Strategic qualitative research for strengthening brand equity

Insight Home, Kyiv, Ukraine

Today’s marketing world is obsessed with speed: we create ideas, launch products, change packaging, and generate content at a cosmic pace. We always have something to offer the customer, something to say and something to show. But do we ever stop to ask: how does the customer feel in this non-stop stream of 'active entrepreneurship'?

On the one hand, I see positive changes. I am pleased to see the growing realization that market research - specifically qualitative - is essential. Even relatively small businesses are starting to listen to their customers by testing features, refining UX, identifying JTBD, etc. Functionally, products are improving, better satisfying needs and helping people progress - and that is wonderful! These businesses are growing rapidly and proudly call themselves 'brands', yet they often have no idea that there is a next level where real brand management actually begins

On the other hand, it’s disheartening to see global giants behaving like 'beginners'. By acting on the principle of 'more, faster, as it happens, cheaper', brands that should take pride and benefit from their heritage are eroding the foundations built over decades. They fail to realize that this very foundation was their 'ticket' to the 'major league'

What does belonging to the "major league" give a brand? Primarily - the customer's readiness to pay a higher price. For what? Firstly, for the fact that you are one of the first to come to mind under certain circumstances, when certain needs arise; further - because you are the easiest to find, notice and recognize (greetings to lovers of 'playing' with design changes every year). Physical and mental availability is not just another theory; it is the basis without which you cannot rise to the next level

But that's not all. Brands from the 'major league' resonate. With them, you always feel calm or confident, smarter or stronger, healthier or more beautiful, free or carefree. Always, and not differently every time because the marketing team or the creative agency changed. You cannot be a macho man yesterday, a kitten today, and a patriot tomorrow... Moreover, you are a ticket to a certain society, a bubble, a social group; you are a way to form and demonstrate someone's image; to raise status in the eyes of others. You will laugh, but this applies even to brands in the toilet paper category... Don't believe me? Ask to use the toilet during your next in-home visits...

How to stop the fall and return the brand to the "major league," and what qualitative research is needed for this - we will consider further

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The leaders of the global marketing community have long determined that the most effective in the modern world is the so-called 'sophisticated two-speed marketing strategy'. This approach is taught by Mark Ritson in the 'MiniMBA in Brand Management' course and described by Les Binet, co-authored with Peter Field, in the book "The Long and the Short of It

This is a rather complex strategic work on the brand simultaneously at two speeds:

• The short-term component (The short), focused on the creation and promotion of specific offers to certain targets in the near-term time perspective;

• The long-term component (The long), focused on the formation and evolution of the brand fundamentals - DNA, portfolio architecture and distinctive assets - as the basis of customer-based brand equity among the mass target, which accumulates and strengthens gradually

  
  

These two directions of brand strategy do not compete with each other; let’s leave that for popular shows. In real business, these two components of brand strategy complement each other. A solid strategic foundation is the base that nourishes and strengthens any brand actions here and now better and better every year

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The 'bicycle' was invented long ago, its effectiveness has been proven by a mass of research, and it would seem that all we have to do is put this experience into practice. But lately, I see few businesses that truly take the development and implementation of the long-term part of the brand strategy seriously and conduct appropriate, particularly qualitative, research

Over the last decade, such research has become significantly less frequent. The long-term planning horizon gradually blurred, and in some companies, it disappeared from the agenda entirely, because they believe that 'it's all dead'. But my colleagues around the world and I already clearly see the negative results of such 'myopia'

It's not that we, the 'old-schoolers', made it up for ourselves or 'got preserved'. Industry leaders worldwide have long understood, proven and are trying to re-teach the generation that, in hopes of 'reinventing the bicycle', has already caused significant damage to businesses

Why do we see the consequences only now? Because the foundation of strong brands, which was built for more than one decade, is not erased from the memory and habits of people so quickly. The results of inaction in this direction in business indicators become noticeable not immediately. You simply observe a trend of gradual decline, which no hype 'landings' in social networks are able to stop

The business starts changing marketers; they complain about their predecessors, promise 'golden mountains', in a few years everything gets even worse, the next one comes, and so on in a circle…

I whisper: if the business works on the long-term component of the brand strategy, it is not immediate, but in 2-3 years it starts to become noticeable - you observe a slow but stable and confident gradual growth...

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What role does qualitative research play in forming and implementing a two-speed marketing strategy into life?

Qualitative research is an integral part of the work on both components of the strategy, however, in each of the vectors, they have a fundamentally different nature and approaches

I am not a fan of dividing research into 'product' and 'brand' - such dualism only harms integrity. In my opinion, it is much more useful to understand the specifics of research for each part of a single strategy:

1) Short-term ("entrepreneurial") strategy:

Planning horizon - 1 year

Task - timely reaction to what is happening in the market. Its goal is to convince the consumer who is currently looking for a solution to choose exactly your offer

This component of the brand strategy is focused on a specific brand offer for a certain segment of the audience in the short term

Qualitative research here is operational and 'narrowly focused' - one target segment, its journey, UX, clear concepts built on the attribute-benefit-value principle / JTBD

For example, this year the task of brand X is to become a leader among candies bought as a gift. The brand has one SKU in gift packaging, it works not bad, but we see much greater potential because, according to our data, people have recently started giving gifts to each other more often. Accordingly, we recruit not candy consumers; not those who buy certain brands, but those who, in general, with a certain frequency make any gifts, and we look for ways to become their №1 choice

2) Long-term ('adult') strategry:

Planning horizon - 5 years

Goal - to increase the value of the brand while maintaining integrity and accumulating assets

'Adulthood' lies in the fact that here, unlike the entrepreneurial part of the strategy, there should be no sudden movements; every step is thought out, prepared, calm, and confident. Well, like in that joke: "and why are you in a hurry? now we will slowly go down and f**k the whole herd" (excuse me, but it is very relevant)

Its task is to form and strengthen the ground for a gradual increase in the effectiveness of short-term initiatives. At the very least - to build the physical and mental availability; and ideally - a solid and long-lasting emotional connection with the widest possible target audience. For example, returning to the gift example: the wider the audience that considers our candy brand to be popular, the easier it will be for us to become a leader among small gifts in general

In the 'long game', qualitative research is the start, and then — a regular base

The key goal of such projects is to regularly receive necessary information for the formation, crystallization, re-evaluation, and correction of the brand fundamentals - DNA, architecture and distinctive assets

For relatively young (often local) brands:

• Search for the brand positioning territory (not to be confused with product positioning in the short-term period), determination of distinctive codes and the role of product offers in the portfolio; Analysis of ways to build the desired image through the marketing mix and tracking the effectiveness of this process

  
  

For already mature local and international brands:

• Identification of the fundamental components of the brand that are already formed in the perception of the target audience (the primary task for a new CMO or brand manager before developing any activities or making changes);

• Tracking their relevance and searching for ways of evolution without radical (and often destructive) changes

Remember the first commandment of a brand manager: Do no harm.

In such research, there is no place for haste, because they cover a much wider context and work with the brand fundamentals, where the cost of a mistake is much higher. Therefore, by the way, DIY does not work here, and you need to turn to specialists

These are projects where you and I must have time to think, analyzing what we heard, as deeply as possible, from different sides, in appropriate contexts, taking into account both the historical background and current trends and forecasts

They are conducted regularly to constantly keep a finger on the pulse. Here you and I are partners who have been cooperating for more than one year, both during and outside of individual projects

In such research, the product offer is only one piece of the puzzle. Here we consider not one single product and the context around it; but the entire portfolio of the brand, both from the perspective of the performance of individual product offers and from the perspective of a holistic architecture, where each SKU has a clear strategic role

Consumers can want many things, but not everything is worth "pulling" onto your brand. Strong brands know how to keep focus. At the same time, a correctly defined DNA does not limit, but on the contrary - expands the possibilities of the brand, cutting off everything unnecessary.

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To dive deeper into the topic of 'sophisticated two-speed brand strategy' - read, listen and learn from Mark Ritson and Les Binet

If you need a partner for conducting the two-speed brand-strategic qualitative research, as well as forming or calibrating the brand fundamentals - write to me. This is not a topic for hype in social networks, but for deep professional conversations and one-on-one cooperation

If your brand is actively growing, but still does not have clearly defined fundamentals (DNA, architecture, codes); or your marketing initiatives do not give the expected results, sales grow only on discounts, and the brand instead of growing from year to year shows creeping negative trends - write, come for a visit, and let's think together