Strong Brand Core--More Core Than Ever?
Posted by Ellen Hoenig Carlson on Tue, Sep 22, 2009 @ 03:37 PM
This has been quite a year for pharma and marketers: big market changes and budget cuts, not to mention a continued explosion of noise, with less time to absorb and respond.
As we head into quarter 4, I've been asking myself,
What disciplines would take good care of our brands in this vulnerable moment?
Creativity gives the brand wings. David Ogilvy is famously quoted, "Give me the freedom of a tight creative brief." When the strategic core is strong, it serves as a foundation to produce the richest creative that can make your brand soar. The triangle's three points: meaning to consumers; elegance and balance; and rigorous execution act as foundational questions to help marketers check-in with their brand and test new strategies and tactics.
My prescription is: mind the strength of your strategic core.
The practice of keeping a strong strategic core has become very popular with consumers in recent years, with rapid growth in both Yoga and Pilates, and now next-generation offers like Barre 3 and PiYo. The techniques improve condition and balance by building core strength--Checking in with their core before taking any action enables people to move better, feel better, look better, and lead more productive lives.
In a chaotic world, the discipline to strengthen core strategy and keep it strong is a formidable challenge. The noise in the marketplace is a din; changes in social media alone in the last 6 months have many marketers in a spin. As the noise increases with the plethora of new tactics to distract us, those with the discipline to stay grounded and centered on brand core, to ensure that each tactic is informed by core strategy, will enjoy stronger brands.
How are you keeping your brands' core strong and focused?
With all the noise and distractions, and little time to stop and think, how are you holding an unwavering stance to power your brands' core?