Page 262 - GLOBAL STRATEGIC MARKETING

the coolest proposal or the department that shouts the loudest, rather than the area
that most needs to grow or defend its current position.

A more useful approach measures proposals based on their strategic return,
economic value, and payback window. Evaluating options using such scores
provides a consistent lens for comparison, and they can be combined with
preconditions such as baseline spending, thresholds for certain media, and prior
commitments.

Branding

Bringing together objective analysis and broad experience to help
clients create and manage great brands.

Contact this practice
Digital technology has loosened control over brand messages by creating new media

channels and social networks. Mergers and acquisitions create overlapping brands
within brand portfolios. And the relationships between brands and their customers
have now become more open-ended as online discussions extend the brand

experience after purchase.

To help manage this complexity and power growth through digital advantage, we
bring together deep data analysis and broad experience to take the uncertainty out of

the branding process and help clients create great brands.

What we do

McKinsey’s branding group combines proven techniques (qualitative as well as

quantitative methods) with deep experience (case studies, reference cases) to help
clients create distinctive brands and lucid brand architectures. We serve the world’s
leading brands in five primary areas:

• Making brands matter
We help companies define the benefits and experiences that make brands relevant, distinctive, and
credible to customers, and develop strategies to differentiate brands through superior positioning
relative to competitors. This frequently means repositioning established brands to better meet
customer needs.
• Optimizing brand portfolios and architectures
As marketers launch many new brands and sub-brands to address their customers’ fragmented