As we reach the end of the year and start pulling together to-do lists for 2024, it can sometimes be overwhelming to decide where to start first. We are often asked to support clients who are looking to put the consumer at the heart of their priorities, and we have evolved a simple 3-step process to help them focus on the things which will help optimise growth:
Step 1: reflect on where you are, and where you want to be
It sounds like an obvious step but is often one that is worth taking some time to reflect on. If brands are clear on what they are trying to achieve, we can support by identifying the right measure to drive success.
In almost all cases, we end up choosing one of the following:
- Consideration: this is often the key measure for ‘challenger’ brands; often smaller brands within a category, who may have a relatively loyal customer base, but who are looking to expand their footprint and bring in new users.
- Brand Love: this is often a critical driver of success for well-established brands within a category; often part of a repertoire of potential brands for consumers, but who are looking to gain a competitive edge through increased loyalty and advocacy.
We’ve also run studies with clients where we have been able to correlate Consideration and Brand Love with their internal data. We have consistently seen that improvements on both measures leads to increased sales.
Step 2: find out what matters most to consumers in your category
Once you have selected the route to growth for your brand, it’s critical to then define what levers can be pulled to increase performance on these key metrics. Our BrandVue tool gives clients access to over 1m consumers, covering over 3,000 brands and over 60 brand and category measures.
By conducting key drivers analysis for our client’s individual sector, we are able to identify the key elements which are most closely associated with Consideration or Brand Love amongst category users and use these as our key priorities.
Step 3: evaluate your current performance against the key category measures
With a clear understanding of the key metric to drive success, and the critical levers to pull to optimise performance, the final step is to understand your current performance in further detail. Typically, we will begin with a simple performance matrix like the one below, which allows you to see where you’re currently performing well and where priorities need to be set for improvement.
We can then help you to identify the key 6-8 brands in your competitor set, so you can review their performance on key measures through a competitive lens and refine and develop their action plans accordingly.
Based on the 3-step process outlined above, we have developed an off-the-shelf solution, which allows our clients to work through the steps rapidly and at a limited cost. The resulting reporting pack will allow you understand what will drive growth for your brand in 2024.
Find out more at the link below and make your New Year’s resolution about focusing on what matters most to your brand in 2024!
Click here to download our one-pager and find out more
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