Sunday, October 29, 2006

STAKING CLAIMS

Many brands make the same claims in their marketing communications (i.e., offer the same promise) to their customers year after year. This can be a good thing if the claims are driving customer preference or achieving some other desired behavior (e.g., purchase more frequently). It certainly isn't good if the claims are the same as competitive brands and/or they are not achieving the desired behavior with target customers. If your brand is not sufficiently responding to current claims to provide a meaningful ROI on marketing communications support then it may be a good idea to undergo claims investigation.


StakingClaimsRev.pdf (PDF File)

Sunday, October 22, 2006

PAPER TIGER POSITIONING

We've all heard the expression, "It's not worth the paper it's printed on." Usually, when we hear this, it means that the paper in question has little or no value. But have you heard the expression, "It's nothing more than a paper tiger"? This one implies a similar notion of little value, but with a considerably different spin. The paper tiger wants to look like it has value, or more to the point, that it has strength. But, in reality, is has no teeth. This week we take a look at ways in which brand positioning statements end up as paper tigers.

Please click on the pdf link below to view the newsletter in its entirely. You may also opt to click on our Blog to view not only this newsletter, but an archived list of recent offerings. As always, your comments are welcomed. Please contact Lori Vandervoort at loriv@bdn-intl.com. Thank you.

PaperTigerPositionings.pdf (PDF File)




Sunday, October 15, 2006

WINNING AT THE AD COMMUNICATIONS GAME

The development of advertising is a lot like a game. Like every game there are winners and losers. The winners produce ad campaigns that ring the cash register in the immediate term while building brand equity over time. The losers squander their companies' media dollars and cause opportunity losses from poor resource allocation.

However, the ad game is a probability game in which we can improve the likelihood of success by adopting the best practices and proven principles. This week's newsletter speaks in some depth of the probabilities that can improve your understanding of the game. We hope you enjoy!


WinningAtTheAdCommunicationsGame.pdf (PDF File)

Monday, October 09, 2006

PRE-REQUISITES FOR SUCCESSFUL COPY TESTING

This article is the third in a series on copy testing. The first article, titled "Weighing the Merits of Copy Testing," both weighed the merits and suggested ways copy (i.e., advertising communications) testing could be utilized to manage the development of more effective advertising. The second article, "Requisites for Successful Copy Testing," addressed the three key measures of successful copy testing, and marketplace performance. This article, "Pre-Requisites of Successful Copy Testing," deals with those pre-requisites of organizational beliefs, practices and processes that must first be satisfied before the requisites can be fulfilled and Leadership Communications can be achieved.

We hope you will find this article, and the series, helpful in your quest to achieve Leadership Communications. If you want to learn more, and build your skills, then consider participating in the Leadership Communications Conference we will be conducting in Evanston, Illinois, on 31 October through 3 November. For more information and to register go to bdn-intl.com or call Lori Vandervoort at 800 255-9831.

Pre-RequisitesForSuccessfulCopyTesting.pdf (PDF File)