|
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS & THE BRANDING PROCESS
- DETAILED-
|
DUE DILIGENCE
- Industry, competition, target audiences and their influencers (who/what)
- Reactions to brand, products / services, competition
- Secondary research essential; proprietary research desirable
- Proprietary qualitative and quantitative research optimal
|
Phase
1 |
|
DEVELOP STRATEGIC OUTLINE, POSITIONING STATEMENT, & SUPPORT POINTS
- Can be done in isolation (within company)
- Optimal to include advertising & PR agencies
- Agency selections / changes should be made at this stage
|
Phase
2 |
|
TRANSLATE POSITIONING STATEMENT INTO CREATIVE
- To be completed by ad agency
- Positioning tagline, support points in bulletized statements, associated graphics should all be developed at this stage
- Pre-testing selected creative is optimal
- Testing of viable alternatives is preferable
- Brand name issues must be resolved at this stage
|
Phase
3 |
|
DEVELOP CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS GUIDELINES
- Guidelines ensure focus and consistency
- Refine "all communications" to reflect guidelines
|
Phase
4 |
|
PRIMARILY AD AGENCY
|
DEVELOP / RECOMMEND MEDIA PLAN
Media plan a function of available budget
Specific media selected given target audience / previous research (proprietary and/or secondary)
Advertising can build brand awareness rapidly
|
|
DEVELOP / RECOMMEND CREATIVE
Ads a function of selected media
Pre-testing ads is preferable
Any specific product/service creative must incorporate "brand tagline / support points"
Note: a website serves as both a media and creative vehicle
|
|
|
PRIMARILY PR AGENCY
|
DEVELOP / RECOMMEND PR PLAN
Primarily related to securing 3rd party endorsements
Specific "opinion leaders" targeted given secondary / proprietary research
Must determine optimal way to "influence" the key opinion leaders
This plan designed to obtain favorable editorial and/or "word of mouth" about the brand
Editorial / word-of-mouth should communicate optimal brand positioning / support points
Third party endorsements build awareness more slowly but are potentially more powerful than advertising in building "brand
|
Phase
5 |
|
|
AWARENESS & ATTITUDE BENCHMARK
- Optimal to establish current awareness and attitudes regarding the brand and its competition prior to executing advertising and PR plans
- Quantitative, projectable research is preferable
- Establish goals for increase in awareness, overall brand preference and comprehension of specific support points
|
Phase
6 |
|
EXECUTE ADVERTISING / PUBLIC RELATIONS PLAN
- Communications should appear for a minimum of 6 months before impact is measured
- Even "perfect" plans will fail if not properly executed
|
Phase
7 |
|
AWARENESS & ATTITUDE - WAVE 1
- Designed to measure impact of communications on awareness, overall brand preference, etc.
- It should also attempt to measure what is and is not working, etc
|
Phase
8 |
|
REVISE ADVERTISING / PUBLIC RELATIONS PLAN
- Given the results of Wave 1, make any essential revisions to corporate communications
|
Phase
9 |
This file also available as a  Microsoft Word document.
Note: If your browser does not support Word files, right click on the link above and choose "Save Target As...".
 Back
|
|
|
