Clients come to HMT looking for clear strategic direction in one of three areas:
Brand New: Innovation:
Sometimes there’s already a product but no brand – in such cases “innovation” follows a similar course to “Brand Direction” (see below), but starting with a cleaner sheet and a broader definition of “the category”.
Example: DSM iFlex from brown-powder to consumer brand.
But most often, innovation projects are the “what next” long-horizon projects from companies who see shifts and trends in their core categories and need a logical coherent process to asses how to respond.
HMT often take ideas all the way into concept-stimuli for consumer testing, and we run or commission consumer qualitative or co-creation groups to learn which ideas work and how the consumer perceives the benefits.
Example: Open Innovation for GSK – from ‘focus area’ to corporate acquisition.
Brand Direction:
There often comes a time in a brand’s life when it gets confused about what it stands for:
Am I a healthy or indulgent? Am I refreshing or filling? Or am I all of these things?
What should I stand for? Who should I appeal to? …and how should I stand out?
All too often the brand seeks new ways to COMMUNICATE first… but we our specialism is to first aligning your team and your agencies around the core of the brand - this makes it easier to identify your perfect target, your correct message and then gives creatives free-reign to inspire with new communcations that build a brand, not just sales.
We have many tools and tricks up our sleeve but fundamentally use an approach of Where to play? then How to play?:
Where to play:- first looking closely at the key trends and drivers in the category then mapping the brand against it’s competitors, then choosing a Strategic Direction and Core Target.
How to play: Ok – if that’s where we are, and where we want to be – what route will we take? What are the messages we need to land and how will our target best receive this kind of message?
Using models, tools and success & failure examples we’ll guide your extended team to build a crystal clear brand-position for success. Always avoiding the known pitfalls. Usually in less than two days.
Two examples: one was a local producer with modest budget and tight timescales, one was a global health-brand needing an entire brand-management suite to go with it’s new position:
Example: Kinetica from ‘milk protein’ to ‘inspiring sports nutrition’ brand
Example: From scattered international brand to winning global force
Brand Rescue: Renovation:
Every brand feels insecure sometimes… maybe it hasn’t felt the same love from it’s consumers lately, could be feeling a little over-the-hill or just dull compared to all the bright-new-things!
Feel familiar?
A brand renovation is actually a special case of a Brand Direction – in some ways easier as usually we can identify which of the FourFactors is out of balance to make the brand need rescue, then use recent trends from our experience to give the brand a lift through innnovations in brand-position, format and/or communications.
This example is from a smaller brand, accomplished in under four weeks… we’ve also worked on some HUGE ones, but are sworn to secrecy. We take client confidentiality very seriously.
Example: From confusing dusty yoghurt drink to empowering indulgence for women
We love solving problems…
…so if there’s something on your mind, please get in touch and we’ll show you more.