As 2024 draws to a close, it’s time to look back at some highlights from the 50 blog posts we’ve published so far this year. We’ve picked the most popular post from each month, based on the number of views on Linked In. In this first of two posts we look at the top posts from January to June.
JANUARY: BUILD BRAND ACTIVATION PROPERTIES LIKE WD-40 COMPANY
We started the new year with a post looking at how brilliant ‘brand activation’ can build your business AND your brand. Best of all are replicable, scaleable campaigns like the Repair Challenge from WD-40 Company. This is in contrast to the $billions a year spent on price promotions that build short term sales but erode brand equity.
The Repair Challenge campaign encourages people to repair items instead of replacing them. It has grown into a global initiative with 400mill impressions and 3mill website visits.
FEBRUARY: USE A PRACTICAL APPROACH to BRAND POSITIONING
In this post, we shared some tips on how to make your approach to brand positioning as effective as possible. The world of marketing has changed dramatically in recent years. But brand positioning is still key for effective marketing according to 91% of marketing directors in our brandgym research. However, brand positioning can fall into the trap of being an overly complex process that gets bogged down in box filling.
MARCH: BOOST YOUR BRAND STRATEGY CAPABILITY
In March we shared results on a Gartner CMO survey on the most important marketing capabilities. Brand strategy came out on top, beating more fashionable topics such as digital marketing and analytics. Why? Because, a strong brand strategy increases the effectiveness of the whole marketing mix. It drives effectiveness by improving clarity, cut-through and consistency. If 2025 is the year you plan to boost the brand strategy capability of your team, check out the upcoming 2025 edition of the brandgym Mastering Brand Growth Program here.
APRIL: REMEMBER & REFRESH WHAT MADE YOU FAMOUS LIKE GILLETTE
April’s post looked at how Gillette dropped their polarising campaign against the negative, “toxic” side of masculinity to re-focus on refreshing their The Best a Man Can Get campaign. We suggested this was a better balance of freshness and consistency, versus the previous approach that literally ripped a hole in 30 years of brand consistency.
MAY: ENSURE YOUR BRAND STRETCH ADDS VALUE
In May we looked at the risky business of brand stretching, using the example of Gatorade’s new Unflavoured Water. We put Gatorade Water through our strategic stretching assessment. Based on this assessment, Gatorade Unflavoured Water looked unlikely to achieve long term success. It lacks significant brand added value and fails to leverage the Gatorade’s distinctive brand assets. On the plus side, it did have the distribution muscle of Pepsico. Check back next year for an update!
JUNE: DRIVE LONG-TERM CONSISTENCY
In June we posted on Coors Light’s “blue mountain” colour changing cans as an example of how to create consistency over the long term. Mountains on the can turn blue when the beer reaches an optimal cold temperature, thanks to the use of thermochromic ink. The cans were launched in the US in 2009, helping the brand overtake Budweiser to become the number 2 beer brand in the market. And after 15 years the distinctive brand asset is still going strong.
That’s a wrap for the first half of 2024. Pop back next week for the final post of the year with a look at the second half of 2024!
