1. How to make
decisions on
advertising
that drives
brand link
Brand leaders who are good at advertising can get great
ads on the air and keep bad ads off the air. You need to
make decisions to find the sweet spot where your
brand’s advertising is both different and smart.
To be different, you need to achieve a branded breakthrough, using creativity to capture consumers. Gain their
attention amid the market clutter and link your brand closer to the story.
To be smart, you need a motivating message to communicate the main message memorable to connect with
consumers, and make the ad stick enough to move them to see, think, feel, or act differently than before they
saw the ad.
In our Beloved Brands book, I outline principles for achieving attention, brand link, communication, and
stickiness—the model I call the ABC’s. I show examples of some of the best ads in the history of branding to
support those principles. I hope to challenge your thinking about your brand’s advertising.
Brand link is not just about more of your brand, but rather the right engagement of your brand, and the
placement of your brand. Sometimes less is more, when you tell stories. Moreover with each of the ABC’s, when
you dial branding up too far, it can negatively impact the attention or the communication, which destroys the
overall ad. Try to find your balance.

2. The thinking behind great advertising
The best advertising must balance being creatively different and strategically smart.
When ads are smart but not different, they get lost in the clutter. It is natural for marketers to tense up when
the creative work ends up being “too different.” In all parts of the business, marketers are trained to look for
past proof as a sign something will work. However, when it comes to advertising if the ads start too similar to
what other brands have already done, then the advertising will be at risk of boring your consumers, so you
never stand out enough to capture their attention. Push your comfort with creativity and take a chance to
ensure your ad breaks through.
When ads are different but not smart, they will entertain consumers, but do nothing for your brand. Your
advertising must be smart enough to trigger the desired consumer response to match your brand strategy.
The playbook for how to create
The thinking behind great advertising
Smart but
not different
Solid strategy, but no creativity
Will do OK. Won’t break through
clutter to make a difference.
Different
and smart
Creativity helps breakthrough.
Solid strategy motivates
consumers to take action
Not smart and
not different
Brand is lost and floundering.
Conservative creative against
a weak strategy.
Different but
not smart
Creative for the sake of it.
Misses strategy: wrong target,
message, or desired response.
Smart
Not Smart
The same Different
Strategy
Creativity

3. How to predict advertising success
We have to take the smart and creative advertising to a predictive advertising model, changing the creatively
different to branded breakthrough, and the smart strategy becomes motivating consumers.
The branded breakthrough is “how you say it.” It uses creativity to capture the consumer’s attention within the
clutter of the market while linking your brand closer to the story. The motivating message is “what you say.” You
have to communicate the main message to connect with consumers memorably, so the ad sticks enough to
move consumers to see, think, feel, or act differently than before they saw the ad.
Branded Breakthrough + Motivate Consumers =
Attention + Brand Link + Communication + Stickiness
!3
The playbook for how t
brand your consumer
How to predict advertising success
Branded Breakthrough + Motivate Consumers =
Attention + Brand Link + Communication + Stickiness
Branded BreakthroughLow High
High
Motivate
Consumers
Very Poor
Ad weak on both
motivation and
breakthrough
Poor
Ad is ok on
motivation but weak
on breakthrough
Concern
Ad is strong on
motivation but weak
on breakthrough
Strong
Ad is strong on
motivation, and ok
on breakthrough
Poor
Ad is ok on
breakthrough but
weak on motivation
Moderate
Ad is ok on
both motivation
and breakthrough
Very Strong
Ad is high on both
breakthrough
and motivation
Strong
Ad strong on
breakthrough and ok
on motivation
Concern
Ad is strong on
breakthrough but
weak on motivation

4. The ABC’s model for advertising decisions
In our Beloved Brands book, I go through the principles of the ABC’s model, with examples for each principle. I
use the Attention-Branding-Communication-Stickiness model as a great checklist to ensure the ad will be
successful.
When judging advertising, the most important thing I look for is to ensure the creative idea within the ad that
drives the attention, tells the brand story, communicates the main benefit and sticks in the consumer's mind.
When you see a story, device, copy, or a visual that does not fit with the delivery, then you have a red flag. You
run the risk that the creativity of the ad works against your objectives. Here are four questions to ask:
• Is it the creative idea that earns the consumer’s attention for the ad?
• Is the creative idea helping to drive maximum brand involvement?
• Is the creative idea setting up the communication of the main consumer benefit?
• Is the creative idea memorable enough to stick in the consumer’s mind and move them to purchase?
The playbook for how to create a
brand your consumers will love
Make your advertising decisions with our ABC’s
Stickiness
Ads that stick need to be memorable enough to move
consumers. Surround your consumer with your creative idea,
invest in your assets, engage emotionally, and build a deeper
love with those who already love you.
Communication
The best brand communication happens when you focus on one
benefit that moves consumers, creatively amplifying, telling the story
behind your purpose, extreme demonstrations or powerful visuals.
Brand Link
The best brand link comes when you connect your brand closer to
the climax of the ad’s story. View your brand through the eyes of your
consumer, resonate with consumer insights, make your brand central
to the story, and own it. The best brand link scores occur when your
brand is not just part of the story but it is the driver of the story itself.
Attention
The best way to earn the attention of consumers within the cluttered
media world is to take a risk. Do something creatively different from
what consumers expect, which entertains, takes advantage of the
media, and is shareable for consumers to influence others.
A
B
C
S
Motivate Consumers
(What you say to consumers)
Branded Breakthrough
(How you capture consumers)

5. How to achieve Brand link
The best brand link comes when you connect
your brand closer to the climax of the ad’s
story. You should view your brand through
the eyes of your consumer, resonate with
vulnerable consumer insights, make your
brand central to the story, and then own it.
The highest brand link scores occur when
your brand is not just part of the story, but it
is the driver of the story itself. There are a
couple of myths about what makes strong
brand link scores I would like to challenge.
The first brand link myth I hear people
say: “Make sure the brand name shows
up in the first few seconds of your TV
ad.”
Logically, that thought might make sense. However, it is not true. The Milward Brown Advertising tracking data
shows brand linkage is not related to the time at which the brand name first appears in an ad. Looking at data
in the chart below, the dotted line at approximately 40% represents the average brand link of all the ads in the
Milward Brown database. The specific dots
represent the time during a 30-second TV ad
when the brand first shows up. The timeline
for the ad is at the bottom of the chart. What
you can see is a reasonably even distribution
above and below the average brand link at
most times during the ad. Even for those ads
where the brand shows up in the first few
seconds have a 50/50 chance of scoring
above the brand link average, which is the
same success rate when the brand shows up
for the first time at the 25-second mark.
The second brand link myth I hear is,
“The more often you show the brand,
the higher brand link scores.”
Looking at the Milward Brown chart to the
right, it shows no relationship between how often the brand appears in the ad and the resulting brand linkage.
The data looks at four choices along the bottom, for the frequency of the brand showing up in the ad, including
none, continuous, at key parts, or only at the end. Just like the first myth, there is no correlation between how
many times the brand name shows up and how strong your brand link score will be.
!5
people say: “Make sure the
brand name shows up in the
first few seconds of your TV ad.”
Percent
who recall
Brand
Time (seconds) before brand first appears
50%
0%
0 10 20 30
Percen
who rec
Brand
The playbook for how to create a
The first brand link myth I hear
people say: “Make sure the
brand name shows up in the
first few seconds of your TV ad.”
The second brand link myth I
hear is, “The more often you
show the brand, the higher
brand link scores.”
50%
25%
Percent
who recall
Brand
Time (seconds) before brand first appears Frequency of Brand in the ad
50%
0%
0 10 20 30
0%
None Continuous At key parts Only at end
Percent
who recall
Brand

6. 1. Make your brand a central part of the story
From my experience, it is not how much branding you use, but preferably how closely connected the reveal of
the brand is linked with the climax of your ad.
“Got milk?” launched a hilarious and engaging storytelling ad with an elaborate tale of an Alexander Hamilton
expert. He finds himself on a radio show, ready to answer an easy trivia question about Alexander Hamilton.
However, after taking a big bite of his peanut butter sandwich, as he is about to answer, he realizes he is out of
milk. With an elaborate story, the reveal of the brand comes at the climax of the story. The “Got milk?”
campaign lasted over 20 years.
2. Resonate with meaningful consumer insights
Using consumer insights to tell a compelling human-interest story
is a great technique to closely connect with your target market,
then closely link your brand to the insight.
The Always “Like a girl” campaign is an inspirational video that
connects with true insight about the perception of how girls run
changes as they hit puberty. The ad starts by asking older teens
and 20-somethings to run like a girl, and they depict a negative
stereotypical overly feminine running style. Then, it asks 10-year-
old girls to run like a girl, and they run in a highly athletic manner.
It asks what changes to make the older girls see running as a
negative. The ad challenges viewers to rethink their stereotypes.
It inspires girls with an uplifting message to be themselves and
encourages them to believe that, “running like a girl” is a good
thing. The Always brand closely lines itself to the insights about
the changes happening at puberty, just as moms and daughter
will be choosing the feminine hygiene brand they will use.

7. 3. View the brand through the eyes of your consumer
Use emotional stories to demonstrate how the consumer
engages your brand.
Google had a Super Bowl ad that tells the story of an
American student who goes to Paris, meets a girl, maintains a
long distance relationship, gets married, lands a job in Paris,
and then has a baby. Every part of the story is told by Google
searches, which surprise the consumer as they follow the story.
The ad shows how much we can use and rely on Google for
anything we need in life.
Google India launched a beautiful viral ad, which earned
millions of YouTube hits. The first time I saw the ad, I cried,
even though I could not understand the language, I realized
the great storytelling was obvious enough to follow. The ad
starts with an elderly Indian man, who tells his granddaughter
a story of how he lost touch with his childhood best friend after
the partition of India in 1947. With the details of her
grandfather's story, the granddaughter locates his childhood
friend in Pakistan and connects with the other best friend’s
grandson, who is willing to help her to plan a surprise visit for
her grandfather’s birthday. Every element of the search and the
travel arrangement is done through Google. The brand weaves
naturally throughout the ad.
4. Own the story of the brand
When telling the story of your brand, make sure to amplify what
sets you apart from anyone else. Create a strong visual cue, which
you can build over time, big enough to repeat and repeat and
repeat.
During the turbulent times of the early ‘70s, Coke assembled
people on a hill to sing “Teach the world to sing.” Everyone in the
commercial was holding a bottle of Coke. This ad spoke to a
generation looking for peace and harmony. The ad is one of the
best ads of all time.
A great example of a high brand link is the McDonald’s Big Mac
jingle with a descriptive “Two all beef patties…” song about the
brand. It broke through and remains stuck in the consumer’s mind.
!7

8. Making advertising decisions
At the decision point, you have three choices:
• Approve
• Reject
• Change
From my experience, brand leaders rarely
approve creative ideas outright. There also
seems a reluctance or fear to reject outright. So
marketers mistakenly assume their role is to
change the ads. I see too many come to the
creative meeting with a pen and paper and start
to write feverishly all the recommended changes
they have for each ad. The problem is if we
marketers are not talented enough to come up
with the ad in the first place, why do we think we
are talented enough to change the ad? You are a
generalist, surrounded by experts. Use your
experts.
Next time you go into a creative meeting, stop giving the creative team your solutions, and give them a new
problem you are seeing and then let the creative team figure out the solutions. If the creative brief is the
original “box” for the creative team to figure out the ideal solution, then use your feedback at the creative
meeting to create a “new box” for the creative team figure out a new solution.
Use your feedback to challenge and create a new problem for your agency to figure out the solution.
How to handle yourself at the creative meeting
When you are in your next creative advertising meeting, you should think fast with your instincts, while trying to
represent your consumer. View the advertising through the eyes of your consumer. Try to see the work how they
would see it. I would not even let my agency do a setup to the ads. I said, “Just show me the work as though I
see it on TV.” I felt any setup or explanation clouded my judgment and impacted my ability to use my instincts.
As you are sitting in that decision-making hot seat at a creative meeting, here are some challenging questions
to ask yourself:
1. What does your gut instinct say?
• The reality of a marketing job is you might be coming into the creative meeting from a 3-hour forecasting
meeting or deep-dive financial review, or you just got back from working in the lab with scientists on a
new ingredient. It is not easy to change speeds as you head into a creative meeting.
• Relax, find your creative energy, let it soak in, and find those instincts. I created a “gut instincts checklist”
to help prompt you for when you need your instincts.

9. 2. Do you love it?
• If you don’t love it, how do you expect your consumer to love it? If you “sorta like” it, then it will be “sorta
okay” in the end. But if you love it, you’ll go the extra mile and make it amazing. Ask if you would be
proud to have this work as your legacy.
3. Is the advertising on strategy?
• Slow down and find some thinking time after the meeting. In a quiet place alone, make sure it delivers on
what you wrote in your strategy documents. Go back through the brief to make sure the advertising will
deliver the desired response, and the strategic objective statement you wrote in the brand
communications plan. One caution is not to use the extra time to over-think the advertising and talk
yourself out of a good ad that works.
4. How big is the creative idea?
• Is the creative idea big enough to last 5-10 years? Will the idea work across various mediums (paid,
earned, social) across all distribution and the entire product line? Think of being so proud of leaving a
legacy for your successor to help think about the longer term.
Finding your gut instincts
Not everyone understands the need for a gut instincts checklist. In fact, it might even sound crazy to some. But,
not everyone has faced the challenges of a brand management role.
The reality of an average
marketing job is you might
be coming into a creative
meeting from a 3-hour
forecasting meeting, deep-
dive financial review, or you
just got back from working
in the lab with scientists on
a new ingredient.
It is not easy to change
brain speeds as you head
into a creative meeting.
Relax, find your creative
energy, let the ideas soak in
and find those instincts.
I created a Gut Instincts
Checklist to prompt you for
when you need your
instincts.
!9
The playbook for how to create
brand your consumers will lov
1. Do you love the ad? Do you want this to be your legacy? (Passion)
2. Does the Ad express the brand communication strategy? (Brand Plan)
3. Will the ad motivate consumers to do what you want them to do? (see, think, act, feel)
4. Is the Brand Idea the driving force behind all the creative elements? (Brand Idea)
5. Is the Ad engaging enough to break through the clutter? (Attention)
6. Is your brand central and part of the climax of the story of the ad? (Brand Link)
7. Does the Ad communicate your brand’s main benefit? (Communication)
8. How will it stick in the consumer’s mind and move them to purchase? Does it work
across various mediums, and with all products? Will it last over time? (Stickiness)
Gut Instincts Checklist

10. How the
Beloved
Brands
playbook
can work
for you
It takes a fundamentally sound
marketer to figure out how to win
with brand love in this crazy cluttered world of brands. The fundamentals of
brand management matter more now than ever.
Today’s marketers have become so busy, as they run from meeting to meeting, they have become a little
overwhelmed and confused. They have no time to think. Marketing has become about ‘get stuff done,’ never
taking the time to stop and ask if it is the right stuff to do.
To build a relationship, you must genuinely court your consumer. To move your consumer from stranger to
friend and onto the forever stage, you need to think all the time. With the focus on access to big data,
marketers are drowning in so much data they do not even have the time to sort through it all to produce the
analytical stories that help to make decisions. Marketers are so overwhelmed by the breadth of media choices
and the pressure to be everywhere that the quality of the execution has suffered.
If marketers do not love the work they create, how can they ever expect the consumer to love the brand?
My goal in writing this book is to make you a smarter brand leader so your brand can win in the market. I know
your role and the challenges you face. I have been in your shoes. I will share everything I have learned in my
20 years in the trenches of brand management. I want to help you be successful. This book is intended as an
actionable “make it happen” playbook, not a theory or opinion book.
Beloved Brands is available

11. Learn to think, define, plan, inspire and analyze
1. How to think strategically
Too many marketers are so busy that they do not even have time to think. The best brand leaders do the
necessary critical strategic thinking to find ways to win in the market. Strategic thinking is an essential
foundation, forcing marketers to ask big questions that challenge and focus brand decisions.
I will show you four ways to enhance your strategic thinking, using the brand’s core strength finder, consumer
strategy, competitive strategy, and situational strategy. You will learn how to set a vision for your brand, focus
your limited resources on breakthrough points, take advantage of opportunities you see in the market, find early
wins to leverage to give your brand a positional power to drive growth and profits for your brand.
!11
1. Learn new strategic thinking methods, looking at core strength,
competitive landscape, consumer relationship, and situation you face.
2. Brand positioning statements start with a consumer profile, uses our
consumer benefits ladder with functional and emotional benefits. Then,
build out a brand idea that organizes everyone who works on your brand.
3. In teaching brand plans, we go through each element needed for a long-
range brand strategy roadmap and your annual brand plan.
4. Learn to make smart and creative decisions that inspires outstanding
marketing execution with your creative advertising and media choices.
5. Use brand analytics to write a deep-dive business review, looking at the
Strategic
Thinking
Positioning
Statement
2
4
1
Marketing
Execution
What
consumers
want
What your
competitor
does best
What your
brand
does best
Winning
Our marketing training helps realize the
full potential of your marketing team
Brand Plan
5
The playbook for how to create a
brand your consumers will love
✓ How to think strategically
✓ Write a brand positioning statement
✓ Come up with a brand idea
✓ Write a brand plan everyone can follow
✓ Write an inspiring creative brief
✓ Make decisions on marketing execution
✓ Conduct a deep-dive business review
✓ Learn finance 101 for marketers
Beloved Brands
Beloved Brands is available on Amazon and Apple Books
The playbook for how to build a
brand your consumers will love.
Measuring the brand love, to determine the
love, power and profit progress of the brand
• Brand funnels become thicker as the brand
becomes more loved. It’s not just about driving
particular numbers but about moving them from
one stage to the next.
• Awareness is never enough. Anyone can get that.
Consideration is the point you start to see that your
brand idea starts to connect and move the
consumer.
• To drive trial you need to gain consideration first
(the brain) and then you need to move the
consumer towards purchase and through the
experience.
• To drive loyalty (the heart) you need to create
experiences that deliver the promise and use tools
to create an emotional bond with the consumer.
Use the brand funnel to measure health
Awareness
Familiar
Consider
Purchase
Repeat
Loyal
!1
Dad’s wins on innovation and deep price
discounts, but is weak on taste.
• Dad’s brand is the mature brand
in the “good for you” segment
holding on average a 25%
share over the past 10 years.
• Dad’s scores low on taste
quality, but higher on innovation
than Gray’s, launching 2 new
flavors each year.
• Dad’s fought declining share
with a “buy one get one free”
that we decided not to match
Gray’s needs to step up on innovation to use
superior quality to gain share against Dad’s.
0
2
3
5
6
2018 2019 2020 2021
3.19
3.613.773.99
5.495.395.294.97
Business
Review
GRAY’S
Cookies
Exceptional scores among early Adopters (“Proactive
Preventers”) making it highly beloved among the niche.
• Gray’s is very healthy among “Preventers” with strong awareness at 80% and all related Brand
Funnel scores significantly above norm. However, that strength has not carried over to the
overall market, where Gray’s is significantly under-developed in the overall market.
Explore ways to leverage Love from Preventers, as early
adopters, to influence the rest of the market.
Preventers Overall Norm
Brand Funnel Scores Preventers vs. Overall
0
20
40
60
80
Awareness
Gray’s Dad’s Business
Review
GRAY’S
Cookies
Exceptional scores among early Adopters (“Proactive
Preventers”) making it highly beloved among the niche.
• Gray’s is very healthy among “Preventers” with strong awareness at 80% and all related Brand
Funnel scores significantly above norm. However, that strength has not carried over to the
overall market, where Gray’s is significantly under-developed in the overall market.
Explore ways to leverage Love from Preventers, as early
adopters, to influence the rest of the market.
Preventers Overall Norm
Brand Funnel Scores Preventers vs. Overall
0
20
40
60
80
Awareness
Average Price per unit
0
22.5
45
67.5
90
2018 2019 2020 2021
Gray’s
Dad’s
Blind taste test performance
Analyze
Performance
Annual Marketing Plan
Analysis Issues and Strategies Execution Plans
P&L forecast
• Sales $30,385
• Gross Margin $17,148
• GM % 56%
• Marketing Budget $8,850
• Contribution Margin $6,949
• CM% 23%
Drivers
• Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to
Purchase
• Strong Listings in Food Channels
• Exceptional brand health scores among
Early Adopters. Highly Beloved Brand
among niche.
Inhibitors
• Low familiar yet to turn our sales into loyalty
• Awareness held back due to weak
Advertising
• Low distribution at specialty stores. Poor
coverage.
• Low Purchase Frequency among most
loyal.
Risks
• Launch of Mainstream cookie brands
(Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco).
• De-listing 2 weakest skus weakened our in-
store presence
• Legal challenge to taste claims
Opportunities
• R&D has 5 new flavors in development.
• Sales Broker gains at Specialty Stores
• Use social media to convert loyal following.
Key Issues
1.What’s the priority choice for growth: find
new users or drive usage frequency among
loyalists?
2.Where should the investment/resources
focus and deployment be to drive our
awareness and share needs for Gray’s?
3.How will we defend Gray’s against the
proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’
launches from Pepperidge Farms and
Nabisco?
Strategies
1.Continue to attract new users to Gray’s
2.Focus investment on driving awareness
and trial with new consumers and building
a presence at retail.
3.Build defence plan against new entrants to
defends with consumers and at store level.
Goals
• Increase penetration from 10% to 12%,
specifically up from 15% to 20% with the
core target. Monitor usage frequency
among the most loyal to ensure it stays
steady.
• Increase awareness from 33% to 42%,
specifically up from 45% to 50% within the
core target. Drive trial from 15% to 20%.
Close distribution from 62% to 72%.
• Hold dollar share during competitive
launches. Grow 11% post launch gaining up
to 1.2% share. Target zero losses at shelf.
Advertising
• Use awareness to drive trial of the new
Grays. Target “Proactive Preventers”.
Suburban working women, 35-40.Main
Message of “great tasting cookie without the
guilt, so you can stay in control of your
health”. Media includes 15 second TV,
specialty health magazines, event signage,
digital and social media
Sampling
• Drive trial with In-store sampling at grocery,
Costco, health food stores and event
sampling at fitness, yoga, women’s
networking, new moms.
Distribution
• Support Q4 retail blitz with message
focused on holding shelf space during the
competitive launches. Q2 specialty blitz to
grow distribution at key specialty stores.
Innovation
• Launch two new flavours in Q4/15 & Q4/16.
Explore diet claims, motivating and own-
able.
Competitive Defence Plan
• Pre Launch sales blitz to shore up all
distribution gaps. At launch, heavy
merchandising, locking up key ad dates,
BOGO. TV, print, coupons, in-store
sampling.
• Use sales story that any new “healthy”
cookies should displace under-performing
and declining unhealthy cookies.
Brand Vision: Be first ‘healthy cookie’ to generate craving, popularity and sales of a mainstream cookie. $100 Million by 2024.
3
Brand
Plans
Brand Plan

12. In our section on strategic thinking, you will learn how to:
✓ Use five elements of smart strategic thinking
✓ Engage our ThinkBox 360-degree strategic thinking model to trigger new questions
✓ Build everything around your brand’s core strength
✓ Think strategically to tighten your brand’s bond with consumers
✓ Think strategically to win the competitive battles you face
✓ Think strategically, within the brand’s current situation
✓ Write strategic objective statements for each of the four strategies
2. How to define your brand positioning
Too many marketers are trying to be everything to anyone. This strategy is the usual recipe for becoming
nothing to everyone. The best brand leaders target a specific motivated consumer audience and then define
their brand around a brand idea that is interesting, simple, unique, motivating, and ownable.
I will show you how to write a winning brand positioning statement with four essential elements: target market,
competitive set, main benefit, and reason to believe (RTB). You will learn how to build a brand idea that leads
every touchpoint of your brand, including the brand promise, brand story, innovation, purchase moment, and
the consumer experience. I will give you the tools for how to write a winning brand concept and brand story.
In our section on defining your brand, you will learn how to:
✓ Write brand positioning statements
✓ Define your target market, with insights, enemies, and need states
✓ Define consumer benefits, both functional and emotional
✓ Come up with brand support points and claims
✓ Understand the relationship between brand soul, brand idea and brand reputation
✓ Come up with your brand idea
✓ Write brand concept statements
✓ Turn your brand concept into a brand story
✓ Use the brand positioning and brand idea to build your internal brand credo

13. 3. How to write Brand Plans
Too many marketers focus on a short-term to-do list, not a long-term plan. The best brand leaders write brand
plans that everyone in the organization can follow with ease, including senior management, sales, R&D,
agencies, and operational teams. I will teach you how to write each element of the brand plan, including the
brand vision, purpose, values, goals, key Issues, strategies, and tactics. Real-life examples will give you a
framework to use on your brand. You will learn to build execution plans including a brand communications plan,
innovation plan, and in-store plan.
In our section on how to write brand plans, you will learn how to:
✓ Use five strategic questions as an outline for your entire plan
✓ Write an inspirational brand vision statement to frame your brand plan
✓ Come up with a brand purpose and brand values
✓ Summarize your brand’s situation analysis
✓ Map out the key issues your brand faces
✓ Write smart, brand strategy objective statements to build around your brand’s core strength
✓ Write smart, consumer brand objective strategy statements
✓ Write smart, competitive brand objective strategy statements
✓ Write smart, situational brand strategy objective statements
✓ Focus tactics to ensure a high return on effort
✓ Write specific execution plans for brand communications, innovation, and in-store
✓ Come up with a profit statement, sales forecast, goals, and marketing budget for your plan
✓ Use an ideal one-page brand formats for the annual brand plan and long-range strategic roadmap
4. How to inspire marketing execution
Too many marketers are becoming task-masters and step over the line into execution. The best brand leaders
need to inspire experts to produce smart and creative execution. I will provide tools and techniques for judging
and making decisions on creative advertising from your agency.
For judging execution, I use the ABC’s tool, believing the best executions must drive Attention (A), Brand link
(B), Communication (C) and Stickiness (S). I will provide a checklist for you to use when judging executions,
then show you how to provide direction to your agency to inspire and challenge great execution.
!13

14. In our section on how to lead the marketing execution, you will learn how to:
✓ Understand the crucial role of the brand leader in getting great creative execution
✓ Be the brand leaders who can successfully manage the 10 stages of the advertising process
✓ Write a brand communications plan
✓ Turn the brand communications plan into a creative brief
✓ Leverage smart and bad examples of the creative brief
✓ Use the ABC’s advertising decision-making tool
✓ Give inspiring feedback on advertising that pushes for great work
✓ Build your media planning with six media questions
✓ Line up media choices to where consumers are most willing to engage with your brand
5. How to analyze your brand’s performance
Too few marketers take the time to dig into data analytics. There is no value in having access to data if you are
not using it to discover meaningful insights. The best brand leaders can tell strategic stories through analytics. I
will show you how to create a deep-dive business review, looking at the marketplace, consumers, competitors,
channels, and brand. I will teach how to turn your analysis into a presentation for management, showing the
ideal presentation slide format. I will also provide a Finance 101 for Marketers, giving you every financial
formula you need to run your brand.
In our section on how to analyze the brand’s performance, you will learn how to:
✓ Analyze the marketplace your brand plays in
✓ Assess your consumers
✓ Assess the retail channels you sell through
✓ Analyze the competitors
✓ Analyze the health of your brand
✓ Use 60 of the best analytical questions to ask
✓ Bring the analysis together into the drivers, inhibitors, threats, and opportunities
✓ Know the financial formulas for compound CAGR, price increases, COGs. and ROI
✓ Prepare a deep-dive business review presentation

15. Who should read the Beloved Brands playbook?
Marketing pros and entrepreneurs, this book is for you. Whether you are a VP, CMO, director, brand
manager, or just starting your
marketing career, I promise you
will learn how to realize your full
potential. You could be in brand
management working for an
organization or an owner-
operator managing a branded
business.
Beloved Brands is a toolbox
intended to help you every day
in your job. Keep it on your
desk and refer to it whenever
you need to write a brand plan,
create a brand idea, develop a
creative brief, make advertising
decisions or lead a deep-dive
business review. You can even
pass on the tools to your team
so they can learn how to deliver
the fundamentals needed for
your brands.
This book is also an excellent
resource for marketing
professors, who can use it as
an in-class textbook to develop
future marketers. It will
challenge communications
agency professionals, who
are looking to get better at
managing brands, including
those who work in advertising,
public relations, in-store
marketing, digital advertising,
or event marketing.
If you are an entrepreneur who
has a great product and wants to turn it into a brand, you can use this book as a playbook. These tips will help
you take full advantage of branding and marketing, and make your brand more powerful and more profitable.
!15
How good is your brand playbook?
Where are the gaps on your team?
Target Name
Description
Needs
Enemy
Insights
They think now?
Buying process
Desired response
The playbook for how to create a
brand your consumers will love
Bring all the work together to create a
winning brand positioning statement
To
(Target)
• Healthy proactive preventers who
want to do more for their health,
working moms, 35-40 years old.
Gray’s is
(Category)
• The healthy cookie option
That is the
(Benefit)
• Guilt-free cookie to help you stay
in control of your health
That’s
because
(Support Points)
• In blind taste tests, Gray’s matched
the leaders on taste, but has only
100 calories and 3g of net carbs.
• In a 12-week study, consumers using
Gray’s once a night as a dessert
were able to lose 5-10 lbs.
1
2
3
4
GRAY’S
Cookies
More Cookie. Less guilt.
Annual Marketing Plan
Analysis Issues and Strategies Execution Plans
P&L forecast
• Sales $30,385
• Gross Margin $17,148
• GM % 56%
• Marketing Budget $8,850
• Contribution Margin $6,949
• CM% 23%
Drivers
• Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to
Purchase
• Strong Listings in Food Channels
• Exceptional brand health scores among
Early Adopters. Highly Beloved Brand
among niche.
Inhibitors
• Low familiar yet to turn our sales into loyalty
• Awareness held back due to weak
Advertising
• Low distribution at specialty stores. Poor
coverage.
• Low Purchase Frequency among most
loyal.
Risks
• Launch of Mainstream cookie brands
(Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco).
• De-listing 2 weakest skus weakened our in-
store presence
• Legal challenge to taste claims
Opportunities
• R&D has 5 new flavors in development.
• Sales Broker gains at Specialty Stores
• Use social media to convert loyal following.
Key Issues
1.What’s the priority choice for growth: find
new users or drive usage frequency among
loyalists?
2.Where should the investment/resources
focus and deployment be to drive our
awareness and share needs for Gray’s?
3.How will we defend Gray’s against the
proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’
launches from Pepperidge Farms and
Nabisco?
Strategies
1.Continue to attract new users to Gray’s
2.Focus investment on driving awareness
and trial with new consumers and building
a presence at retail.
3.Build defence plan against new entrants to
defends with consumers and at store level.
Goals
• Increase penetration from 10% to 12%,
specifically up from 15% to 20% with the
core target. Monitor usage frequency
among the most loyal to ensure it stays
steady.
• Increase awareness from 33% to 42%,
specifically up from 45% to 50% within the
core target. Drive trial from 15% to 20%.
Close distribution from 62% to 72%.
• Hold dollar share during competitive
launches. Grow 11% post launch gaining up
to 1.2% share. Target zero losses at shelf.
Advertising
• Use awareness to drive trial of the new
Grays. Target “Proactive Preventers”.
Suburban working women, 35-40.Main
Message of “great tasting cookie without the
guilt, so you can stay in control of your
health”. Media includes 15 second TV,
specialty health magazines, event signage,
digital and social media
Sampling
• Drive trial with In-store sampling at grocery,
Costco, health food stores and event
sampling at fitness, yoga, women’s
networking, new moms.
Distribution
• Support Q4 retail blitz with message
focused on holding shelf space during the
competitive launches. Q2 specialty blitz to
grow distribution at key specialty stores.
Innovation
• Launch two new flavours in Q4/15 & Q4/16.
Explore diet claims, motivating and own-
able.
Competitive Defence Plan
• Pre Launch sales blitz to shore up all
distribution gaps. At launch, heavy
merchandising, locking up key ad dates,
BOGO. TV, print, coupons, in-store
sampling.
• Use sales story that any new “healthy”
cookies should displace under-performing
and declining unhealthy cookies.
Brand Vision: Be first ‘healthy cookie’ to generate craving, popularity and sales of a mainstream cookie. $100 Million by 2024.
Deep-dive review summary GRAY’SCookies
Marketplace Review:
1. Declining cookie sales have created a war among major competitors with lower prices and margins.
2. Category growth and Gray’s growth coming from the West, but facing poor performance in the East.
3. Continuous variations of diet with low calorie, low carb, low fat and gluten free. Consumers remain confused.
As eating habits are changing the cookie category is shrinking, while the good-for-you segment thrives.
Consumer Review
1. Gray’s taste drives a high conversion of trial to purchase (65% versus a norm of 50%).
2. Low purchase frequency (2.2 boxes per year vs. norm of 7.3) even among the most loyal early adopters.
3. Consumers love Gray’s new “guilt free” concept
New consumers attracted to Gray’s “guilt free” positioning, but the great taste drives loyalty
Channel Review
1. Successful listings has driven strong distribution in Food Channels (90%)
2. Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16% due to poor sales coverage.
3. Weak coop/display for Gray’s is directly linked to our lower trade terms being offered.
Gray’s needs to close distribution gaps, but must maintain advertising investment to drive trial.
Competitor Review
1. Re-evaluate strategy and use our power to begin to dominate the “good for you” segment.
2. Dad’s wins on innovation and deep price discounts, but is weak on taste.
3. Major risk if the major cookie brands launch healthy versions that are near-match taste versus current brands.
Gray’s has an opportunity to dominate the “good for you” segment before traditional brands enter segment.
Brand Review
1. Exceptional scores among early Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”), early base of brand lovers.
2. Brand funnel scores show we are still a niche player but yet to turn our sales into strong following
3. Awareness held back due to poor advertising scores with low attention scores and brand link scores.
Gray’s growth due to taste quality, but new “guilt free” positioning will connect deeper and fuel new demand.
Overall Brand Challenge: It is time to transition Gray’s from a product-led brand into an idea-led brand to connect with
consumers by owning the idea of “guilt free” snacking, rather than just selling a great tasting cookie. Gray’s needs to begin to
dominate and lead the “good for you” cookie segment.
Brand
Promise
Consumer
BrandBrand
Idea
Consumer
Experience
Brand
Story
Innovation
Ideas
Purchase
Moment
Packaging
Logo/Slogan
Culture and
Operations
Advertising
and Media Product
Development
Sales
and Retail
Beloved
Like It
Love It
Unknown
We use our Brand Love Curve to chart
how consumers feel about the brand
Get
noticed
Establish
positioning
Influence
friends
Tighten
bond
Trusted
following
Indifferent
Brand PlanDeep Dive Review
Brand PositioningConsumer Profile
Consumer StrategyBrand Idea Map

16. What will you get from the Beloved Brands playbook?
In the past two decades, what makes brands successful has changed, and you must change with it. You will
learn the fundamentals of managing your brand, with brand love at the core. I will show you how to improve
your thinking to unleash your full potential as a brand leader.
You will learn how to think, define, plan, execute, and analyze, and I provide every tool you will ever need
to run your brand. You will find models and examples for each of the four strategic thinking methods, looking at
core strength, competitive, consumer, and situational strategies.
To define the brand, I will provide a tool for writing a brand positioning statement as well as a consumer profile
and a consumer benefits ladder. I have created lists of potential functional and emotional benefits to kickstart
your thinking on brand positioning. We explore the step-by-step process to come up with your brand idea and
bring it all together with a tool for writing the ideal brand concept.
For brand plans, I provide formats for a long-range brand strategy roadmap and the annual brand plan with
definitions for each planning element. From there, I show how to build a brand execution plan that includes the
creative brief, innovation process, and sales plan. I provide tools for how to create a brand calendar, and specific
project plans.
To grow your brand, I show how to make smart decisions on execution around creative advertising and media
choices. When it comes time for the analytics, I provide all the tools you need to write a deep-dive business
review, looking at the marketplace, consumer, channels, competitors and the brand. Write everything so that it
is easy to follow and implement for your brand.
You will learn everything you need to know so you can run your brand. My brand promise is to help make you
smarter so you can realize your full potential.
Graham Robertson
Founder and CMO of Beloved Brands Inc.

17. BELOVED BRANDS
Chapter Summaries
Introduction: How the Beloved Brands playbook can work for you Page 5
• The purpose of the Beloved Brands playbook is to make you a smarter brand leader so your brand can win
in the market. You will learn how to think strategically, define your brand with a positioning statement and
a brand idea, write a brand plan everyone can follow, inspire smart and creative marketing execution, and
be able to analyze the performance of your brand through a deep-dive business review.
1. Why being a beloved brand matters Page 12
• The more loved your brand, the more powerful and profitable your brand will be. While old-school
marketers were yelling their message to every consumer, today’s brand leaders must build relationships
and create a bond with their most cherished consumers. We will explore the concept of a brand idea,
showing how it helps connect with consumers and organize everything you do on your brand. An overview
of the brand love curve will steer your strategic thinking and execution decisions.
2. How to use strategic thinking to help your brand win Page 21
• Strategic thinking is the foundation of brand management. I will take you through the five elements of
smart strategic thinking, including setting a vision, investing in a strategic program that focuses on an
identified opportunity, and how to leverage a breakthrough market impact into a performance result. I will
show how to turn smart thinking into strategic objective statements you can use in your Brand Plans.
Moreover, I will set up the four types of strategy, looking at your brand’s core strength, consumers,
competitors, and looking at the situation.
3. How to build your brand around your core strength Page 32
• Our core strength model forces you to select one of four possible options as your brand’s lead strength: the
product, brand story, experience, or price. Each choice has a distinct strategic focus, brand
communications, and desired reputation. I will show how the model comes to life with numerous brand
examples and a case study on Starbucks as they build a reputation around their commitment to an
exceptional consumer experience.
4. How to build a tight bond with your most cherished consumers Page 42
• Consumer strategy is about building a bond with your target consumer. I use the brand love curve to
demonstrate specific game plans for each stage of the curve, whether your brand is at the unknown,
indifferent, like it, love it or the beloved stage. This model sets up distinct strategies and 20 potential
actions. A case study on Special K shows how they evolved from an indifferent brand to a beloved brand.
!17

18. 5. How to win the competitive battle for your consumer’s heart Page 54
• The competitive strategy leverages the brand’s positioning to win in the market. Brands must evolve their
strategy as they move from a craft brand to a disruptor brand to a challenger brand up to the dominant
power player. Each of the four choices offers a different target focus, unique strategies, and tactics.
6. How to address your brand situation before you make your next move Page 68
• Before initiating your plan, you must understand what is happening internally, within your own company.
You can learn four distinct situations, including fueling the momentum, fix it, re-alignment, or a start-up.
Each situation has different indicators and recommended strategies, as well as advice on the leadership
style to engage.
7. How to define the ideal target market to build your brand around Page 76
• Everything must start with the consumer target you will serve. I will show how to develop a consumer
profile that includes a segmented definition, consumer insights, consumer enemies, need states, and the
desired response that matches your overall strategy.
8. How to define your brand positioning to help your brand win Page 91
• You will learn the four elements of a brand positioning statement including the target you serve, the
category you play in, the space you serve that will help you win, and deal-closing support points—the best
positioning balances functional and emotional benefits. You will access a tool to choose from more than 100
benefits.
9. How to create a brand idea you can build everything around Page 102
• To become a successful and beloved brand, you need a Brand Idea that is interesting, simple, unique,
inspiring, motivating, and own-able. I will introduce a tool to help build your Brand Idea, and how to build a
winning brand concept.
10. How to use your brand idea to organize everything you do Page 113
• Use the brand idea to organize everything you do around five consumer touch-points, including the brand
promise, brand story, innovation, purchase moment and the consumer experience. The brand idea should
organize your brand positioning, advertising, media, product innovation, selling, retailing, and the
consumer experience. Learn how to build a brand credo, and brand story. We use Ritz-Carlton and Apple
case studies to support the learning.
11. How to build a brand plan everyone can follow Page 124
• Use a one-page format to simplify and organize your brand plan so everyone in your organization can
follow it with ease. You will learn how to find your brand vision, purpose, key issues, strategies, execution
tactics, and measurements.

19. 12. How to build your brand’s execution plans Page 142
• Once you draft your brand plan, it is time to build separate execution plans with crystal clear strategies for
those who will execute on your brand's behalf. I will show how to complete a brand communication plan,
execution plan, and sales plan.
13. How to write a creative brief to set up brilliant execution Page 151
• The bridge between your brand plan and marketing execution is the creative brief. I will show how to write
a world-class brief using a recommended format. We will review smart and bad examples of a brief, broken
out on a line-by-line basis. I also introduce a mini-brief for when you are time-pressed.
14. How to run your brand’s advertising process Page 164
• I will take you through the ten steps to inspiring greatness from those experts you engage. I will introduce
a predictive model that measures branded breakthrough and a motivating message to consumers.
15. How to make advertising decisions using our ABC’s model Page 172
• This section outlines principles for achieving Attention, Brand link, Communication, and Stickiness—the
model I call the ABC’s. I will show examples of some of the best ads in the history of branding, to support
those principles. I hope it will challenge your thinking about your brand’s advertising.
16. How to make media decisions to break through the cluttered media world Page 187
• Six questions help you frame your media plan. Consider factors such as your brand's budget size, your
brand's core strength and how tightly connected your brand is with consumers. Then identify which point
on the consumer journey you wish to impact, where your consumers are most willing to engage your
message and what media choices best fit with your creative execution.
17. How to conduct a deep-dive business review to uncover brand issues Page 199
• The deep-dive review forces a 360-degree view of your brand by looking into the marketplace, consumers,
channels, competitors, and the brands. You will learn some of the best analytical tools, including consumer
tracking, customer scorecards, brand funnels, and the leaky bucket. I provide the 50 best analytical
questions to get you started, and a format for how to bring it all together into a business review
presentation.
18. Marketing Finance 101 to help manage your brand’s profitability Page 214
• Learn what you need to know about brand finance, including the eight ways you can drive profit. Learn how
to dissect an income statement and use the essential financial formulas that marketers need to know
including return on investment (ROI), growth, forecasting, cost of goods sold (COGS), and compound
annual growth rate (CAGR).
!19