The BIC Picture
Branding, Information and Communication
As specialists in branding and segmentation with tons of experience we have realized that the only way that anyone really understands any concept is when we give examples. The BIC Picture is replete with examples. Examples of what one should do and more importantly what one should not be doing. The BIC Picture talks of issues that obsess CEO’s – more! About multi step branding. About what dominating a category of business is all about. The threats and pitfalls that, most often that not, befall behemoths in business. About how conglomerates have billions of dollars in revenue but still manage to post a loss!! Amazing but true. The BIC Picture TM tells us why branding, information and communication are so very important. Why they need to be focused? Why it is imperative for a brand to be what it is – a brand!! The Indian economy today is on the verge of a international presence. The big boys of Indian industry, so far shielded from competition, must tread carefully. The list of victims reads like a daily who’s who!
All businesses divide further into categories. That’s the universal truth. But big companies and conglomerates keep trying to get into businesses where they have no reason to be. Isn’t it better to dominate a category than to be a fringe player in some other product line. History is replete with examples of this. The big blue, IBM was at one time the market leader in personal computers. Heard of Compaq? Guess who the market leader is today? Did you know that IBM also spent billions of dollars in developing operating systems and chips? Guess what happened to them? What does the brand Kodak remind you of? Did you know that Kodak spent billions of dollars and years of agony in making computers? Brand extensions are a misnomer. They can’t be extended. Businesses divide and so do categories. Many conglomerates think that their brand can sell anything. So most of the time CEO’s are looking to get into other businesses when they should be spending time trying to dominate their industry. We’ll give you a classic example. In 1996, Pepsico had bought more than 24,000 restaurants in which to sell Pepsi. As opposed to which, Coke wasn’t even in that vertical at all. Pepsico had sales of $28.5 billion. Coke had sales of $16.2 billion. But guess what the stock market valuations for the two companies were – Pepsico, the bigger company, was valued at $44billion and Coke, the smaller company, was valued at $93 billion. More than twice the valuation! That’s the power of brand focus!!
We see it today too. One of our favourite examples of today is the Kingfisher brand. You tell us where the brand is headed? Is the brand focused? What next? Kingfisher detergents and washing machines? Maybe even Kingfisher noodles? Do you think Mr. Mallya is going to listen to us as we tell him to focus his brand? You got to be kidding!!
The BIC Picture is a flying run through your strategic marketing plan which encompasses today’s big three in any marketing process – Branding, Information and Communication.
Part One:
· Situation Analysis
· Industry Overview
· Competitive Analysis and Profile
· Customer Analysis and Profile
· S.W.O.T.
· Target Markets
Part Two
· Objectives – Long and Short Term
· Brand Positioning
Phase Three
· Strategies – Marketing, Advertising and Communication
· The Tactical Overview – Marketing initiatives
Branding, Information and Communication
As specialists in branding and segmentation with tons of experience we have realized that the only way that anyone really understands any concept is when we give examples. The BIC Picture is replete with examples. Examples of what one should do and more importantly what one should not be doing. The BIC Picture talks of issues that obsess CEO’s – more! About multi step branding. About what dominating a category of business is all about. The threats and pitfalls that, most often that not, befall behemoths in business. About how conglomerates have billions of dollars in revenue but still manage to post a loss!! Amazing but true. The BIC Picture TM tells us why branding, information and communication are so very important. Why they need to be focused? Why it is imperative for a brand to be what it is – a brand!! The Indian economy today is on the verge of a international presence. The big boys of Indian industry, so far shielded from competition, must tread carefully. The list of victims reads like a daily who’s who!
All businesses divide further into categories. That’s the universal truth. But big companies and conglomerates keep trying to get into businesses where they have no reason to be. Isn’t it better to dominate a category than to be a fringe player in some other product line. History is replete with examples of this. The big blue, IBM was at one time the market leader in personal computers. Heard of Compaq? Guess who the market leader is today? Did you know that IBM also spent billions of dollars in developing operating systems and chips? Guess what happened to them? What does the brand Kodak remind you of? Did you know that Kodak spent billions of dollars and years of agony in making computers? Brand extensions are a misnomer. They can’t be extended. Businesses divide and so do categories. Many conglomerates think that their brand can sell anything. So most of the time CEO’s are looking to get into other businesses when they should be spending time trying to dominate their industry. We’ll give you a classic example. In 1996, Pepsico had bought more than 24,000 restaurants in which to sell Pepsi. As opposed to which, Coke wasn’t even in that vertical at all. Pepsico had sales of $28.5 billion. Coke had sales of $16.2 billion. But guess what the stock market valuations for the two companies were – Pepsico, the bigger company, was valued at $44billion and Coke, the smaller company, was valued at $93 billion. More than twice the valuation! That’s the power of brand focus!!
We see it today too. One of our favourite examples of today is the Kingfisher brand. You tell us where the brand is headed? Is the brand focused? What next? Kingfisher detergents and washing machines? Maybe even Kingfisher noodles? Do you think Mr. Mallya is going to listen to us as we tell him to focus his brand? You got to be kidding!!
The BIC Picture is a flying run through your strategic marketing plan which encompasses today’s big three in any marketing process – Branding, Information and Communication.
Part One:
· Situation Analysis
· Industry Overview
· Competitive Analysis and Profile
· Customer Analysis and Profile
· S.W.O.T.
· Target Markets
Part Two
· Objectives – Long and Short Term
· Brand Positioning
Phase Three
· Strategies – Marketing, Advertising and Communication
· The Tactical Overview – Marketing initiatives
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