Obtaining Senior Management Support

Viewpoint by Michael Dunn, CEO & Chairman

While the word "brand" occasionally provokes senior management ire or indifference, we know that all top-notch management teams believe in winning in the marketplace, maintaining a strong reputation, and driving profitable growth. It's your job to demonstrate how what you define as "brand building" helps to deliver all of these things — sales, reputation, and growth — in a measurable, timely, and consistent manner. You need to build the case for how recommended brand-building activities support the company's growth agenda — by accessing a new target customer or market, removing barriers to trial, increasing average purchase size, or by depositioning the competition. And don't stop at a narrative. Support your story with a tight financial analysis as well. Finally, don't get trapped in the marketing communications ghetto. Help your senior management team understand that a holistic approach to brand building involves investment in new product development, the right channels, and the broader customer experience. While this approach may not convert stubborn skeptics right away, use small wins to build support and quantify the financial benefit over time.