Activation Strategy:
Idea Intersection
Brand Activation Class
September 25, 2010
REMEMBER:
• The Journey is as important as the
Destination.
• Having a thorough understanding of the
Consumer at the start is like winning more
than half the battle.
• The most Creative Ideas will never fly without
a solid strategy behind it.
The Idea Intersection Grid
1. Brand
Opportunity
5. Activation
that creates
Demand for
Your Brand
Tools you can use:
-Sponge
-Brand-in-mind
4.
Idea/s!
3. Intersection
Strategy
Tool to use:
-Path to intersection
6. Impact /
Assessment
-quali / quanti tests
2.
Consumer
Insight
Tools you can use:
-consumer snapshot
-day in the life
- Brand in Hand
STEP ONE:
Business Opportunity
• Getting smart on the business and the brand is the first
step in Idea Intersection. Let’s face it: If we’re not smart,
we can’t really define the business opportunity.
• Throughout Idea Intersection, you’ll find a number of
tools to help you through the steps to Activating Demand.
Sponge and Brand-in-Mind are absolutely essential.
They lead us to a clear understanding of our clients, their
industry, their competitors and their consumers.
a. Sponge
• Sponge is an easy-to-use tool that uses a
series of very targeted, very important
questions to arrive at a clearly defined
business opportunity. The answers to these
questions
are
necessary
in
strategy
development.
a. sponge
• How does the brand / client make money?
– this is the single most important question to
answer before touching any piece of business.
- define the business model and all relevant
business “realities”, e.g., distribution, sales force,
retail systems, etc.
• What is the Brand in question?
- category, products/ services, sub-brands, etc.
a. sponge
• What are the key objectives for the brand?
– grow sales / share; change perceptions /
positioning… etc.
• What are the category trends?
– source of growth, segment, innovation…?
• Who is the target market?
– Who is currently using he brand?
– Who does the brand want to target?
a. sponge
• Who is the competition?
• What is each brand’s unique positioning”
• What target audiences represent their franchise?
• What type of marketing has been done in the
category?
• note activity that is innovative, ownable, etc, and how
well it worked..
b. BRAND-IN-MIND
– Brand-in-Mind captures the brand positioning, meaning and
personality. Key sources include client brand strategy
documents and your own Brand-in-Mind exploration.
– At times the brand positioning, meaning and personality are
well-defined before we begin our work. Other times we need
to do further exploration. With Brand-in-Mind exploration, we
try to see the brand as the consumer does. Basically, we’re
looking for the answer to the question: “In the mind of the
consumer, what is the brand?”
Brand-in-mind Exploration
• “when I say (brand), what comes to
mind?”
(note: gut responses only; the exercise
should be quick and spontaneous, and
not over-rationalized…)
Brand-in-mind Exploration:
adding frames of references
• If (brand) became a person, what kind of person would he / she
be? (physical characteristics, gender, age, hobbies, profession,
etc..)
• What type of party would (brand) have? (occasion, location,
guest list, type of entertainment, food, etc..) this question is
useful for discerning brand personality
• If (brand) died, how will it be remembered? Or, if (brand) just
graduated from school, what remarks will be written in the
yearbook? ( this question taps into the relevance and legacy of
the brand)
• What would (brand) say about you? (tone, attitude, content…
taps into the perceived “voice” of the brand)
Brand-in-mind Exploration:
adding frames of references
• Or you can get really crazy and create brand collages. Have
target consumers cut images from magazines that represent the
brand’s personality or meaning.
Note: of course, going through a Brand-in-mind exploration
exercise depends on how much information is already made
available to you about the brand, and how comfortable you are
with the information. If you think you can work with the data you
have, then obviously you don’t have to go through all this.
STEP TWO:
Consumer Insight
• Discovering the richest consumer insight is critical to
engaging them. How do we do it? By understanding how
consumers view and relate to the brand and what
inspires and motivates them to act.
• And we encourage you to dig deep. It's when we go
beyond the research and engage with consumers in the
real world, explore their passions and motivations that
we uncover insight that will help us Activate Demand.
a. Consumer Snapshot
• The consumer snapshot creates a foundation picture
of the consumer. In many cases, the client will
supply a portion of the snapshot.
a. Consumer snapshot
• Who is the target? (gender..age)
• How do they live? (work, income, household
composition)
• What do they like to do for fun? What are their
passions? (music, entertainment, sports, leisure…)
• In general, how do they think feel and behave?
(describe relevant attitudes and behavior)
• What media do they consume?
a. Consumer Snapshot
• Okay, we have the snapshot, our basic
understanding of consumer. Now, we want to
know more; we want Activation Insight. This
next level of insight is different than simply
defining the consumer and compiling statistics on
how they live, it’s more about embracing the
consumer, getting to know them personally,
understanding their language and how to become
a part of their lives.
b. Day-in-the-Life
• Consumer “Day-in-the-Life” provides real-life,
in-depth experiential consumer understanding.
Recruit consumers from your target audience
and select from a series of immersion
techniques to get into their world, see things
from their vantage point, or literally “walk a day
in their shoes.”
b. Day-in-the-life
• Note: identify what you want to learn from the
consumers before you begin. Of course, you
want to be open to discovering something
“unexpected”, but having a clear sense of
what you’re looking for will help you make the
most of your exploration.
b. Day-in-the-life
• Diaries
• recruit consumer targets to chronicle their activities,
feelings or thoughts in the course of a day
• encourage them to do detailed logs…
• Storyboards
• Recruit consumer targets to take 5-8 snapshot pictures of
things that will describe a typical “day in their life”, create
a “what it is like to be me” storyboard
• Street talk
• Observe consumers in their real-life environments
• Intercept and interview
(shopping, restaurants, clubs, sporting events…)
c. Brand-in-Hand
• The brand. Where do consumers find it/buy it? What is
the experience like?
• Brand-in-Hand includes a set of questions that let you
find out. So go explore. Take good notes. And share
what you learn.
• Activities include: retail and other on-site environment
field trips, cataloging observations (videotaping, digital
photography, written or dictated notes). Key questions
include:
c. Brand-in-Hand
•
•
Finding It / Buying It
 Where does the consumer find/buy the product? (List all:
web, retail, catalog, etc.)

With regard to retail, etc., what channels as well as exact
stores/chains carry the product?


What is the retail environment like?
How is the brand presented?
» Relevance of brand presentation to the consumer :
packaging, merchandising, signage, and overall brand
impact
» Consistency of brand presentation across different
channels, retailers or outlets
 Are other competitor brands presented? If so, how are they
presented in comparison?
 What is the consumer brand sales experience?
» Ease of selection and shop-ability of the brand
» Presence and effectiveness of promotions, educational
materials, take-away literature, etc.
With regard to online, does the product have its own website? Links from
other websites? Which ones? What key words will lead you to the product
c. Brand-in-Hand
• Using It
 How and where does the consumer consume the brand?
 What is the consumption experience like?
To fully explore, you may want to …
 Describe the surroundings or
 Retrace the consumer’s steps before and after
consumption. For example, what was she/he doing one
hour before brand usage…one day…right after? Did
something lead or prompt them to use the brand? Do
you see additional opportunities to position or engage the
consumer with the brand?
 What tangible and intangible value does the brand
provide the consumer?
STEP THREE:
Intersection Strategy
PATH TO INTERSECTION
 What is our challenge?
 (This is a focused statement of the business situation. It
combines our understanding of what the client is asking of us
(the assignment) and our learning from the business opportunity
step (the Sponge Tool). In other words, it succinctly defines the
problem that will be solved by our idea.)
 What are we trying to achieve? (Objectives):
 What is to be accomplished through the idea/communications?
For example, announce a new product, drive traffic to a location,
reposition a product, change perception, etc. Utilize bullet
format beginning with verbs.
PATH TO INTERSECTION
 Who is our target consumer?
 Define/describe the target consumer. List key
information from our Consumer Snapshot.
 How do they interact, relate or feel about the brand?
 What is their current attitude/behavior toward the
brand? What role does the brand currently play in
their life?
 What is our consumer insight?
 What did we learn about the consumer that will
impact their relationship/behavior with the brand?
What is the key insight(s) that will inspire our
creative idea? What motivates our consumer?
What are the challenges we will have to overcome
with the audience to motivate action?
PATH TO INTERSECTION
 What is the ONE thing we want the target to feel about the
brand?
 What do we want our target to know/feel that will drive the
desired action? Emotional reaction from our idea.
 What is the action we want consumer to take in relation
to the brand? (Desired consumer behavior.)
 What action do you want the target audience to take?
Respond to a different offer?
 Improve perceptions of a product, service or company?
Utilize bullet format.
PATH TO INTERSECTION
 What is the Support for this Action or Behavior?
 Why should the consumer believe us? Why will this motivate them to
engage with the brand? List specifics – benefits of the product/service
you need to promote; i.e., great meals, low pricing, variety and
selection, etc. Utilize bullet format.
 How should we deliver the brand idea, i.e., events, promotions,
sponsorship, retail, other, a combination of several?
 What is the brand snapshot? (Include two or three adjectives for
each. Utilize bullet format.)
 a. Personality
 b. Meaning
 What is the single, potent thought or platform that will inspire
powerful creative?
 The synthesis of the Path to Intersection – synthesis of what’s right
for consumer and the brand. A statement that is powerful/meaningful
that will unlock our creative imagination – the creative spark.
PATH TO INTERSECTION
• Other Relevant Information:
 Specific creative parameters / mandatories:
 What needs to be included/considered, i.e., must use existing
tagline; leave room for customization, etc? Is there a broader
marketing communications program that this particular
assignment needs to family with? Utilize bullet format.
 Budget: Ballpark guidelines – total budget, concept budget only,
or rough ballpark for separate production budget.
 Timeline: Approximate start date for the campaign. Please
include any print closing dates or broadcast ship dates. Also set
dates and times for internal reviews and client presentation.
STEP FOUR: IDEAtion
• Now we have our Path to Intersection. We have the insight,
inspiration and strategy to create ideas.
• This is not about account service handing out the brief and then
going into hibernation, leaving the creative people bouncing off
the walls. The account and creative teams work together,
along with the client, to achieve this.
•
Get the entire team together and bring the briefing to life so that
everyone is inspired and energized. Surround yourselves with the
images and insights you have uncovered. Create a brand immersion
room. Have fun!
STEP FIVE: IDEA
Assessment
Idea Assessment
Brand Connection

Supports the Brand Positioning

Reinforces the Brand Personality

Enhances the Brand Values
TOTAL BRAND CONNECTION SCORE:
Consumer Connection

Matches the consumer demographic target

Fits the target’s needs and lifestyle

Potential to Activate Demand

Unique idea for the category
TOTAL CONSUMER CONNECTION SCORE:
Rate Idea Performance
(1 – 10)
The Idea Intersection Grid
1. Brand
Opportunity
5. Activation
that creates
Demand for
Your Brand
Tools you can use:
-Sponge
-Brand-in-mind
4.
Idea/s!
3. Intersection
Strategy
Tool to use:
-Path to intersection
6. Impact /
Assessment
-quali / quanti tests
2.
Consumer
Insight
Tools you can use:
-consumer snapshot
-day in the life
- Brand in Hand