How strategy helps us solve the real problem for clients
As part of the Alpha Foundations program, a common theme emerges as we rotate through internal specialist areas – strategy is what drives everything we do, no matter if the activity is direct response or a long burn. That said, I’d like to share what I’ve learned so far about how we talk to strategy at Alpha Digital.
In life, thrill seekers love the idea of a spontaneous adventure, where the journey into the unknown is both exciting and exhilarating. Unfortunately, the same appetite for risk isn’t as widely accepted in the world of business.
When approaching marketing, many fall into the trap of diving head-first into tactics and in essence, are venturing out on an impromptu road trip without a map or destination to guide their decision making.
At Alpha Digital we understand the value of taking a step back before we dive into the ‘doing’ to think about the ‘how’ question. This work is arguably as crucial as implementation. It’s the work that lets us bridge the gap between a human problem and solution, to unlock the untapped growth potential of our clients.
How strategy guides media planning
One of the major challenges we have as marketers in the current age is selecting from the sheer volume of tactics we have available at our disposal.
We can barely open our eyes without being exposed to an ad, so how are we supposed to select the right channel without a considered strategy to point us in the right direction?
By helping our clients scope their target audience, brand positioning and transform their business objectives into marketing objectives, we establish a set of criteria to make selecting the best options simpler.
This allows us to concentrate our resources on the avenues most likely to maximise the impact of our clients’ spend.
Omni-channel marketing
With the right tactics selected, marketers are able to deliver a clear and consistent message via the seamless integration of various channels.
In knowing the different advantages of the chosen communication platforms and how they align to our strategy, we are then able to utilise their unique strengths to increase the effectiveness of our messaging.
This enables us to cut through the clutter and make our brands memorable by creating multiple unique exposures across channels.
Simplicity
Strategy work at its core is about exploring all the different opportunities and then cutting the fat, until you have a perfectly refined and succinct output.
Many propose strategy to be more about choosing what not to do and consequently, one of our rules of engagement at Alpha Digital for delivering strategic guidance is to be intelligently simple.
This narrows our focus towards the most effective options:
- targeting the right people
- concentrating positioning on key elements and,
- only selecting the most relevant objectives
Get, Who, To, By
The ‘get, who, to, by’ method is a common approach that we employ at Alpha Digital to summarise strategy into a succinct brief that is easily digestable.
It combines target audience (get), consumer insight (who), objective (to) and positioning or key value proposition (by) into one clear statement.
Let’s look at an example:
Within the fast-food industry in Australia, many brands are trying to tackle the increasing health consciousness of younger consumers.
There’s McDonalds sponsoring just about every sporting code in one way or another and Hungry Jacks with their recent UNO campaign, featuring vibrant individuals eating fast food and jumping around in celebration after winning instant prizes.
If we examine the get, who, to, by statement that would have summarised the strategy behind these marketing tactics, it may have gone something like this:
Get: Health-conscious Australians
Who: Are becoming increasingly concerned with excess fast food consumption
To: Treat themselves by purchasing our food
By: Eroding the belief that eating fast food makes you feel guilty and lethargic
That’s it. The result of presumably hundreds of hours of background research and data analysis to form meaningful insights and actions.
Simple. Intelligent. Effective.
Get in touch
Evidently, having a strong strategy to form the backbone of your executional efforts is essential.
So, if you think your business has been driving blind and could benefit from a refined marketing strategy to set you in the right direction, feel free to reach out to our experts at Alpha Digital.