Nike's "Just Do It" didn't just happen.

The tagline and the brand that's been built around it was developed through a process–and a fairly long one, at that. It most likely entailed numerous interviews in focus groups with athletes and aspiring athletes to understand not only their wants, needs and thoughts about Nike, but what drives and inspires them to compete and/or workout. The process included market, competitor and SWOT analyses, demographics, consumer psychology studies and a host of other data and research.

Agency: Thank you for thinking of us for your project. Is there an RFP that we can work from to provide you with the best possible answer to your needs?

Client: I am sorry, no, we do not have an RFP.

Agency: Ok, no problem, We have a few questions for you about the project that will help us answer your needs. Do you have some time to chat further?

Client: Yes, of course.

Cook your way to the top with wireframes

We hear it all the time in blogs, white papers, newspaper articles and from industry experts. “….marketing budgets continue to be slashed, programs are being dropped and marketing staff are being laid-off.” This creates the challenge of strategically choosing the marketing tactics that make the most sense for your firm and your brand.

I was playing Scrabble the other day and it dawned on me that the same strategies I used while playing are applicable to the development of a marketing strategy for a client. In Scrabble, you have to create words with letters selected at random. You have to manage them carefully and decide which placement gives you the best competitive advantage. You might not always start out with the letters you want, and sometimes realize you are short one letter needed for the perfect word, but, in the end, your goal is to earn the most points with the tiles you have.

Would you build a white picket fence around your beautiful new home without knowing the dimensions? Let me answer the question for you –  “most likely, no”. You would never cut corners building a home. Having a sound structure that is functional and keeps your family safe is essential, right?

If I google the definition of “brand”, will my URL eventually take me to an actual company or to the website of a child still in utero?  Recently, I came across some articles that report on a growing concern among parents about how to raise their children in an age of rapid technological advances and the lengths they must go to in order for their child to “succeed in a world where he/she will be judged by their digital footprint.” (Wired, James Seddon)

Sitting at my local watering hole the other night, I struck up a conversation with a person in town on business. Our conversation took a turn when they asked me what I do. When I told them I work remote with a DC-based strategic branding and marketing agency, they went off on a tangent about how successful their employees are that work remote and the benefits of such an arrangement.

As marketing professionals, we are continually searching for ways to extend our brand and touch our clients and prospects in a cost effective way, but how do you know your tactics are effective? Now more than ever, we should be building tools into our marketing strategy to track and analyze the results.