Our brand platforms are rock-solid, titanium steel reinforced wonders of durability. They have to be. Each is meticulously researched and written to focus, inspire and launch powerful integrated marketing solutions that help our B2C and B2B clients grow and thrive for decades to come. Investing in an Immortology brand platform is the gift that keeps on giving and giving and then giving some more. It’s absolutely the most efficient and effective way to identify, define and articulate why people should gladly choose you over your rivals now and way into the future.

Immorotology Brand Platforms:

·       Clearly define how to maximize growth now and in the future

·       Shows how to best communicate your brand promise

·       Center your business around fulfilling your customers’ true wants and needs

·       Powerfully differentiate you from all rivals

·       Rally your employees

·       Attract the best recruits

·       Guide the development of the most effective media plans

·       Inspire the creation of creative ideas that are both big and long

Crafted from a deep understanding of your ideal customer, your competitors and your business values, key components include:

·       Brand Promise - The beneficial experience and/or result you guarantee to buyers.

·       Brand Pillars - Up to 4 reasons why your promise is true.

·       Key Message - The one thing you want prospective buyers to remember about you. 

BRAND PLATFORMS ARE A FOUNDATIONAL ASSET USED TO DEVELOP THE FOLLOWING:

  • OVERARCHING CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS BRIEF

    This document outlines the essential elements for all creative projects. It serves as a guide for the creative team, providing them with the direction, motivation, and restrictions they need to create the best possible integrated creative campaigns. Without it, your communications will not consistently work together across all channels. It includes the following components:

    • Target audience demographics, needs, wants, and challenges

    • CES (Customer Entry Situations) - usage occasions that prompt people to buy

    • Brand PromiseKey message

    • Key message support points

  • OVERARCHING BRAND PROMISE FULFILLMENT BRIEF

    Outlines the overall marketing strategy and approach. While the overarching creative brief outlines what needs to be communicated, the overarching brand promise fulfillment brief describes why and how we’re going to demonstrate and keep our promise. It serves as an internal guide to ensure current and future marketing initiatives are on strategy. It includes the following:

    • SWOT Analysis

    • Market analysis

    • Key competitors

    • Target segment and persona ID

    • CES (Customer Entry Situations) - usage occasions that prompt people to buy

    • Value proposition

    • Positioning

    • Goals

    • Objectives

    • KPIs

  • TACTICAL CREATIVE BRIEFS

    Creative briefs developed for specific creative deliverables such as TV scripts, print ads, social media campaigns, direct mail, billboards, radio, naming, logo design, website development, etc.

  • IBPCP (Integrated Brand Promise Communications Plan)

    Based on the Overarching Briefs Immortology’s creative and strategic teams will develop an initial list of communications tactics we believe will have the greatest chance of achieving your objectives. We will present this list to your internal stakeholder team and collaborate with them to prioritize each tactic based on a cost/benefit analysis. Once agreed, we will put all tactics into a 12-month Gantt chart including due dates, cost, production timelines, media placements, specs, and who’s responsible for each.

  • IBPFP (Integrated Brand Promise Fulfillment Plan)

    Based on the Overarching Briefs, Immortology’s creative and strategic teams will develop an initial list of promise fulfillment tactics we believe will have the greatest chance of achieving your objectives. These may include customer service improvements, sales, distribution, product/service innovations, new customer touchpoints, in-store and online brand experiences, packaging improvements, third-party partnerships, customer surveys, etc. We will present this list to your internal stakeholder team and collaborate with them to prioritize each tactic based on a cost/benefit analysis. Once agreed, we will put all tactics into a 12-month Gantt chart including due dates, cost, specs, media channels and who’s responsible for each.

  • BPSIP (Brand Promise Stakeholder Integration Plan)

    The greatest brand platform in the world is doomed to fail without key stakeholder buy-in. Our Brand Platform Development process has this key component built-in through mandatory stakeholder participation in one-on-one interviews and work sessions. The key deliverable is consensus and a signed pledge to uphold and be accountable for fulfilling the brand promise.

Most clients ask us to develop the IBPC, IBPF and BPSIP Plans simultaneously as a separate deliverables. Together they create a comprehensive and lasting framework to bring the brand to life in the most engaging and effective ways possible.

Immortology Brand Platform Development includes:

  • COMMUNICATIONS ANALYSIS

    A thorough review and analysis of all past paid, owned and earned communications, websites, packaging, internal communications, signage, in-store branding, creative briefs and brand identity guides. The goal is discover what’s working and can be saved, what’s not working and should be eliminated or revised and what’s missing and needs to be developed.

  • CONSUMER TOUCHPOINT ANALYSIS

    A comprehensive examination of all current and potential touchpoints where customers, recruits, and potential customers interact with the brand. These may include chat services, voicemail, in-store experiences, online experiences, customer service, sales, employee training, employee recruiting, forms, etc. The goal is to create a complete list of current and possible customer/recruit touchpoints and ensure each is delivering highest and best brand experience possible.

  • THIRD-PARTY MARKET RESEARCH

    We have access to vast collections of the latest research and trends analysis for all business sectors. We will utilize these resources to uncover relevant insights and data for opportunities and challenges.

  • INTERNAL BRAND ENLIGHTENMENT

    Customized Stakeholder Surveys + Stakeholder One-On-One Interviews with your team’s key decision makers to better understand your:

    • Current Business Situation

    • Key Values

    • Key Marketing + Business Objectives

    • Biggest Advantages

    • Main Challenge(s)

    • Top Opportunities

  • COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

    We’ll examine each of your top business rivals looking at their financial health, positioning, marketing communications, key audience, products and services and social stats. The final deliverable will be an overview of each competitor’s unique strengths, weaknesses and challenges that will help us best position your brand to seize market share from them.

  • THIRD-PARTY MARKET RESEARCH

    We have access to vast collections of the latest research and trends analysis for all business sectors. We will utilize these resources to uncover relevant insights and data for opportunities and challenges.

  • YOUR RESEARCH/DATA ANALYSIS

    We will review and analyze any of your relevant past and current research and/or data to help us better understand you, your market, resellers, vendors and/or end-buyers.

  • DATA ANALYSIS

    Our analysts look at your database and/or third-party sources to:

    • Identify your most valuable customers and where they are within specific geographic markets

    • ID and define unique customer segments

    • Determine key usage occasions

    • Help optimize media mix with the goal of maximizing reach while minimizing wastage

    • Quantify campaign results

    • Help develop KPIs and track the performance of specific tactics

  • MEDIA ANALYSIS

    Our media planners will review your current and past media channel mix and results to ascertain what did and didn’t work before and why.

  • BUYER RESEARCH

    Understanding your current, potential and lost customers’ real wants and needs are absolutely critical to developing an effective marketing strategy. Whyology utilizes data analysis and quantitative, qualitative and ethnographic research to identify the ones that can impact your business most.

    • Qualitative Research provides insight into the emotional reasons people choose or choose not to buy a brand. Focus groups, one-on-one interviews, phone surveys, triads and ethnography are qualitative tactics we utilize to get at the why’s and what’s and emotional hot buttons that drive buyer behavior.

    • Quantitative Research such as online surveys, controlled testing and field trials (A/B testing, test markets, creative pre-testing and analysis of primary and secondary data) provide measurable, statistically relevant data from the marketplace. Generally speaking, our quantitative research allows us to speak to a large number of people, in a relatively short timeframe cost effectively. We typically use quantitative to confirm hypotheses about behavior/insights we glean from our qualitative research.

To get the best understanding possible we like to utilize both qualitative and quantitative research on three types of buyers:

  • Current customers

  • Customers who left you for a competitor

  • Potential customers

  • VENDOR INTERVIEWS/SURVEYS

    The people who supply your category with the goods and services needed to run your business are a great source for insights regarding the category, competitors and your own business.

  • RESELLER INTERVIEWS/SURVEYS

    The people who sell your brand are on the front lines with consumers. They see firsthand, what people want, need, like and don’t like about brands in the category. They are an awesome source of ideas for product innovation, spotting issues and making recommendations on packaging and customer service. What’s more, interviewing and surveying them for their feedback on your behalf helps solidify your relationships with them.

  • STAKEHOLDER WORK SESSIONS

    These are mandatory for all key decision-makers. We usually schedule 3-5 work sessions depending on the complexity of platform development. Each is scheduled at critical junctures within the process to collaborate and gain consensus on findings and direction.

The Brand Platform Will Be Used To:

  • Create a prioritized go to market IBMCP (Integrated Brand Communications Plan)

  • Develop a highly impactful media plan

  • Inspire the development of an impossible to ignore and hard to forget, evergreen creative campaign

  • Asses whether new and existing initiatives and/or communications are on strategy

OUR BRAND PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Stakeholder Survey

Our Stakeholder Survey goes to select key decision-makers and influencers within your organization. (Up to six.) The questions are customized for your organization and are divided into the following three sections to help us uncover and define the best strategic direction.

Internal Brand Perceptions

  • Services - benefits/weaknesses/untapped opportunities

  • Defining Success - what marketing success looks like

  • Communications - what's working/what's not/what’s missing

  • Elevator Pitch – what you tell people makes your business so special

 

Competition

  • Identification – Who They Are

  • Perceived Strengths & Weaknesses

 

Customers/Consumers

  • Who They Are: Demographics/Psychographics

  • Perceived Wants & Needs

  • Media - how do they find out about you

Communications Audit

During the communication audit we’ll gather all past and current marketing and advertising elements. These materials may include but are not limited to:

  • Mission, Vision & Positioning Statements

  • Any Existing Customer Research/Data

  • Any Existing Competitive Research

  • Any Strategic Briefs

  • Print Ads

  • Taglines

  • Banner Ads

  • Outdoor

  • Emails

  • Direct Mail

  • Website Copy

  • Sell Sheets

  • Presentations

  • White Papers

  • Business Cards

  • Promotions

  • Tradeshow/Event Marketing Materials

  • Signage

  • Collateral

  • Photographs

Once gathered we’ll go through each piece with you and evaluate what has and hasn’t worked. When developing the new campaign having this knowledge will allow us to capitalize on effective tactics while avoiding those that are not. In other words, the communications audit will ensure we don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater when we develop the new integrated campaign. This exercise will also help us identify missing customer touch point opportunities and prioritize specific tactics for them.

Competitive Analysis

Identifying and understanding your real competitors is critical if you want to successfully differentiate and position your company against them. Doing so will allow you to capitalize on their successes and failures and while guarding against any threats they may pose. A good competitive analysis will detail your competitors’:

  • Strategic positioning and personality

  • Target audience

  • Strengths and weaknesses

  • Geographic influence

  • Messaging and communications tactics

 

Consumer/Customer Research

If needed, Immortology will engage its consumer research team and/or data analysts to better understand your current, potential and lost customers’ real wants and needs. Knowing this is absolutely critical to developing an effective marketing strategy. We utilize data analysis and quantitative, qualitative and ethnographic research to identify the ones that can impact your business most.

Quantitative research such as online surveys and controlled testing and field trials (A/B testing, test markets, creative pre-testing and analysis of primary and secondary data) provide measurable, statistically relevant data from the marketplace. Generally speaking, quantitative research allows us to speak to a large number of people, in a relatively short timeframe cost effectively.

We also employ Big Data Analytics from your database, third-party sources or both to:

  • Identify your most valuable customers and where they are within specific geographic markets

  • Develop marketing personas of unique customer segments to inspire more tailored messaging for each

  • Optimize media planning or placement with the goal of maximizing reach while minimizing wastage

  • Measuring and analyzing campaign results

  • Developing attribution models to track the performance of specific tactics

  • Qualitative research provides insight into the emotional reasons people engage with a brand. Focus groups, one-on-one interviews, phone surveys, triads and ethnography are qualitative tactics we utilize to get at the why’s and what’s and emotional hot buttons that drive behavior.

  • To get the best understanding possible we like to use both on three types of customers:

  • Current customers

  • Customers who have left you for a competitor

  • Potential customers

The Brand Platform

Based on the findings from the Stakeholders Survey, Communications Audit, Competitive Analysis and Customer Research, Immortology will work closely with your team to craft an Overarching Strategic Brief (OSB). More than a strategic guide, the OSB will serve as your Brand Platform. It will be designed to inspire the development of a powerful integrated campaign and media plan (if needed). The brief will identify, define and articulate the following: 

  • Answer to “Why Are We Advertising?”

  • The ideal customer’s psychological wants and needs + demographics

  • Campaign objectives

  • Biggest challenges

  • Main competitors + strengths + weaknesses + positioning

  • Higher Purpose Statement (Brand Positioning Line)

  • The most persuasive key message that will inspire ideal customers to buy

  • Why people should believe it

  • Production Budget

  • Media Budget

  • Deliverable deadlines

  • A strong call to action + mandatory elements that must be in each communication

The brief will be crafted to:

  • Potently distinguish your organization from competitors

  • Inspire the development of a Media Plan to reach the right people, in the right place, at the right time

  • Inspire the development of a highly creative and disruptive integrated campaign with impossible to ignore and hard to forget executions designed to attract your ideal customers