Aung Thura’s Post

HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE BRAND-CATEGORY PARADOX? How do you stand out while fitting in? On the one hand, all brands need to deliver the category basics — the “category drivers” or “core category benefits.” And as categories mature, brands copy each other’s best features and talk about the same benefits. They even start to copy each others’ personality & advertising & tactics. Eventually all power drills have magnets to hold screws, belt hooks, and variable-speed triggers. Eventually all all-purpose cleaners are in an ergonomic spray bottle, cut grease, and — since Covid — kill 99.97% of germs. (All in a nice lemon scent.) On the other hand, all brands then have to find ways to stand out too. At the very least, they need a logo & colors that are obviously different. (Unless you’re Aldi or other copycat store brands selling “Formula 404.”) And then they try whatever they can to eke out some sort of difference or advantage. This is the Brand-Category Paradox: how to deliver category basics but in distinct, branded ways. Fortunately there are lots of Levers you can pull to help handle it. 🩳 🩳 🩳 Don't miss a post. Subscribe to the Irregular News at AppliedBrandScience com/signup Reach out for more in-depth brand science training or talks. We're currently taking select projects for the fall & winter. #brandscience #marketing #brandlevers

Did you know there are several levels of business strategy? These include corporate, business, functional, and operational levels. Understanding these different levels is crucial for every business leader. Strategies can range from simple to complex, just like businesses. However, the fundamental principles of strategy apply whether you’re managing a large corporation or a small startup. Let’s delve into these different levels to see how they function in various scenarios: Corporate Level Strategy: Sets the overall direction and long-term vision of the organization. Developed by top leadership, focusing on conceptual planning. Typically spans a 3-5 year period, determining where the organization should operate. Business Level Strategy: Targets goals set by specific business units within the organization. Aims to gain a competitive edge in specific markets. Involves key decisions like differentiation or cost leadership strategies. Functional Level Strategy: Designs strategies for individual departments within the organization. Ensures departmental activities align with broader organizational goals. Addresses unique challenges and opportunities in each functional area. Operational Level Strategy: Focuses on the day-to-day execution and implementation of plans. Turns strategic plans into actionable steps and results. Emphasizes short-term goals, resource allocation, and project management. A good strategy doesn’t guarantee success, but it’s an essential starting point. To achieve success, you must understand all levels of strategy. And pay attention to each one. P.S. Are you paying enough attention to each level of strategy? 📌 To get a high-res PDF of this: 1) Follow me (Igor Buinevici) 2) Subscribe to my newsletter at WildCapital.co You will get this PDF (+15 others) directly in your welcome email.

Build Your Brand Credits to Howie Chan, follow him for more impactful content. ------ Here's the original post: Apple's brand value in 2023: $880 billion. That's a staggering number. What is brand value? It is the monetary worth of your brand if you were to sell it. Brand takes time to build, it doesn't happen overnight. Apple was founded almost 50 years ago. And they've stood for 'different' for most of that time. According to Kantar, Apple stands head and shoulders above all other brands in being ‘Different’ The best time to work on your brand was probably years ago. The second best time? Today. Steal my cheat sheet to get going 👇🏽 1/ Business analysis 2/ Foundation 3/ Positioning 4/ Structure 5/ Personality 6/ Creative & comms ------- Follow Business Infographics to learn from the best visuals.

The fastest way to excel at your work? Do the things people WON'T do. Most people don't excel not because they CAN'T, it's because they WON'T. They WON'T put in what's needed to be exceptional. Here are 11 things anyone can do to excel:  1. Being on time  2. Making an effort  3. Showing kindness  4. Doing a little extra  5. Asking for feedback  6. Having a growth mindset  7. Having a strong work ethic  8. Letting yourself be coached  9. Bringing passion to your work 10. Bringing energy and enthusiasm 11. Showing optimism and positivity You don't need to be born with exceptional talent. You don't need a $150K MBA from an Ivy League school. You don't need to work at a Google, Apple, or Nike. You just need to do the things others WON'T do and do them well. Start there and stack skills on top of them. PS. Help your network level up ♻️ Follow me, Howie Chan for more content like this!

Why change fails. Genius. Source: The 5 Components Of Organisational Change (aka the "Lippitt-Knoster Model") -- 👉 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love my newsletter - a 3-minute breakdown of the strategy playbooks and growth hacks behind the world’s greatest companies. Join 45,000+ strategy nerds from companies like Google, Meta, Atlassian, and Netflix: https://lnkd.in/g2FWfXGR

Why using metrics alone will run a business into the ground: On the recent Starbucks episode of Acquired, they're talking about how great the mobile ordering business is: how it drove growth, how cash stored on cards is effectively an interest-free loan from customers. And Howard Schultz stops them and says that's all true, but that it almost killed the business. It destroyed their most important differentiator, which is the quality of the experience. "𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 ... 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦." This is where metrics break down. When launching the mobile app, every number screamed to do it. Every experiment you ran would have gotten rolled out. Because the deterioration of the business just happens too slowly to be able to measure in a conventional way. It takes someone - almost always a founder - who deeply understand what the business actually is at its core to protect it and push against short term decision making.

The ultimate list of tools and frameworks for strategists! 1. Brand Style Guidelines Library - https://lnkd.in/gjC876Td - Massive library for inspiration for Style Guidelines. 2. Hyper Island Toolbox - https://lnkd.in/gQ_X8RAB - Great list of brainstorming activities. 3. Deck of Brilliance - https://lnkd.in/g5PxgXcx - 50 different tools that can be used to spark creativity. 4. DesignKit.org- https://www.designkit.org/ Platform to learn human-centered design to help solve problems. 5. Miro - https://miro.com/ - Best tool for team collaboration and visualizing a strategy. 6. Map Of Cognitive Biases from Visual Literacy - https://lnkd.in/g58ghzsv - A map of cognitive biases in decision making. 7. Activation Ideas - https://lnkd.in/guK4Pax3 - Creative commerce, brand experience & activation ideas from around the world to help you get inspired. If you’re looking for the top 5 Frameworks I used working on Apple, Uber and PlayStation. I’ll share them in a free workshop next week. 👉Seats limited: https://lnkd.in/gZgjv_gQ #advertising #brand #strategy #brandstrategy

𝗖𝗘𝗢𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗠𝗢𝘀: 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 👇 This is a follow-up to my last post, adding more flesh to the bones. In Marketing, Much Goes Wrong:    - Overreliance on digital    - Performance addiction    - 4P obliviousness ..... But there's one thing topping it all: SEGMENTATION I've rarely encountered a more misunderstood topic. It's driving me nuts because it's so fundamental, yet the most underinvested area in marketing. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀-𝗤𝘂𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 The standard segmentation is personas. Category: Marketing Bullshit. They are BS - based on TONS of HOT AIR. (More in my last post). 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 Use VALUE-BASED SEGMENTATION to INFORM YOUR STRATEGY. Here's how to do it: [𝟭] 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲* "Who are you winning/losing with today?"        - Current repeat/loyalty/value.        - Understand value distribution.   *You won't have the data to granularly understand. That's okay at this point. [𝟮] 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 "What's out there?"        - Consumer alternatives (strengths & weaknesses).        - Qualitative market research (drivers, triggers, barriers, needs...). [𝟯] 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 "Why you might win & lose"        - Hypotheses about drivers behind winning & losing.        - Hypotheses about consumer segments you win/lose with today based on consumer alternatives and potential barriers, drivers, triggers, needs. [𝟰] 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 "Who is winning and why?"        - Industry growth rates.        - Competitor growth rates.        - Bringing it together with [1], [2] & [3]. [𝟱] 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 "Validate hypotheses"        - Identify SOW of different alternatives.        - Verify drivers, triggers, barriers, 4P preferences behind.        - Repeat & value of alternatives.        - Pitch value propositions. [𝟲] 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻        - Define segments with highest value & growth potential.        - Define winning value proposition and 4P strategy. [𝟳] 𝗔𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 Truth is, every case is unique and needs a dedicated framework. However, the 7 steps above give a rough guideline on how to use qualitative and quantitative internal and external insights to identify your most valuable consumer segments and adjust your strategy accordingly. For all of you that were in Cannes, discussing: - "Boring" marketing - Creativity - Innovation Please rethink priorities. Please fix your segmentation. It's fundamental. If you need help, let me know. I am Julia Kinner. My consulting firm, JK & Associates SA, focuses on growth strategy and execution for direct-to-consumer digital products and services.

I don’t blame you if you think product and brand positioning are very different things. We’ve been taught this for decades. I have a contrarian view. I define positioning as an organic process where the participants in a market make sense of the various companies and products on offer. To invoke Ries and Trout, positioning happens in the prospect's mind. If you look at it that way, “brand” is just one more way for people to make sense of the stuff they might buy. Whatever preconceived notions people have about certain companies (i.e., “brands”) inform their preconceived notions about the products those companies offer. So, product positioning and brand positioning are closely related. People know Apple makes expensive, minimalist, high-performing, beautiful hardware encased in matte-finished aluminum. When Apple rolls out a new product, these broadly held perceptions help market participants to position it. Brands help position products. Most tech companies start their life with a single product. In those cases, the product is the brand is the product. The brand question is often a surprise that pops up when a company launches its second product. …and all of a sudden you’re having a confusing conversation about your purpose, values, brand personality, etc. What if “branding” was just a series of coordinated actions you take to teach the market what to expect from your products? If you look at it that way, the whole thing gets less fraught. I often take it down to two simple definitions. ONE: EXPECTATION “When people think of our brand, they will expect ___________________.” TWO: DISTINCTION “We will stand out by ___________________.” When you define these, challenge yourself to come up with durable, simple, answers that you can use to build baseline market perceptions that make it easier for you to position your current and future products. That’s harder than you might think. But it’s how the biggest brands build strong, durable competitive positions for their products.