Brand Marketing Integration

When integrating your brand marketing efforts, here are some mechanisms you may find useful:

•    A well-communicated brand positioning statement including the target customer and the brand essence, promise, and personality
•    Conducting a brand positioning workshop with organization senior managers if necessary to build consensus
•    A brand marketing visionary at the top of at least the marketing organization (Marketing VP or Chief Marketing Officer), or better yet (from a marketer’s perspective) – the enterprise.
•    As broad a span of control as possible for the chief marketing officer (encompassing as many of the disciplines listed above as possible) and frequent forums for him or her to communicate marketing issues and initiatives with other senior leaders of the organization
•    Specific brand management and marketing objectives (long term and short term)
•    A brand marketing plan
•    Integrating brand plans with organization strategic plans
•    Product, program and segment marketing plans (driven by or at least congruent with brand marketing plans)
•    Marketing budgets allocated by market segment and sub-discipline (with 10-20% of the overall budget held by the chief marketing for unforeseen opportunities)
•    Integrated media plans

•    An Intranet (or Extranet) site devoted to the brand identity standards and systems (and any other published brand information of use to broad audiences)
•    Digital brand asset management systems (to manage organizations with decentralized marketing control)
•   A brand identity council comprising the following people: brand management personnel, general managers, and creative directors from each of the organization’s divisions
•    Frequent marketing update meetings for heads of each of the marketing sub-disciplines (for people to keep informed about what others are doing)
•    Quarterly marketing planning sessions
•    At least biannual brand management forums or summits
•    Situating marketing people as close together as possible
•    Situating marketing people close to sales people
•    Situating marketing people close to product development people
•    Situating marketing people close to customer service people
•    Providing monthly or quarterly updates on progress against marketing objectives
•    Broadly disseminating brand management and marketing monthly reports
•    Carefully scripting the sales force on the brand story
•    Sending frequent marketing communications to the field sales force
•    Using as few advertising and other marketing agencies as possible. Some organizations will find that using a single full-service advertising/marketing agency will help to integrate their marketing effort with a single brand voice and visual style.  Others will find that it is best to use multiple agencies with best-in-class services in specific areas—brand advertising, collateral materials, direct mail, public relations, etc.  Those that choose to do the latter put a greater burden on internal efforts to integrate brand marketing.
•    Designating one internal copy writer and one internal graphic designer as keepers of the brand voice and visual style
•    Designating one brand management person as the ultimate enforcer of the brand identity standards. That person should be widely respected throughout the organization, possess outstanding interpersonal skills, and be very assertive.
•    Training every marketer to always ask, “Have I reinforced the brand promise in this decision or activity?”

The smaller the organization (especially those under 150 people), the easier it is to integrate marketing activities across the organization.  The larger the organization, the more the integration will need to rely on formal processes and procedures.

Sponsored By: Brand Aid