How GDJ Can Help
GDJ works with you and your team to strategically build your brand starting with its fundamentals. Through my processes, you will uncover your brand’s differentiating value proposition and its true potential, setting the stage for longer term profitable growth.
Hierarchy of Brand Needs
Every step in the ladder is critical to Brand Actualization, the process of bringing something into existence or making it real, or giving it the appearance of reality. In psychology, actualization is the process of realizing and fulfilling one's potential to become the best version of oneself. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, self-actualization is the highest level of psychological development, where people fully realize their potential after meeting their basic needs.
Similarly, I believe that every brand has the opportunity to fully realize its potential after meeting its needs. The Hierarchy of Brand Needs is designed to take a brand up the ladder to actualization in a structured process. The ladder must be climbed one step at a time in successive order. Each step feeds off the step below and hence feeds the step above.
Target Audience Clarification and Sufficiency: Is your target audience clearly defined? Is your strategic target audience large enough support your business objectives and goals.
Strategic Competitive Review: Understanding the competitive landscape enables a brand to better position itself to win within marketplace. A competitive overview helps create a strategic (beyond tactical) response to competition to strengthen the brand’s positioning short and long term.
Brand Fundamentals Development: A strong Brand DNA structure leads to a strong Brand that can grow and scale consistently and sustainably over time and across geographies. There are Eight steps to developing a strong Brand DNA.
Brand Identity and Guidelines Creation: Your Brand DNA drives your Brand Identity. Sometimes this is a brand refresh and sometimes it is a rebrand. I can develop refresh plans that make sense with your business needs.
Brand Value Proposition: Creating not just a brand’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition) but also identifying the desired customer experience, pricing, as well existing offerings.
Product / Service Innovation: Work with your team to develop new product or service offerings that are differentiating in the marketplace led by Brand Fundamentals.
Social Responsibility: GDJ helps you develop “prosperity models” rather than “charity models” to drive public perception and profitable revenue.
Brand Go-to-Market Strategies and Planning: These are your brand’s strategic road maps. gdj works with the leadership team to develop the Brand’s (OGSM) Objectives, Goals, Strategies (Where to Play and How to Win) and Measurement systems. Also Brand Workbooks for Franchisees and Franchisee Unit Economics planning and worksheets.
Marketing Strategies and Plans: GDJ works with your marketing team to develop and execute ROI generating marketing plans (including 12 month media selection and budgeting), 12 month Communications Calendars, and Customer Acquisition Sufficiency Modeling all based on your brand fundamentals.
Branding: Develop Creative Strategy essential to advertising campaign development. Develop Social and Digital Media Development Strategy as well as Website UI/UX strategy.
Creative Strategy and Campaign Development: Creative design needs to be strategically aligned to your Brand’s DNA. gdj can develop internal creative teams as well as procure and manage third-party teams to deliver brilliant design and copy that generates measurable results.
Ongoing Consulting: Serve as a part-time (Fractional) Chief Brand Officer providing continuous strategic guidance or management of creative direction and campaign development, key brand initiatives, innovation sprints, investor pitches, employee training, plus more.
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Listen
It all starts with a conversation. I want to here your brand story. What are you hoping to accomplish? What are your financial goals?
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Learn
I need to understand every aspect of your brand including all marketing campaigns, operations manual, financial performance. brand guidelines, and more. The more I learn, the better the results.
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Create
Based on your brand desired outcomes, I build strategic brand frameworks and plans. It’s important to note that these are brand plans that are more than promotional marketing tactics.
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Lead
Plans need to be properly executed. I work directly with your team to lead Excellent Execution. This is what turns average or even good brands into great brands.