Less art, more science. That’s the trend in most lines of professional work these days. Solutions depend less on gut feel and more on analytics. This is especially true in the profession of brand implementation. The adept analysis of data doesn’t just inform the big picture—it impacts decisions right down to the front lines.
At the top level, choosing the right brand-rollout strategy for your physical and digital assets demands looking at a number of high-level scenarios that are driven by a set of variables. How quickly should we implement? What business units and what geographies should go first? Which assets – signage, vehicles, documents and forms, IT systems, HR materials – should get priority? What level of quality – good, better, best – makes the most sense.
The alternatives have associated costs, risks and levels of brand impact. Take the case of a global Fortune 100 firm. An analysis showed that the company’s rebranding rollout, slated to finish in six months, would cost $125 million. Was this “big-bang” approach worth it? After a look at BrandActive’s scenario planning analysis, the company decided that it was not. It chose to roll out the brand on 20 percent of its assets in six months – focusing on the assets that would deliver 80 percent of the brand impact. The remaining 80 percent of the assets would get rebranded over two to three years. The projected savings over the original plan: $100 million.
The tools and data that reliably predict rollout costs, risks and brand impact are the precious resources that enable such savvy decisions. BrandActive’s ever-growing proprietary database and sophisticated data-mining tools produce estimates for every aspect of the rollout. We combine our data with company information, validate it against our benchmarks, and give clients tailored scenarios that span the gamut. Company executives, from the CEO, CFO and CMO on down, then have the specifics needed to understand options, make tradeoffs, and make a fiscally sound decision that aligns with rebranding objectives and commercial realities.
They also have the specifics, when necessary, to make fast up-front decisions on the financial impact of their rebranding implementation. In one project, a Fortune 50 company signed on for an intensive 10-week analysis – what we call “Scope and Assess” – to gather information and assess options in order to come up with the right approach. Just a few days later, executives realized they needed a first estimate the same week. By using benchmarks derived from our historical data, along with proprietary algorithms, BrandActive delivered a high-level estimate for the multi-part, multi-phase global brand implementation in three days.
Once executives have settled on a companywide overarching rebranding strategy, operations people face a variety of challenges in choosing the smartest approach down in the business units. I’ll cover how the chosen scenarios then get drilled down into detailed operational and logistical plans in the “Plan and Prepare” phase in my next blog post.
Regardless of a company’s stage in its implementation process, proper analytics are the key to better decisions, cost and quality control, and the achievement of brand impact.
Less art, more science, better results.
