Ira Yellen, president and CEO, First Experience Communications
Article for Hartford Business Journal
August 30, 2002

Back To Basics

"How an integrated marketing communications strategy can make your company grow in uncertain times"

It's been nearly a year since the calamitous and tragic events that shook our country and the world on September 11, 2001. On the anniversary date, we will mark a solemn day of remembrance. We will look both back in reflection and forward with hope.

For a year, we have been collectively holding our breath, unsure of what the future will bring. Businesses have been marking time, happy in many cases just to break even in this uncertain economy. Strategic planning has given way to caution and to short-term tactical needs. Rather than creating new opportunities, many businesses are operating in react and respond mode, undercutting their value in an effort to keep cash flow moving.

As we reflect on September 11th, it also will be a time to pause, exhale, and catch our long-held breath. We will be able to move forward with purpose. Businesses will be able to reassert their value and set a strategic course for a strong future.

The best strategy for proceeding in today's challenging business environment is to go back to the basics of business-focusing on value to define and achieve objectives.

The Value Proposition
Success in business means delivering consistent performance over time. But more than revenues and profits, performance today is measured in terms of value. While often hard to quantify on the balance sheet, value is what separates great companies from their competitors. Value means being true to your customers and your people. It means recognizing the power of character and credibility over charisma. And it results in trust and brand loyalty.

The question for business is how do you define your value?

Developing and presenting a corporate position, or value, requires a disciplined effort to articulate how you want your business to be perceived by its internal and external audiences. While this may seem easy, it can be a daunting task requiring honesty and clarity. Perception is a moving target-a company cannot be all things to all people.

A wide range of variables need to considered and defined-distinguishing characteristics and unifying traits, fiscal performance, market share, and product or service consistency. These are the elements that define value, and which customers look for to gain confidence in their dealings with companies.

Here are three steps to help you define your value proposition and ensure that your brand equity stays strong in tough times.

1. Begin by assessing your own organization. Create and/or revisit your core values as they relate to the attributes of your business. Are the principal assets that differentiate you from competitors based on the characteristics of your brand and business (e.g., service, price, innovation, knowledge) that you want your audiences to associate you with? How deep is the understanding of these key principles throughout your company?

2. Regularly survey your customers and evaluate the competitive landscape. Many companies make the mistake of conducting customer satisfaction surveys which provide terrific "feel-good" fodder and elicit the occasional testimonial gem, while failing to ask substantive questions about the way that you do business. Don't ask your customers "Do you like me?" Ask your customers for specific input about exactly how they think you're doing-and how you can add value to their relationship with you.
3. Engage your customers in an ongoing two-way dialogue. The "new" rules for success in today's marketplace demand that you ask your customer what they want make, a promise to deliver it, then deliver on that promise. The only way to know how you're doing-before it has a negative effect on the balance sheet-is to talk with and listen to your customers.

The Smart Marketing Process - An Integrated Marketing
Communication Approach
Once you've defined your value proposition, you can then set about the task of addressing specific market challenges. Again, a logical process approach can help you make the most of your resources and achieve success.

There are four steps to creating and implementing an effective strategic marketing
communication plan:

1. Situation Analysis-What's happening how? In this step, you define the specific problem or challenge and determine the internal and external perspectives and mindsets. The tools used include primary and secondary research such as informal and formal surveys, reviews of existing materials, focus groups, brainstorming sessions, and interviews.
2. Planning & Programming-What should you do, say or change? This stage of the process takes what you learned in the situation analysis and marries it with your overall business goals and objectives. The idea is to set a course using the tools of marketing (advertising, public relations, promotional campaigns, direct marketing, and online media) to achieve your specific objectives.
3. Taking Action-How do we get there? This is the stage where creativity meets the marketing plan. Campaign ideas and concepts are developed and implemented through media buys, PR placements, and the like. Unfortunately, too many companies start at this stage and end up with ill-conceived creative and ineffective campaigns.
4. Evaluation & Assessment-How are we doing? Both throughout the marketing initiative and as a final step, you will want to assess the performance of the effort against the objectives of the plan. Are you on schedule and on budget? Should you make any adjustments? Should the program be continued?

The bottom line is that to build a truly effective image and loyal customer for your organization, you have to start with the core values that you can count on no matter what direction your business takes. With a solid foundation and a "back to basics approach", you can lay the groundwork for a consistent and sustained-yet flexible and responsive-process for growing your business in tough times.

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Ira Yellen, President, First Experience Communications, Glastonbury, CT: Since the founding of the company in 1983, he has developed his strategic skills to encompass leading-edge practices including integrated marketing communications and business planning.