bandwidth.  In others both the skilled experience and the bandwidth are missing.  In either case, there is just something missing and there is a gap between the required result and the ability to deliver it.  How does a company close this gap without the time and great expense of searching for and hiring full time the required expertise?

 

That is why I am writing this article!

The reason that we created Moon & Stars Consulting was to assist other companies to have access to the management experience that can be used in the short term to quickly fill this gap and be able to make the number.

How do we assist companies?  Working with the company team, we determine the key challenges and opportunities to deliver the number.  Then using our experience and perhaps that of other consultants with the strong Procter management training, we create the strategies, plans and the execution that will drive the marketplace results.

We know that this works because we have had success with hundreds of clients in addition to our Procter & Gamble businesses.

It is also very cost efficient, since you are getting significant expertise and only need use it in the short term until the plans are in place and generating success.  Not only are we really skilled at what we do, we are fun folks with whom to work.

For some of you, this may seem simplistic, but the ideas are important.  We would just like to support your efforts.  Let us know how we can help.  In any case please stay in touch.  We value our friends.

John Maver
Founder & Managing Director of Moon & Stars Consulting
President Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Branding, an Example

 

“You can trust Tide to get clothes clean.”

As an ex-Tide Brand Manager, yes some time ago, I was privy to the extensive world-wide research and branding effort that has been done by Procter & Gamble on laundry detergents and in particular for Tide.  Tide as you may know is one of the “family jewels” of Procter & Gamble.  It serves as an excellent example of how branding is developed and the results it can provide. 

 

Tide was launched in the 1940’s as the second laundry detergent after Oxydol.  It cleaned much cleaner than the soap powders and didn’t leave any residue.  In its earliest times, research showed that women wanted proof that it would generate great amounts of suds since that was the signal that it had cleaning power.  The message was “Tide Generates Oceans of Suds”.

   

     

Of course, the branding started with the product quality and its ability to deliver on its promise of getting clothes clean.  Procter & Gamble had many practical scientists and product development people working on this brand and still does.  Its efficacy has been unmatched in the minds of the consumers since its launch.

As you can see from the slogan that became the bedrock of Tide’s marketing, “You can trust Tide to get clothes clean”, the tone and emotion of trust was established.  Consumers came to know that when they used Tide it would get their clothes clean every time.  Tide became a reliable helper in the household chore of clothes washing.

Branding is much more than just product and positioning.  The packaging was an important part of Tide’s success.  The vibrant colors made the product stand out on the shelf.  The bull’s-eye reinforced the single minded positioning of cleaning.  In fact, packaging research has shown that consumers can identify the Tide package as Tide even without the word Tide across the bull’s-eye.

The brand quickly moved to market leadership.  This brought with it economies of scale, increased store merchandising and a premium price.

Today, there are many forms of Tide that can handle the current fabrics and washing machines.  Many other detergents have been wiped out as the brand’s share of the category has risen steadily to over 50%.

 

Strong branding is essential for companies to maximize the impact of their product investment.  If you don’t have the resources to develop and direct this effort you will need to get it.

Let us know how we might assist you.

 Thanks,

 John

John Maver
Founder and Managing Director of Moon & Stars Consulting
President Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Branding

 

 All companies and executives know about branding but many are not familiar with how to use it or how it can affect the bottom line.  Over the years P&G has become a master of this and has many multi-billion dollar brands as a result.  A strong branding strategy can increase the awareness of a company’s products in such a way that establishes strong feelings and reactions and a favorable view towards the company as a whole.  Successfully out-branding your competitors is a continuous battle for the hearts and minds of your customers.  The proposition your brand strategy makes must be very compelling, attractive and unique among competitive offerings.  Done correctly, branding is that extra margin that companies achieve over generics or even store brands.

 

Building on the inherent values of a brand should be the core of any branding strategy.  Winning brand strategies starts with top-notch research.  Your target customer will determine your success.  Research with consumers will identify needs and then it is up to your branding to make the fit of your offerings fill those needs.  Consistency is a key here, since all aspects of the branding must fit together.

Make it your mission to get as detailed information as possible on their age, gender, income, shopping habits (online and off) and anything else of relevance you can determine. If you’re targeting a business market, these criteria will differ, depending on the industry. Understanding your target market and what they want is key to developing a winning brand.

 
The research will lead to the brand promise.  It states the benefit of buying and using your company’s products or services.  A great deal of time and effort at Procter & Gamble is spent on finding the right promise and making it competitive so that it stands out in its industry or category.   They know that it must be specific because specific is exponentially more memorable.

Creating a positive emotional association in your market for your product or service is key. It can create want and desire by the mere mention of your brand, product or service name. Needless to say, that’s powerful. For instance, the mere mention of Tide detergent makes buyers think of clean clothes. 

To create a brand promise that creates such emotional connections, it should be:

1. Grounded in the brand’s core values.
2. Clearly relevant and engaging to your target market.
3. Able to create some sort of positive emotional attachment beyond just being “good”.
4. Adaptable to the business climate in terms of how the basic promise is presented although the promise itself does not change.
5. Continually reinforced and consistent across advertising and marketing.

 

It is clear that branding can make a significant difference in the success of a brand and a company.  Without intentional effort, unintentional positioning will occur and that can spell disaster.

 

The Moon & Stars team have had long experience and great success over the years with branding and have developed solid procedures to help clients.  We are happy to share these with you.

 

Thanks,

 John

John Maver
Founder and Managing Director of Moon & Stars Consulting
President Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from P&G – Favorite places to work

For many years, Procter & Gamble has been one of the favorite places to work.  It was renowned for its training.  The quality of the people and the quality of the CPG brands made it an ideal environment.  Last year world-wide there were more than two million applications for less than one thousand entry positions in Marketing.  Many other CPG companies tried to duplicate the P&G culture, including Clorox an ex-P&G company here in the Bay Area.

There are many CPG companies of varying sizes here in the Bay Area.  However, based on a survey done by “The Business Times” they are not appearing as favored places to work.

Here is the summary of the survey by industry.

The criteria for this survey were:

·       Trust top execs (honest, capable of leading the organization to prosper, integrity in dealing with all stakeholders)

·       Trust other employees (loyalty to each other, camaraderie and teamwork, integrity)

·       Longevity (Employee length of service, invite friends to apply)

·       Satisfaction with what the employee does each day (feeling challenged and engaged, feeling positive about the company and the other employees)

·       Feeling Valued (talents noticed and cultivated, seen as essential contributors)

Having spent several decades at P&G and been at the Executive level and now consulting in the Bay Area, the differences for CPG are obvious.  Most of the larger ranked companies value training and work environment.  They take advantage of senior management and have them serve as teachers and mentors to the more junior managers.  With the significant cost of replacing and recruiting talent, providing this development support is not only prudent but very cost effective.

You may know that P&G has a strong promote from within policy and therefore the impetus was on each layer of management to develop those below them since they will be associated with them and their abilities for years to come.  Their personal performance was going to be influenced by the productivity and expertise of those who report to them.

But in the Bay Area, given the exigencies of business and the heavy workloads being carried by senior management, from where should this expertise come in companies who are not a promote from within?  The obvious answer is to take advantage of either consulting senior executives who have the experience or bring in on a temporary basis retired executives from other companies.  Both are going to have significant cost benefits and higher overall productivity.  

As you can see from the chart, most of the companies are in industries that have strong startup or growth phases.  The founders are in constant contact with the employees. This helps support the favorite company status.  For those other industries like CPG, the message is clear.  If you want the top performers and you want to keep them, provide the mentoring and development support.

Thanks

John 

John Maver
Founder and Managing Director of Moon & Stars Consulting
President Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Creating The Vision

Do you have 20/20 vision? How clearly can you see? How clearly can you see into the future?

Does your company have 2020 vision? That is to say, does your company have a clear view of what it wants to accomplish by 2020? You may see this as just a clever play on words. However, it is much more than this. Without a clear vision that is known and understood throughout the company, chances are that your company will not maximize its success. It is like trying to operate without your own 20/20 vision. Things just get blurry. Since it is all about sight and that is best from high up, not surprisingly, it is commonly the responsibility of the CEO to articulate and lead activities toward achievement of the vision.

A well-conceived vision consists of two major components: core ideology and envisioned future. Core ideology defines what the company stands for and why it exists. It is made up of core values and core purpose. We recently wrote about core values, both in general and in specifics, for Procter & Gamble. We also wrote about core purpose, “why do we exist”, the second part of the core ideology. These two elements are unchanging and complement the envisioned future. The envisioned future is what we aspire to become, to achieve, to create.

Vision captures both of these elements and does so in terms of defining a future state. A vision is a picture of what success will be at a particular time in the future. It encompasses answers to an array of questions: What does your organization look like? How big is it? For what are you famous? Why does anyone care about what you do? How do people who work there feel about their jobs? A great vision is inspiring. It gets you and everyone in the organization excited to come to work. This is not mere wishful thinking. A vision must also be strategically sound. You have to have a reasonable shot at getting there. Vision provides guidance about what core to preserve and what future to stimulate progress toward. But vision has become one of the most overused and least understood words in the language, conjuring up different images for different people of deeply held values, outstanding achievement, exhilarating goals, motivating forces, or raisons d’etre.

Companies that enjoy enduring success have core values and a core purpose that remain fixed while their business strategies and practices adapt to a changing world. The dynamic of preserving the core while stimulating progress is the reason that companies such as Procter & Gamble, Hewlett-Packard, 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Sony, Motorola, and Nordstrom became elite institutions, able to renew themselves and achieve superior long-term performance. In Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, the authors found that these companies have outperformed the general stock market by a factor of 12 since 1925.

The second primary component of the vision framework is envisioned future. At Procter & Gamble in their strategic planning process, this is called the Objective. It is a qualitative statement of what the company targets to accomplish. In some ways Objective is somewhat paradoxical. On the one hand, it conveys concreteness, something visible, vivid, and real. On the other hand, it involves a future time with its dreams, hopes, and aspirations.

Procter & Gamble and other visionary companies use bold mission statements as a powerful way to stimulate progress. These serve as a unifying focal point of effort and act as a catalyst for team spirit. They have a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal.

supports the envisioned future with an engaging and specific description of what it will be like to achieve the Objective. It translates the vision from words into pictures, of creating an image that people can carry around in their heads. Passion, emotion, and conviction are essential parts of the vivid description. Perhaps the most dramatic statement of a vision was President Kennedy’s announcement that the US would put a man on the moon within ten years. Not only was this a rallying cry but it also guided action and resource allocations. They made it happen!

We have found that many executives struggle with mission statements and vision statements. They overanalyze or underallocate effort to the process. These statements turn out to be an ill-defined mix of values, goals, purposes, philosophies, beliefs, aspirations, strategies and descriptions. They are usually a boring, confusing, stream of words that evoke the response “True, but who cares?” They fail to preserve the core and stimulate progress. A true vision simply provides the context for bringing this dynamic to life.

This may seem like a simple process. It isn’t. As you can see, it combines the analytical with the creative and then necessitates alignment across the organization, if it is going to be successful. We have had experience both at Procter & Gamble and with many other companies in our consulting business. We know the powerful results that can come from the investment of time and energy in creating a sound vision for the company.

How is your foresight? Does your company have 2020 Vision? Do you need help with your 2020 Vision?

Thanks

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble –Focus for Market Leadership

Getting profitable and staying profitable is what it’s all about for companies. Being the market leader, while not an easy task, is certainly one way to help make that happen. P&G has the largest lineup of leading brands in its industry, with 22 brands with over $1 billion in annual sales and another 19 brands generating about $500 million or more in annual sales. In 2000, there were 10 brands over a Billion; today, they have 22. During this period, the company’s revenue has doubled from $40 Billion to $80 Billion.

As you may have read in our last article about Core Values, Procter & Gamble is very clear on their objective to have superior products, not just in performance, but in consumer preference. They have sharpened their focus on how to deliver this. This sharpened focus has meant selling off or discontinuing a number of very successful brands, but brands that did not fit with an opportunity for global market leadership.

The company used to market a stable of brands and achieve market leadership through the combined sales. For example, when I joined P&G in the early seventies, in laundry detergents, the company marketed Tide, Cheer, Bold, Gain, Duz, Dreft, Era, Liquid Tide, Ivory Snow and the first detergent, Oxydol. There were probably several others as well that just don’t come to mind. Combined, this provided market leadership.

However, it resulted in increased costs. The brands competed against one another for sales force time, retailer promotions, shelf space, advertising, media time slots, in-store offers and most importantly, Procter & Gamble management attention. As a Brand Manager, my task was to get a larger share of company effort so that I could increase my brand’s impact with consumers. It was not uncommon for a great idea to be expended on one of the smaller brands and thus dilute its impact. The company realized that it would be far better served to focus its efforts on the lead brands and make them clear market leaders. The billion dollar brands are the result.

Today, Procter & Gamble has a very clear path for its mega brands to achieve market dominance. All of the very best people, ideas, support and processes are given to one brand and not spread across multiple brands. In fact, there has been an increasing tendency to “borrow” from one mega brand in one category to assist another in a separate category.

There are many benefits to being the market leader and we will highlight some in a separate article.

But what is the value of the Procter & Gamble experience for your business if you do not have a stable of billion dollar brands or are not the market leader?

Here are 5 tips I learned from my time at Procter building the smaller brands or opening up new categories and industries for the company.

1. Be choiceful in selecting the market / industry / geography in which you will compete. Make certain that you have an opportunity to be able to gain a leadership position in the arena that you select, perhaps not immediately, but within a reasonable time frame.

2. Focus your resources to build a solid base in one area and become successful before you move to additional areas.

3. Hire and use “A” class people. Your best investment will be in your people. Skimp in other areas if needed since the great people will be able to over compensate.

4. Take good care of your customers. You would be surprised at how many companies we see that overlook their current customers in the drive to get new ones.

5. Take advantage of consulting and contracting help to both capitalize on their expertise and keep your costs down overall. This may sound self-serving, since we are consultants, but there is no substitute for experience.

Market leadership brings with it many benefits that help companies get profitable and stay profitable. Look for our next article that highlights some of those benefits.

Thanks.

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Social Media Award

AVG just won the Best Use of Social Media award from Computer Weekly Social Media Awards. James Garner accepted the prize in the picture above. They have been clients of ThoughtLabs, a social media strategic company that brings customers closer to companies through technology. They have been working together for three years.



Why are we posting this news item on our blog? Two reasons. The first is that it indicates how important the right social media strategy and plan can be to companies today to give them a competitive edge. That competitive edge can drive business acceleration and increased profitability in a number of ways. The second is that one of the founders and partners is John Maver Jr. and we are very proud of him, awards or not.

If you are looking for business acceleration analysis and plans, contact us. If you are looking for business acceleration social media efforts contact ThoughtLabs.

Thanks

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – A Marketing Checklist

Procter & Gamble’s marketing plans are often quite sophisticated and extensive. They use research in almost every element of the plan to insure that they get the maximum effect from each. Then they monitor the progress, making adjustments as required. This can be expensive and very labor intensive. But, with billion dollar global brands the cost per package is quite reasonable and the incremental sales make the payout quite profitable. You may not have the billion dollar brands of the extensive research facilities. So here are the key elements that Procter & Gamble reviews and that you can do, as well. It fits with both the sale of products or services.

Plan
• There is a written plan in place and it has been communicated throughout the organization.

Positioning
• The target market has been defined and our potential clients or customers, their usage habits and practices, as well as their buying channels and patterns are known.
• The problems, issues and challenges they are facing have been identified.
• The benefit that they will obtain from the use of my product as the solution to their problem has been clearly articulated. It answers the client/customer question “what’s in it for me, the customer?”
• Some form of research has been conducted to determine if the benefit that I am suggesting is actually seen and understood as a value to my targets and has an inherent unique and meaningful competitive advantage that explains why I am different than my competition.
• The benefits I am claiming can be supported by proof in some form through testing, referrals or in market experience.
• The tone of my positioning will resonate with my target and enable them to accept my offerings in the most positive frame of mind.

Execution
• Everything about my business, including my personal presentation, marketing materials, etc. are presented in a way that truly supports all aspects of the positioning.
• Distribution channels are in place that make your product or service readily available to potential customers.
• Multiple promotional and marketing channels for delivering your message are being used to reach customers most effectively and are appropriate for that channel.
• My products or services, what I do and how I do it, are clearly presented and how they solve clients problems.

Measurement
• There is a clearly identified tracking system in place for each of the FEW key measures so that changes can be made to plans quickly to optimize their impact.
• MY BUSINESS IS RESPONDING TO THE MARKETING PLANS!

These are admittedly, simplistic measures for your plan. We would be remiss if we also did not include the need to have available the expertise required to create and operate a high powered plan. You will note that Procter & Gamble employs, trains and upgrades a very large body of expertise from junior managers through senior executives. This doesn’t mean that you have to duplicate their organization. Most companies can do this with experienced consultants, either on a project basis or retainer. That is the most cost effective.

Let us know if we can be of assistance to you.

Thanks

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Value of Branding

Procter & Gamble is one of the premier brand companies in the world. Their branding extends from their many billion dollar brands to the company itself and in many cases to its people. Being a Procter & Gamble brand assures consumers of quality, even though the company generally doesn’t market its brands under the corporate umbrella. Being the Procter & Gamble sales representative opens many doors. Investors have confidence in their investments as they buy stock in the company. Many of these investors are company employees. Having Procter & Gamble on your resume is a major positive. As you can see, the value of branding goes well beyond just the products.

How does one calculate the dollar value of a brand? There are a number of formulas and all work on the basis of capturing the extent that the company can sell its goods and services at a premium price and profit. Brand Sales = (Cost + Margin) * Volume. Your brand gets you one of two measurable outcomes: margin or volume. Comparing your margins to the competition is one way to assess the value of your brand, if you take heed of the caveat about other factors which may change margin. Comparing volume is less likely to yield a good estimate of brand value, because you can in many markets drive higher volumes with no brand value at all by charging lower prices.

For example, Coke despite its secret formula is flavored water just like RC Cola. However, Coca-Cola’s margin is 15.6%, while RC Cola - Cott’s is 5.3%. The typical company has an operating margin of 5-7%, so Coca-Cola’s margin is phenomenal. But there is more. Part of Coke’s value comes from its significantly larger gross volume sales because consumers are loyal to the Coca-Cola brand. That too generates significant value. How much? That depends on what measures you want to use but it is safe to say it is in the billions. According to Aswath Damodaran, professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business, if Coca-Cola suddenly lost its brand name tomorrow, its operating margins could drop to around 5.28%, and it would lose $64.2 billion of value.

Branding is clearly a competitive advantage. It is the reason why larger companies with lots of managerial horsepower tend to spend a lot of time and money on branding. The most important value in a brand is the value that it holds for actual customers. This value is very difficult and expensive to build and fragile and easy to destroy. The difficulty of building and maintaining a brand is one reason why managers the world over tend to avoid spending much time or money on branding, especially in smaller companies. This is a shame, because a well-managed brand is so powerful that it can overcome almost any other competitive advantage.

In previous articles we have outlined many of the competitive advantages that branding can bring to a company. We won’t repeat them now but check the other articles if you are interested.

Since you are a consumer in addition to a brilliant business person, think about some of the brands with which you are familiar. Apple has built a group of very loyal customers and while they may not dominate the computer space, they have used their fan base to launch other products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad where they do dominate. They consistently break records for new product launches before the product is actually available. Valuable brand name for the largest company on paper in the world at one time this past year?

At Procter & Gamble, the Tide brand has now been applied to many types of fabric care, building on its strong base of removing dirt from clothes. Crest has a product for everyone, from first tooth to last and even dentures. Swiffer seems to be cleaning up everywhere (pun intended).

What value have you determined for the brands of your product, company and people? Have you made a conscious effort to create the positive brand and secure the benefits that come with it? If you need assistance, contact us. We can help. We have created and managed some very strong brands and can apply our experience to your business as well.

Thanks.

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Their Brand Positioning Strategy Worksheet

We have been sharing some learning from Procter & Gamble based on my 23 years building brands and businesses with them. The most recent articles have focused on brands, branding and product positioning. This article provides an outline of how P&G creates their positioning strategies for their brands. You may also know this as the Copy Strategy or the Advertising Strategy or the Branding Strategy, in addition to the Positioning Strategy. This is important since in many cases the support of the brand goes beyond just the advertising.

A Brand Positioning Strategy identifies the basis upon which we expect our brand to be purchased in preference to competition. The content emerges directly from the product or service and the basic consumer need that it is intended to fill. It should state clearly the basic benefit which the brand promises and which constitutes the principal basis for purchase. It should also include a statement of the product characteristics that make this benefit possible and the tone or character that is desired to be built for the brand.

This will provide direction for the basic message of the brand which should remain consistent across all communication vehicles, although the execution of the message may change. It is inherently competitive since it is the basis for preference vs. competition.


Developing the Strategy through use of the Creative Work Plan
Start at the top and work down through the rest of the elements.

1 Key Fact
A single piece of known information relating to the brand which is agreed to be the leading factor influencing or describing the brand performance. It may be information about the brand itself, the competition, the customer, innovation etc. but it must be a single fact.

2 Problem the advertising must solve
This is a consumer problem. It describes the awareness, perception or behavior of the prospective user which has resulted in the Key Fact and which we wish to change.

3 Advertising Objective
Usually, simply the counterpart to the problem, although there are a great many distinct options. Eg "Persuade consumers to try my brand" Or "use more of my brand." Or "use my brand in a different way." Persuade them that my brand is a viable alternative to brand x".

4 Strategy
a) Prospect Definition
Both demographics and psychographics.
b) Principal Competition.
Not just a list of competitors but a description of the segment from which we wish to obtain business
c) Promise
The single most persuasive agreement one can advance for the brand framed with the customer and the competition in mind.
d) Reason Why
The strongest piece of support for the promise. Occasionally there may be more than one piece of support but never a list
e) Tone/Character
The tone that messages should convey to provide personality to the message and bring it alive. This is not executional.

As you can see, the format is very simple. However, like everything at Procter & Gamble, the use of the simple tool is handled by experts in the field. That is what makes the tool so effective.

If you would like to have the benefits of this simple tool support your brand or your business and need the expertise to use it most effectively, contact us. We would be happy to assist you.

Thanks.

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble - What is a brand?

Procter & Gamble is well known for its brands. As we have said in earlier articles, many people mistakenly believe that a brand is a product. While that is in part correct, it isn’t the whole story. A brand is an image in the customer’s mind. The thoughts customers have about products are brand impressions. These brand impressions are the major influences on the purchase decision. Customers form impressions of products every time they come in contact with them. Once products or companies are out in the market, you already have a brand, whether you want it or not. The only issue left to consider is what kind of brand you want to have.

Brands are inferred, not implied. Branding isn’t something companies do to customers. After experiencing a product or a company, a customer has an impression of that product and decides how to "brand" that product in their own mind. In other words, a brand isn't what a marketer says it is. It is what a customer thinks it is.

However, companies can do a lot to influence the impression that customer/consumers have about them and their brands. Often we think of brands from big companies like Nike and Coke who use the brute-force of mass marketing to "impress" their message on people. Brute force is becoming a less and less effective method for branding, because it's gotten harder and harder to tell today's discerning customers how to think.

Only a very few companies, like Nike and Coke, can afford to brand with brute force. Now the method of choice seems to be primarily via some form of social media in addition to the traditional advertising/marketing vehicles. Companies like ThoughtLabs specialize in bringing customers closer to their clients.

Branding isn't just something that applies to big, national companies with large advertising budgets. For all types of persuasion, thought is always a prelude to action No matter how the product is marketed; it all must start with positioning. It is in this effort that companies attempt to set their desired image in the minds of the customer. This is key!

People's thoughts and beliefs drive their actions. The goal of the interactions with a customer is to encourage them to create a brand impression in their mind that motivates them to act in a way that helps my product. By focusing on what they think, I am forced to pay attention to everything I do that affects what they think about me and my product. I can't just make an independent decision about what I want my brand to be and create beautiful advertising that "declares" what my brand is -- I have to orchestrate all of the experiences they have with my product in a way that encourages them to create the right brand impression in their mind.

So . . . what do you want your customers to think about your products . . . and you?

If you have not clearly defined the positioning for your company or its products or the results are not meeting expectations, we can help. Contact us.

Thanks

John

This is one of a series of articles that share some of the learnings from twenty three years in marketing at Procter & Gamble.

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group(
925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Brand Building

Procter & Gamble has had the reputation as the premier brand builder over the years. Their methods have been copied by many companies, not only in consumer packaged goods, but across a wide variety of industries. The company has a full dedication to providing its consumers with brands and not just products. What does that mean? It means that they are committed to establishing their products and their performance as promising something specific to consumers and then delivering on that promise. Consumers get a product that not only works and works better than most, but also the confidence that the product will do exactly what is claimed.

Here are some thoughts about brand building:

A great brand can be in any industry.
As I said above, it isn’t just consumer packaged goods brands like Tide, Olay, Pampers and Crest that have recognized the value of brand building instead of product selling. Some categories may lend themselves to branding better than others, but almost any product offers an opportunity to create a frame of mind that's unique. Nike, for example, is leveraging the emotional connection that people have with sports and fitness. In the technology industry, most people do not know what Intel processors do or why they are superior to their competition. All they know is that they want to own a computer with "Intel inside." And are willing to pay more for it.

A great brand understands what and who it is.
To build a great brand you have to understand who you are. Go to consumers and find out what they like or dislike about the brand and what they associate as the very core of the brand concept. That gets you started. To keep a brand alive over the long haul, to keep it vital, you've got to do something new and reenergize it. It has to be related to the brand's core position. Many mistakes are made by trying to make the brand something that it is not and more importantly, what customers do not believe it is.

A great brand is relevant.
Knowing oneself leads to establishing relevance. It meets what people want and performs the way people expect. The delivery of the message may change to stay current but the basic promise stays unchanged and relevant. Consumers are looking for something that has lasting value. There's a quest for quality, not quantity.

A great brand changes the game for the entire category.
Procter & Gamble brands have dramatically changed their categories - Tide in fabric care, Crest in dental care, Olay in beauty care, Pampers in baby care. Other brands like Disney, Apple, Nike, and Starbucks have made it an explicit goal to be the protagonists for each of their entire categories. Disney is the protagonist for fun family entertainment and family values. Apple wasn't just a protagonist for the computer revolution but a protagonist for the individual becoming more productive, informed, and contemporary. They have changed information flow with the IPhone and IPad. A great brand raises the bar -- it adds a greater sense of purpose to the experience.

A great brand capitalizes on emotions. The common ground among companies that have built great brands is not just performance. Emotions drive most, if not all, of our decisions. Not many people discuss the benefits of the high performance Mercedes engines. But they do picture themselves sitting behind the wheel of this luxury automobile. A brand reaches out with that kind of powerful connecting experience. It's an emotional connection point that transcends the product. And transcending the product is the brand.

A great brand has design consistency. Fashion brands may be the most obvious example. Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, for example. have a consistent look and feel and a high level of design integrity. They refuse to follow any fashion trend that doesn't fit their vision. They're able to pull it off from one season to the next. Strong brands like Levi's, Gap, Disney and Procter & Gamble consumer brands have a design that supports the brand image in the minds of the customer.

A great brand operates for the long term.
Many of Procter & Gamble brands are close to a century old and in the case of Ivory soap, one hundred and fifty years old. These brands are based on solid value propositions. Conversely, in the past two decades, many companies stopped building strong brands. As a result, there were a lot of products with very little differentiation. All the consumers saw was who had the lowest price. Many of these products are off the shelves and many companies are out of business.

There is a key lesson from Procter & Gamble who have a stable of billion, yes billion dollar world wide brands. In an age of accelerating product proliferation, enormous customer choice, and growing clutter and clamor in the marketplace, a great brand is a necessity, not a luxury. If you take a long-term approach, a great brand can travel worldwide, transcend cultural barriers, speak to multiple consumer segments simultaneously, create economies of scale, and earn higher margins over the long term.

If you need assistance in turning your products into great brands, we can help. Contact us.

Thanks

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Four Fatal Flaws of Business Planning

The effective development of business plans is drawing a lot of attention these days. In no way does this mean that companies are becoming more effective in their business planning or business plan creation. Many companies claim to be doing regular business planning but most are not. Executives and managers continue to make fundamental mistakes that undermine otherwise well intentioned strategy formulation efforts.

Here are four fatal flaws that consistently creep into business planning processes that if avoided, can significantly improve both the process and the results.

Skipping Rigorous Analysis Before Starting On The Actual PlanMany executives and managers believe their business experience and knowledge base alone equips them with all the information they need to conduct effective business planning. This belief is almost always untrue and serves only to undermine the kind of critical thinking from which truly creative strategies are born. This becomes complicated, since most planning is done by a team and all participants come with preconceived notions and differing sets of data on which to base the plans. Having an experienced facilitator with success in business planning is critical. A good business planning process takes full advantage of the numerous tools of strategic analysis to gain key insights regarding how the industry is evolving, how competitors are changing positions, and where an individual firm's sources of competitive advantage lie. Don’t ever overlook the critical role of defining the company’s Core Purpose and Core Values before you start.

Believing Strategy Can Be Built in a DayMany executive teams earnestly believe that effective strategies can be identified, explored, and agreed upon during abbreviated offsite meetings where the main driver of the agenda is the timing of snack breaks. While offsite meetings are useful forums in which to share information and address key issues, meetings should be adequately timed over days or weeks if necessary, so that sufficient preparation, review and discussion can occur before and during the event. We have found that breaking the process into multiple sessions, each with assigned pre-work, allow participants to reflect on the work being done in less pressured surroundings and provide clearer input to the plans.

Failing to Link Business Planning with Strategic ExecutionAccording to a recent survey, execution overall and strategy execution in particular hold the first and second positions when it comes to "top issues" in executive's minds. Executing strategy requires the work of the entire organization, whereas business planning only requires the top team. One of the greatest challenges of the planning team is the ability to link their work with ongoing strategy execution. Strategic success demands a simultaneous view of planning and doing. Managers must be thinking about executing even as they are formulating the plan. They also must find a means of effectively cascading the corporate plan down into the various functions and business units so that all of the work is aligned.

Dodging Strategy Review MeetingsBusiness plans quickly become obsolete when there is no activity in place to keep them alive. Worse, managers sometimes feel freed from execution accountability when reviews are continually rescheduled or dropped from the calendar altogether. Successful businesses have made their business process a continuous and dynamic one. This is a more realistic approach than the once-a-year planning meeting that still dominates many corporate business planning efforts. The most direct way to maintain a consistent focus on strategy is to schedule and hold regular strategy review meetings. At the end of the business plan formulation, managers should establish a strategic governance process where business plan review meetings are scheduled a year in advance. In the meetings, with each of the strategies and tactics having an owner responsible for it, there is accountability. The measures that have been developed provide a strong basis for review of the success of the pan and what may need to be modified to keep on track.

Business planning tied to strong execution is a winning combination. Our clients are enjoying this success. How may we assist you?

Thanks

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management