6 July 2020
Marketing, taken care of
By Gwyn Davis
23% of CEOs do not believe their marketing is delivering on their growth agenda.
A sobering thought, particularly as that isn’t a fact formulated during or due to COVID. It’s from research done by McKinsey in 2019. Now compound that with the pandemic-driven challenges we have faced and continue to face. Concerned yet?
According to the BRC, the UK lockdown has cost non-essential retailers £1.8bn per week and, with our economy forecasted to contract by 8% in 2020, it’s clear that retail is facing a difficult time. The next six months are critical for our industry.
The way consumers shop and interact with brands has changed. So, it’s never been more important to ensure that your brand is fit for purpose, both in terms of the story you tell and the way you tell it. Taking the time to invest now will help secure your business for the future.
With 25 years of retail marketing experience, we’re here to help, by giving our clients the tools they need to strengthen their brands and their businesses both now and in the future.
Performance Review
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe,” and this is an approach we subscribe to with all our clients. Before jumping to solutions, take the time to review and evaluate your investment in terms of time, money and people. What is and isn’t working? Think about why, what’s changed, and anticipate what will change to stay relevant and competitive.
To get under the skin of companies we work with, our performance review looks at three main areas –
- Brand strategy review
- Marketing plan review
- Marketing structure review
This is an incredibly in-depth process looking at everything from brand proposition, messaging and competitors to customer journey, media strategy and budgets. We also review team structure evaluating roles, responsibilities and skillsets in line with the needs of the business. Everything we do always links back to the business plan.
This kind of review gives our clients a clear understanding of the opportunities for more effective marketing investment to drive the business forward and increase its viability. Surely a must in the current climate.
Optimisation
Building on the learnings from the performance review, our optimisation service sees BWP's team of independent experts work together with you to revise and strengthen your brand proposition and to develop a three-year marketing plan designed to help secure the business during the difficult times ahead.
We’ll work with you to strengthen your brand’s perception and your go-to-marketing strategy to help drive customer acquisition and retention. This service will provide you with:
- Clarity and alignment on the fundamentals of the brand.
- Confidence that your brand is fit for purpose and built to survive and thrive in the challenging times ahead.
- Confidence that your marketing investment plan has been rigorously thought through and allocated effectively to have the desired impact in support of the longer-term business objectives.
This service significantly de-risks and increases return from a brand’s marketing investment.
But the customer journey doesn’t stop there. You have a great brand. Check. A great strategy. Check. Great creative and messaging. Check. A fantastic team around you. Check. What about your brand experience? We have been talking about this for some time – your instore experience is the key tangible aspect of your brand.
A great experience means increased conversion and loyalty, making for a long-lived and valuable brand. A poor experience means all that hard work to get that customer to visit has fallen at the final hurdle. Our store optimisation approach, used by retailers across the globe, will help you look at what assets are doing well, what improvements can be made and where rationalisation is needed.
Now is the time
We understand that now is a difficult time for retail brands, and this blog is a call to arms. We love retail. We live and breathe it, and nothing makes us feel better than seeing it thrive. That’s why we’ll act fast, make a positive commercial impact and help to secure your business as quickly as possible.
If you think there is something in this for you, get it contact. We are here to help.