What is the typical business profile of people who face these issues?

Marketing managers who want to ensure the successful implementation of the Marketing plan.

How will I benefit from participating in this workshop?

As a result of participating in this workshop, you will be better able to:

• Write a pragmatic (vs. ideal) marketing plan which asks the right questions to make a difference in the market place.
• Challenge marketing habits which can lead to the wrong focus or disintegration of the plan.
• Involve other parts of the business whose support is crucial for implementing your plan.

What will I do in this workshop?

Changes and Choices 

This module sets the scene for the week by summarizing the trends in consumer markets that impact the role of marketing and marketers. It highlights the importance of making a strategic choice and offers best practice case studies of brands that have consistently and successfully defined their competitive strategy.

Topics covered include: 

• Trends in consumer markets: proliferation of trademarks, increased competition, private labels, commoditization of products, media proliferation, anti-brand sentiments, customer power.
• The disappearing middle market and the importance of a clear strategic choice.

Understanding the consumer 

This module reviews the challenges of traditional segmentation models, presents a 3-step process of

gaining true consumer insights, and helps participants recognize that the days of ‘mass pushing’ are over – it’s ‘reconnect with the consumer or die’!

Topics covered include: 

• The traditional view on segmentation: age-gender-income-life stage etc, and why that no longer works.
• What are true consumer insights, how do we find them, and translate them into executable value propositions for our brand.
• Best practice cases of insight driven product development and marketing.
• How to use Customer Centric Proposition Development method to create winning value propositions and a common language for all stakeholders.

From Product to Customer Centric Thinking 

Understanding the customer means to create a value proposition which answers the needs and the desires of consumers. The organization needs to change form product related to customer centric thinking.

Topics covered include: 

• The Customer Value Proposition. Case studies will illustrate brand or company positions in the strategic quadrants of value priced offer, “in-between” offer, premium offer and custom made solutions.
• A discussion about the strategic choices made by participants’ companies.
• The need for differentiation in ever more commoditized markets.

Building a brand that truly connects 

We move beyond the “mechanics” of brand building and focuses on the power of word-of-mouth, exploring ways of crafting and telling the story of your brand. 

Topics covered include: 

• Key steps to building a brand: seek the meaning of your brand connecting to the deeper need of the consumer; tell it as a story; stay true in every possible way
• The meaning of your brand
• Storytelling as a brand: rediscovering word-of-mouth; why storytelling works; 10 truths of branded storytelling
• Staying true: when things can go wrong – identifying all the touchpoints of your brand

Marketing communications and the new media landscape 

Not only consumer behaviour has changed significantly, also the way brands can and must communicate with the consumer. To be able to deal with these new realities effectively and efficiently, we look into: 

• How media consumption has evolved and how to adapt the strategy to the new situation, through more targeted messaging and engaging in conversations.
• Technology and its impact. New interactive technologies in POS, TV, outdoor and Internet area threat to the traditional way of doing things, but offer new opportunities to.
• The consumer has become a producer of media. What impact does this have, and how to adapt your plan.
• Communities and conversations. The internet offers unprecedented social interaction, transparencies, threats and opportunities for marketers. We look into elements such as blogs, Myspace and Youtube, advergaming etc., and how you can use these tools effectively.
• Efficient budgets. The new landscape offers better ways of budgeting, targeting and cross-media communications. Value chain analysis, consumption based re-allocation, experimental budgets – all these tools are in your hands.
• Briefing: Your agency will have to adapt to the new realities as well. We look at the changes in briefing and how to select new or specialist agencies if your current agency doesn’t cope. 

While there will be an emphasis on electronic media, we do not neglect traditional media.

Aligning your company around the strategy – and around the customer 

In the new market reality “silo product management” does not work anymore. Aligning the various internal stakeholders such as the sales and service teams is not only a necessity – it also immediately improves revenues, customer satisfaction and – not the least – the job security and remuneration of the marketers involved.

Topics include: 

• Involve other parts of the business whose support is crucial for the implementation of your plan.
• Five dimensions of strategic alignment, based on MCE’s Leadership Framework
• Touchpoints – how every interaction between the customer and your company can shape his perception and your future revenue.
• How to understand the needs and drivers of other stakeholders, and align them around your strategy.

The Multi-Channel World 

How to effectively serve the multi-channel shopper who first browses on-line for information and then makes the purchase in a store (or the other way round!), and provide a seamless shopping experience between on-line and real-life? And how to do that without alienating your channels? We take a look at how to align your channels with your strategy, and with the customer’s needs and wants. We also specifically look into the importance (still) of POS marketing.

Topics covered include: 

• Multi-channel expectations and the importance of a seamless online and real life shopping experience
• The multi channel challenge: moving from channel-centric to customer-centric – following the consumer in his information and purchasing needs where and how he wants it
• Pragmatic steps - quick wins to get you started: cross reference your information; help your retailers go digital; develop digital buying tools which can serve online and in-store
• What happens in the store: challenges at the POP and how to fix them
• Channel management in the new world  

Positioning, Pricing, Promotions  

This module recognizes that it’s not only brands that segment consumers but also consumers who segment brands, and explores how to position your brand as close to the real need of the consumer as possible.

Topics covered include: 

• Complexities of today’s brands: how important is the need for the consumer, how important is it to have it met “exactly”, how to tell the difference between brands etc.
• Positioning your brand according to the value consumers attribute to meeting a need
• What is the right price – a checklist for better pricing decisions
• Pricing irrationality – insights in the true behaviour of the customer can allow you to exploit the irrational be
• Promotions – how they may hurt you

Accountability 

Measuring the Return on Marketing Investment has become a necessity in most organizations. We will look into the consequences. However, accountability goes further. Marketers are not only accountable to the business, but also to the customer – and even to the world at large.

• What do CEO’s and CMO’s think of marketing – and how to change their perception
•  Why marketing needs a metrics mindset
• Marketing ROI simplified: connect each marketing initiative to the relevant driver of customer life-time value
• Tools and Tips, including practical concepts and easily applicable concepts such as Net Promoter Score and Customer Lifetime Value

We will link back to all the other topics discussed previously to connect it all.

Practice oriented 

Throughout the workshop a plethora of both best and worst practice examples and cases will be presented. Through debates and team efforts both in-depth understanding and practical application are promoted.

To ensure maximum engagement with the material, the participants will build a practical and real world based plan throughout the 5 days.

Throughout the programme, we will help you: 

• Exchange insights and experiences with each other as much as possible
• Adapt elements to your specific daily realities
• Find specific answers to your concrete questions