Planning and Strategic Services

Comprehensive Marketing Communications Plan

For organizations that haven’t prepared a communications plan in several years, or who are facing significant changes and challenges, a comprehensive plan will provide the needed direction to drive growth. Using a proven process, we provide every step needed from a comprehensive brand asset audit to a detailed plan, schedule and budget – involving you at every point along the way. See details.

Service Line Plan

Similar in approach to the comprehensive plan, when your strategic plans call for “service line specific” growth, a dedicated effort will support narrower initiatives – while always remaining faithful to your broader brand.

The Brand Audit

This three-part analysis of your organization’s brand landscape is Phase I of a comprehensive plan – but may be performed as a stand-alone project. It consists of a thorough evaluation of:

1. the internal situation
2. the external environment and
3. your customers and prospects

See details.

Competitive Positioning and Brand Hierarchy

A Brand Asset Audit often reveals an opportunity or a need to reposition your organization. Using a collaborative process, the first phase arrives at a clearly articulated competitive position and brand promise – presented as a Brand Hierarchy. The second phase validates that promise with your customers and prospects.

Service Line Prioritization

Complex organizations need to prioritize service line support to avoid inefficient budget allocation. We employ a highly collaborative process that engages organizational and service line leadership. We begin by prioritizing evaluation factors and then score each service line. The result is a clear priority for efficient budget allocation. Moreover, due to the hands-on participation of your leadership, the result also enjoys organizational consensus. See details.

QuickStart Social Media System

Most effective social media programs are managed internally. However, many marketers don’t have the time, resources or staff to learn, build, implement and manage a comprehensive social media presence while meeting other demands. The QuickStart Social Media System is a modular program designed to:

• get your organization up and running quickly
• integrate with your ongoing marketing efforts and
• train you and your staff to take over and manage your program in-house, typically in just a couple months

See details of each module and choose to implement only what you need.

Market Research

Research is often critical to effective planning and marketing strategy. However, if the information is old or unavailable, we will recommend new studies to define the current situation. We are happy to work with your research partners to arrive at the information needed. If you have no existing partners, we can direct and analyze the work of our research partners to conduct studies that inform strategic decisions, provide insight into audience behavior, validate creative concepts or track market changes over time.

We are adept at working with the following methodologies:

Quantitative Research:

• Telephone surveys
• Online surveys
• Segmentation studies
• Database analysis to identify geo-demographic or lifestyle characteristics

Qualitative Research:

• In-depth interviews
• Focus Group studies
• Concept testing
• Facilitated ideation

Brand Champion Workshops

In service organizations, such as health care providers, the brand experience is “delivered” through direct contact with those who provide the service (in hospitals, these include nurses, lab techs, housekeepers, etc.) And while they don’t think of themselves as marketers, they have the ability to reinforce or to undermine the brand promise by their actions.

Designed for non-marketing opinion leaders, a Brand Champion Workshop can assure that your brand is properly presented at the point of contact.