Catalyst:SF Reports: Developing a Digital Roadmap For Your Brand Your Brand

Jim Nichols Partner, Strategist Catalyst:SF LLC

Catalyst:SF Reports: Developing a Digital Roadmap For Your Brand

INTRODUCTION

Catalyst:SF

This white paper is designed to outline a process for developing a digital strategy or roadmap for a brand. It is centered around five key questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Why is digital worth your time? Why should you have a special strategic planning process for digital? What are the key components of a digital strategy? By what process should you define objectives and strategies for your digital strategy? What are the key deliverables and process steps for a digital strategy?

Our goal with this document is to combat the tendency for some marketers to approach digital from an executionally centric perspective. Far too many brands approach digital by reacting to whats new or hot in the space, rather than taking a more comprehensive, objectives-based approach. Unfortunately, the result of this practice is that hundreds of millions of dollars perhaps even billions of dollars are wasted on tactics that dont properly align with the overall needs of brands. With that in mind, we offer the following as a starting point towards a more strategically-driven digital planning process.

PART ONE: WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER DIGITAL

Unless youve been living under a rock for ten or so years, the meteoric growth of digital media will come as no surprise. In addition, a variety of factors make digital a different sort of media challenge for brands: 1. Media fragmentation has splintered audiences and dramatically increased the complexity of effectively reaching most audiences. Where consumers used to have four of five major media choices (TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers, and Outdoor), they now have dozens of platforms and literally millions of professional and amateur publishers from which to gather information. The two-way nature of IP-based media (Internet, Mobile, etc.) necessitate that brands stop think as broadcasters and adopt a more collaborative and consultative approach to brand development. This warrants special thought and consideration because the rules of collaborative marketing are far different from the rules of broadcast-oriented branding. Practically everyone is using digital media. 194 million US consumers are using the Internet. Most of these consumers are spending large amounts of their time with digital media. According to IDC, of the 70.6 hours per week the average consumer (15+) spends with media, 32.7, or 46% of the total hours are 1 spent using the Internet. Further, 52.5% of the total population is using online video. Digital media are playing an increasingly large role in all purchase decisions. Information on the web influenced almost $500 Billion in offline retail sales in 2007, up 19% versus the year before. Certain target audiences are becoming increasingly difficult to reach WITHOUT digital. For example, Men 18-24 now spend so much time gaming, online, and with their mobile phones that it is increasingly difficult to effectively deliver against this target without digital vehicles.

2.

3.

4.

5.

From an IDC press release toplining results of its consumer survey: Consumer Online Behavior Survey Results 2007 Part One: Wireline Usage

Catalyst:SF Reports: Developing a Digital Roadmap For Your Brand

6.

Catalyst:SF

User generated content and citizen journalism have driven a massive shift in how we receive information about products and services, and what sorts of info we trust. Increasingly, people prefer grass roots sources of information and recommendationsto the so-called professional sources of mainstream media outlets. Even venerable professional journalism organizations like CNN and MSNBC are now routinely airing citizen journalism originated news, video, and other types of information as part of their professional offerings. From a practical standpoint, many brands are seeing diminishing effectiveness from traditional analog media. Brands need to identify new on buttons for their businesses. Again, from a practical standpoint, youre brand is already being represented to consumers in the digital space, even if you do not have proactive marketing efforts in the space. That is because people defenders as well as hecklers are already talking about your brand and product and reaching audiences that are potentially in the millions. By monitoring and creating brand expressions in the space, you can influence the discussion in a very positive way.

7.

8.

When even TVs biggest historical believers report shifting massive resources away from broadcast and into digital media, it becomes even more apparent that digital media are must considers. Most major firms that used to rely heavily on TV are redistributing spend toward digital. Examples include CPG, automakers, and even political campaigns. In your own category(ies), you are probably witnessing major competitors pursuing digital initiatives in earnest. But you are probably also finding that many of their initiatives dont appear to be part of a cohesive strategic platform. Again, this is because many companies do not have an objectives based underpinning to their total digital strategy.

PART TWO: WHY YOU NEED A SPECIAL STRATEGIC PROCESS FOR DIGITAL MEDIA
Digital strategy should not be created in a vacuum. You want to dovetail your digital marketing closely with your overall objectives and strategies. But digital is such a different beast that it truly necessitates its own specific strategic efforts. Those should be a subset of your overall planning processes, but digital should also be managed as a separate project within that planning process. We have seen companies try to develop a digital roadmap without this sort of comprehensive approach, and the consequence has ALWAYS been a need to stop midway through the abbreviated process and go back to perform the omitted steps. A special process is necessary because: 1. Most marketers have some knowledge of the digital behaviors of their consumers, but do not know their consumers at a mastery level. Ensuring a complete planning process including a consumer insights phase places the focus of digital marketing on the consumer rather than on whats hot. Consumer digital behaviors change very rapidly. The adoption rates for specific vehicles and platforms are ever shorter. Many platforms are reaching 50% penetration in just 2 years. Some even faster. This rapid pace of change requires that we develop a comprehensive picture of digital consumer behavior AT LEAST annually, preferably QUARTERLY.

2.

Catalyst:SF Reports: Developing a Digital Roadmap For Your Brand

3.

Catalyst:SF

The best practices of broadcast media do NOT work in digital. Effective digital planning requires an entirely different kind of thinking, and building that foundation of thought requires the focus of a dedicated planning process. There are over 40 digital platforms with household penetration of >1%, whether device- or contentbased, with solid consumer acceptance. Its essential to consider ALL of the vehicles when evaluating alternatives and developing an optimized plan. We cannot merely consider those that are top of mind.

4.

Further, a special process helps address the very real problem in most organizations of educating ALL decision makers on the digital environment and how it relates to their targets. Often, while the people in charge of digital are experts, those higher up in the food chain are novices, and a comprehensive planning process provides the insights and rigor necessary for selling in a comprehensive investment in the space.

PART THREE: KEY COMPONENTS OF A DIGITAL PROCESS AND ROADMAP

The ideal process for developing a thorough and comprehensive digital strategic plan must be thorough, familiar, and proven. For this reason we generally recommend using the classic brand management key learnings/objectives / strategies / tactics approach:

Catalyst:SF Reports: Developing a Digital Roadmap For Your Brand

Catalyst:SF

At minimum, the insights and tactics phases should consider the following digital platforms. This list is constantly growing, but this assortment is a minimum for consideration:

The process is not unusual. But it is very thorough and comprehensive and will provide the insights and direction you need to maximize effectiveness in digital.

CONCLUSIONS
The idea that having a strategic approach to an area of marketing as critical as digital should not be at all surprising. Yet a shocking number of companies dive into the space with little more than a pile of competitor digital activity press releases as a guide. Given the limited resources available for most brands in terms of time and money, it should be clear how taking a strategic approach will pay off in both the short and long terms.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jim Nichols is a Partner, Strategist at Catalyst:SF. Catalyst:SF is the Worlds first Marketing Capital Firm, providing extraordinary value to clients principally through developing strategies and programs in emerging digital media. Catalyst:SF specializes in Mobile, Social Media, Video, Gaming, and Modular Content like Widgets. Jims experience spans over 20 years in advertising, market research, and brand management. Some of the brands he has helped propel include ABC, 800 Flowers, Betty Crocker, Brachs, Capn Crunch, CBS, Chandon, Chase, Clorox, FreeWheel, Go Fish, Hidden Valley, Hyundai, Jumpstart Automotive, KC Masterpiece, Kodak, Lagardare, Liquid PlumR, Macys, Oracle, Perfect Match, Pfizer, Register, Showtime, SKYY, Soapnet, Sportgenic, Virtual Makeover, Wachovia, and ZVUE. Jim holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. Jim publishes a daily blog called Oldest Living Digital Marketer Tells All ( http://oldestliving.blogspot.com ) He also contributes to Catalyst:SFs collective blog on pop culture ( http://culturecatalyst.blogspot.com .) You can reach him at Jim@catalystsf.com.