In yesterday’s introduction to planning for the future, we saw that planning is evolving into:
The process of identifying the most relevant and engaging times and places to deliver specific brand benefits, and the most efficient and effective ways to deliver those benefits in that context.
The first step in this evolution involves a fundamental shift in how we view brand communications.
Rather than merely promoting other forms of value delivery like products, brand communications can become a viable means to deliver benefits of their own.
Rationale
People don’t actually buy products or brands; they buy things that enable them to achieve specific aims.
As a consequence, brands that help people to achieve their aims more comprehensively are more attractive, and therefore more valuable.
Planning can help add to this value by enabling brands to create more opportunities to satisfy.
Our challenge is to turn every single interaction – including communications – into an opportunity to help people achieve their aims.
Nike already champions this approach.
It understands that people don’t buy ‘sportswear’; they buy things that enable them to participate in sporting activities.
So the brand focuses on creating more opportunities for people to enjoy those activities.
Run London is a great example, creating deeper engagement not just with the brand, but also with running:
Run London doesn’t just build engagement either: over 30,000 participants pay to take part, and the event generates more than £1million in revenue.
Given this, it’s easy to understand why Nike employs the same approach in football with Joga3, and in fitness with the Rockstar Workout.
Benefit
When everything a brand does helps people to satisfy their wants, needs, and desires, it becomes a much more valuable part of their lives.
Action
Identify the core benefit that your brand offers, and then identify ways to deliver it through every interaction – including communications.
when i was just starting in the media planning world, one of the people i truly respected wrote something that i can never forget: “media are brands. media have relationships with people. media define the audiences that use them – and at the same time, media get defined by the audiences that use them.”
when we start respecting “media as brands”, we can see a mindshift: that media are not just mere “messengers” (according to communications theory) but real founts of value.
unlocking that takes discipline, rigor, creativity, imagination, and action.
no shortcuts.