THE ADVERTISING BRIEF: PREPARATION

PREPARATION:

Product Characteristics: The most important part of formulating a Communication Strategy is analysing product characteristics. Take help of ORG Stock&Sales Analysis, Rx Audit to understand the curent and past prescription behaviour.

Brand Characteristics: This analysis will clearly provide an insight about how the brand is shaping up the product / market life cycle. Brand characteristics would include describing its personality, the need catered by this brand (the disease it treats, the therapy it augments / replaces and the economy of therapy).

Brand vis-a-vis Market Performance: Includes the sales analysis of the brand (internally, market reflection and the Rx audit). Studying the trend would help you gain greater insights.

Competitive Analysis: Product vs Competitors - includes analysing the sales trend of directly competing product and even complementing products. Brand vs Competitors - includes analysing the sales and Rx trend of directly competing brand from the same product category and even indirect competing brands from directly competing products.

The Brand History: A brand is a personality which is build through a series of communication assaults done by the brand manager. Understanding brand includes the running through the series of its earlier communication. This would include all previous advertising campaigns, colour associated, tag lines, fonts used, mnemonic, communication at relevant life cycle stage of the brand and the impact on the sales trend. All Ads used for print, video, hoardings, visual aids and even the copy matter of the Ads. The inclinic activities done throughout the brand life cycle.

Perceptual Mapping: Carry out a primary brand recall and perceptual study of different competitor brands from the target segments and construct a perceptual map for the therapy for various brands based on various factors. Perceptual Mapping is a very important tool which precisely provides information of positioning of different brands and various viable options for probable positioning. The true place of your brand in the mind of your customers can be known through these maps.

Budget: Includes analysing the % spend vs the sales budget. Current budget available for the campaign. This also should be studied with the total investment to be done on the customer directly. Even Seasonality and Regionality of the campaign need to be studied.

SINGLE MINDED PROPOSITION

The two day symposia on brand management is just over and what I really carry home is the concept of Single Minded Proposition. A lot of emphasis has been put on it keeping in view how USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the brand does not remain Unique due to overcrowding of me too brands in the same product category.

Even a lot of repeated emphasis on product's feature - benefit aspect in our communication is not helping the brand to connect to the customer's needs discretely and not creating everlasting impressions on their minds. And hence the need for injecting emotions and hence a strong and single hook to the customer's mindset.

The single product that is the best example of the concept of single minded proposition is the "Postage Stamp" which does only one job - of making the parcel reach its destination. knowingly-unknowingly we would have many examples of our own creations (communications) which would be good examples of SMP. It would be of great help if YOU can SHARE some of these masterpieces on this blog.

THE INITIATIVE

I have got an interesting point.

When I created this blog, I was experimenting "blogging" for the first time. But now I think it can really be an unique platform through which the entire pharma professionals of India be connected. I don't know what would interest YOU to remain connected, but I surely know that its going to open up huge avenues for all of us.

Remain Connected.

THE BRAND PLAN

The Blueprint of every brand.

Friends, have you noticed over this years that a few companies rise like the Indian Rope and then they are lost as if they were never in the race. For example, Cadila Pharma: Once a 7th ranked company (1998-99) and within a decade, its nowhere to be seen.

I have been a part of the PMT there during the sinking times. I am convinced that weak and directionless leadership has been the reason behind its fall. The fall of the companies is synonym to the falling and failing brands.

And hence, I also believe that PMT across companies have been the ones who lead therapy baskets, then divisions, SBUs and ultimately the big corporates. Don't you think that the Indian Pharma PMT should have a larger say when its comes to brand strategies rather than being mere followers of the whims and fancies of the so called "Strategists"?

I would like to have your views on the diminishing significance of "The Brand Plan". How can it be effectively used as a tool to bring out the real brand manager and thus the leader, in us?

I think its the only tool left to streamline all promotions leading to better branding and overall growth and development of us. I NEED YOUR COMMENTS!