Brand Point Management: Creating Compelling and Consistent Brand Experiences
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This white paper discusses the concept of brand point management, emphasizing the need for companies to create compelling and consistent brand experiences across various consumer touchpoints. As product choices and consumer expectations increase, manufacturers and retailers must adapt through collaboration and innovative strategies to engage shoppers effectively. Brand point management not only enhances brand affinity but also streamlines processes for faster market responses and optimized consumer interactions.
Brand Point Management: Creating Compelling and Consistent Brand Experiences
- 1. Brand Point ManageMent Creating Compelling and Consistent Brand Experiences WHITE PAPER 1
- 2. taBLe oF ContentS ExECuTIvE SuMMARy 3 BRAnd PERfoRMAnCE In TodAy’S GloBAl MARkETPlACE 4 »The new World for Brands: More Segments, More locations, More noise »The new World for Manufacturers and Retailers: Collaboration »Brand Performance and the Consumer Experience WHAT IS BRAnd PoInT MAnAGEMEnT? 6 BRAnd PoInT MAnAGEMEnT IlluSTRATEd: ConTInuITy fRAMEWoRk 7 dEPloyMEnT ARCHITECTuRE 8 dElIvERInG BRAnd PoInT MAnAGEMEnT 9 »Strategic Expertise »Creative Expertise »Executional Expertise WHERE IT HAPPEnS: EnvIRonMEnTS 11 »At Home »on the Go »At the Store »on the Shelf SuSTAInABIlITy And BRAnd PoInT MAnAGEMEnT 13 THE fuTuRE of BRAnd PoInT MAnAGEMEnT 14 SCHAWk: PoSITIonEd To lEAd 15 Brand Point Management 2
- 3. exeCutive SuMMary Consumer-products companies are facing the most challenging period in their history. long-standing marketing realities are changing radically, and as a result, manufacturers and retailers must redefine how they engage with shoppers. Here are the realities: » Product choices are mushrooming, and new-product offerings are growing in importance as nimble, low-priced manufacturers muscle in on traditional territory. » Consumers are reacting to choice and price competition by becoming less brand- and channel-loyal. » Consumers are taking in their media in more-fragmented, less-predictable ways, requiring marketers to reach them closer to the purchase itself, in contexts that were relatively overlooked before. Manufacturers and retailers must focus their attention – and develop processes – to create very compelling and consistent brand experiences where those experiences can have the most impact. This can be at home, “on the go,” at many places around or inside the store, and on the store shelf itself. The common thread is that these are environments where the consumer is in a purchase mode. In a world rife with fragmented marketing channels and messages, these environments are crucial to creating a powerful brand – and to generating sales. furthermore, in a world of shrinking margins, where time-to-market is increasingly important and global integration – at all stages in the development and production process – is essential to building a brand, it is imperative to create brand messages that are both compelling and consistent – messages that are efficient to deliver and powerful, that turn shoppers into buyers. This is brand point management, and it applies to every stage of a product’s life. Brand point management requires broad and deep capabilities in strategy, creative and execution. And it requires collaboration around the globe. With a framework that addresses brand points at home, on the go, at the store and on the shelf, Schawk is uniquely positioned to lead the industry in delivering brand point management. Brand Point Management 3
- 4. Brand PerForManCe in today’S gLoBaL MarketPLaCe It used to be that marketers could hope that a brand’s lifespan would be measured in decades, growing in strength over time. In today’s fast-paced, over- stimulated, consumer-driven world, a brand has a very short window to prove itself, and a much tougher time holding its market-share. This is where the brand experience becomes paramount. new worLd For BrandS: More SegMentS, More LoCationS, More noiSe The changing household. The demands of busy lifestyles. The growing market for health and wellness, for consumer electronics, for sustainable products. These are just a few of the dynamics that have created an explosion of new market segments and a push for more personalized products. This has fueled innovation and, as a result, higher expectations and shorter attention spans among shoppers. Shoppers are getting harder to win and harder to keep. In the united States and Europe, nearly half (45 percent) of consumers believe that there is too much choice available for most purchase decisions.1 yet manufacturers feel pressure to innovate and expand, and in the u.S., more than 30,000 new products were introduced in 2006 alone. As a result, brand loyalty is decreasing among consumers: only one in 20 consumers is loyal to one brand in a given category.2 Making matters more challenging for brands is the shift in global population. By 2050, Europe will have 70 million fewer people than today, while Africa will have almost a billion more.3 This population change has already added to the diversity of our world and signals a near future in which certain cultures will exert new influences in commerce. At the same time, technology is connecting people around the world in powerful new ways and will only increase its impact on how and where consumers make brand choices. In the fourth quarter of 2007 alone, broadband subscriptions worldwide grew by nearly five percent – 16 million new subscriptions.4 It’s no surprise that consumers are moving more to the internet to research and learn about products and that brands are following them there. But this is also part of the reason the typical consumer now receives 3,000 marketing messages a day.5 the new worLd For ManuFaCturerS and retaiLerS: CoLLaBoration The challenge of satisfying demanding shoppers in more market segments is coupled with the fact that successful, lower-cost competition is putting even greater pressure on established manufacturers to get products to market quickly, and at a competitive price. At the same time, price is becoming more prominent in consumers’ selections of goods and services. 1 datamonitor, “How to Create Brand loyalty Among Today’s Consumers.” June 29, 2007. 2 deloitte, “Shopper Marketing: Capturing a Shopper’s Mind, Heart and Wallet.” 2007. 3 The nielson Company, “Marketing to the Global Consumer: understanding the Complexities of a diverse Population.” http://us.acnielsen.com/pubs/2006_q2_ci_global.shtml 4 Point Topic, “World Broadband Statistics, Q4 2007.” 5 deloitte. Brand Point Management 4
- 5. More than three-quarters of consumer-product companies now say new-product development is one driver – or the driver – of revenue, profit and marketshare growth.6 This is forcing companies to develop more efficient product-development infrastructures and requires more integrated collaboration across a wide range of internal and external partners in supply, design, manufacturing and service to reduce costs while getting to market faster than ever before. And while new products are top of mind, the same forces are pushing manufacturers to revitalize existing products through quality improvements and new packaging. Indeed, the average lifespan between package makeovers is now two years, compared to seven or more a decade ago.7 The aim is to make the shopping experience more fun, more educational and more compelling – just like good advertising itself. In store, retailers are trying to create a faster, easier and less-cluttered experience. Store brands are also gaining market share, with approximately 80 percent of consumers stating that private label brands are a good alternative to other brands.8 In the past decade, retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Sainsburys and Carrefour have gone heavily into proprietary brands. Safeway took this one step further in 2005, consolidating 70 store brands into 10 “power brands” to eliminate redundancy and underperforming items. As of early 2008, those brands represented 17 percent of its sales.9 This puts pressure on manufacturer brands, no doubt. But it also opens up opportunities for collaboration between retailers and manufacturers to develop mutually beneficial products and promotional strategies. It also puts a spotlight on the very beginning of a product’s life, as a crucial point for the beginning of collaboration with all manner of vendors. As one report put it, “Consumer companies must develop a highly efficient product development infrastructure that supports a high degree of collaboration, control and reuse across a distributed environment of engineers and other business functions, as well as external supply, design, manufacturing and service partners.”10 (figure 1) promotional promotional agencies agencies printers printers figure 1: Meeting the demands of today’s marketplace requires greater collaboration up and down the supply chain, but most designers retaiLer ManuFaCturer designers importantly, winning the consumer requires collaborative solutions that leverage both retailer and manufacturer brands to create regulatory regulatory an experience. agencies agencies research/ research/ analytics firms analytics firms collaboration collaboration collaboration 6 Aberdeen Group, “Product development in Consumer Industries Benchmark.” 2004 7 The new york Times, “Product Packages now Shout to Get your Attention.” August, 10, 2007. 8 Mckinsey & Company, “Competing in the new World of Brands: The next Wave of Private label.” 2007. 9 Stores Magazine, “Betting the House on Private Brands.” february 2008. 10 Aberdeen Group. Brand Point Management 5
- 6. Brand PerForManCe and the ConSuMer exPerienCe Going forward, the winning brands – both manufacturer and store brands – will be those that are managed with the most insight into the consumer. for instance, statistics show that traditional advertising no longer generates the revenue boosts it once did. And stand-alone traditional merchandising methods are losing their leverage. Today, manufacturers realize that the greatest impact comes when brands are made meaningful and relevant across every consumer touchpoint. And it’s increasingly clear that the most influential touchpoints are those that are closest to the point of purchase. While the details change across geographies, marketing principles remain the same: consumers want high perceived value bolstered by affinity for the brand. Manufacturers must leverage the uniqueness of their brands for each key market segment, and connect with consumers in a way that creates a compelling and consistent brand experience, creating the lift they seek and turning shoppers into buyers. This calls for brand point management. what iS Brand Point ManageMent? Brand point management is the strengthening of a brand through the delivery of compelling and consistent brand experiences that create greater affinity between consumer and brand. Brand point management touches all phases of a product’s life – from ideation to design to market implementation – because all phases contribute to that moment of interaction between that consumer and the brand. Brand point management is focused primarily on the areas of contact with a shopper that will enhance desire for a brand and ultimately entice purchase. It does not necessarily include broad forms of advertising, such as television and radio – although brand point management needs to take a brand’s advertising strategy carefully into account. The key distinction is this: while advertising’s chief role is to create awareness and drive interest in new products and keep established brands top-of-mind, brand point management is sharply focused on those make-or-break moments when a consumer is in shopping mode. Its purpose is focused on turning shoppers into buyers. Wherever shoppers and brands interact – at home, on the go, at the store or on the shelf – all brand points within those environments must be compelling and consistent. for a single product to travel from conception to production to packaging to marketing and to the shelf, brand point management must be incorporated through the entire process: » Brand research and strategy, category audits and process management » Concept design, including naming, branding, package design, sales collateral and environmental design » Retail marketing, such as fSIs, direct mail and point-of-sale displays » Production implementation, including a huge range of graphic services and premedia » Enterprise support, including digital asset management, online proofing and project management » Tools and processes along the workflow supply chain, and a footprint large enough to mirror the product’s own geographical market » Global collaboration and local delivery Brand Point Management 6
- 7. The results are significant: brand point management can help streamline brand portfolios; create time, production and budget efficiencies; and offer increased speed to market and quicker reaction to market trends and needs. These practical benefits dovetail with benefits perceived by the consumer: brand messages that speak to a shopper’s needs and desires and do so consistently wherever that shopper touches the brand. Brand Point ManageMent iLLuStrated: Continuity FraMework The promise of brand point management is the strengthening of a brand’s connection with the consumer. Schawk has developed a framework that focuses on the continuity of compelling brand experiences as the active consumer moves through multiple environments: at home, on the go, at the store and on the shelf. Brand points in each of these are made compelling and consistent through three core competencies: strategic planning, creative design and executional excellence. (figure 2) These competencies help marketers better execute product innovation in creating the structure and graphics for packaging, in facilitating and managing the printing of packaging, in designing the store environment and in-store displays, and in creating the promotional work that drives consumers to the store. This framework is even more important as these environments can both stand alone and overlap. Brand point management’s strict aim is to ensure that brand points in each of these environments complement and strengthen each other. for example, messaging and imaging in a catalogue should be carried over to a billboard and to store-floor graphics and on the product package itself. In fact, some of these contexts overlap quite literally. outdoor signage can share visual space with the store itself, and in-store environmental signage can be strategically close to the product on the shelf. In today’s marketplace, brand points are everywhere, and they must be mutually reinforcing. Brand point management is the framework and guide for this. your Brand at hoMe on the go StrategiC exPertiSe figure 2: your brand touches the consumer most compellingly when ConSuMer a synthesis of strategic, creative Creative exPertiSe and executional expertise carries the message consistently through at the Store on the SheLF four key shopper environments. exeCutionaL exPertiSe Brand Point Management 7
- 8. dePLoyMent arChiteCture Brand point management is the creation of compelling and consistent brand- point experiences that generate greater affinity and turn shoppers into buyers, across multiple shopping environments and across broad geographies. At Home, on the Go, At the Store, on the Shelf figure 3: Ensuring compelling and consistent brand experiences across shopper environments exPerientiaL FunCtionaL requires synthesizing and Strategic Planning, Premedia, Prepress, coordinating expertise relating Creative design Print Management to the shopper’s experience and to the functional requirements of producing creative elements. Workflow Management Global footprint In today’s quickly changing global marketplace, brand point management means that a package on the shelf in San francisco must present brand attributes that are consistent with a PoP display in Shenzhen and with a newspaper insert in london. To help understand this coordination, brand point management can be seen as having two components within a deployment architecture. (figure 3) The experiential component is executed through strategic planning and creative design, and its goal is to ensure that brand experiences are compelling. » Strategic planning includes research into consumer preferences and competitive offerings, and determining how to optimize the presentation of key brand attributes throughout the relevant shopper environments. » Creative design is the manifestation of those determinations in terms of copy, design and materials. The functional component is executed through premedia, prepress and print management, and its goal is to ensure that brand experiences are consistent globally and that brand equity and intellectual property are protected, as well. » Premedia, prepress and print management are where most of the ideas and energy involved in the previous stages are brought to life, in the form of materials that present brand messages at all brand points. In several ways, this large and vital functional stage can have a great influence on improving product agility and lowering production cost: » When taken into account during the strategic and creative phases, there are proven cost-savings long-term, resulting from superior designs and strategies and from production efficiencies. » In a world where products and services can be sourced worldwide, deft vendor management can create significant time savings and cost savings, to meet shopper demand and bottom-line mandates. Brand Point Management 8
- 9. Workflow management coordinates the deployment of resources – financial and human – across collaborating divisions and with outside partners, over a product’s geographic footprint. Along with digital asset management, a subset of workflow management, it reduces costs at all stages and improves agility in bringing products and brand messages to market quickly and effectively. In today’s marketplace, when these functions are executed over a global footprint, a brand’s marketing power is maximized and there are cost efficiencies throughout the product lifecycle. deLivering Brand Point ManageMent Today’s consumers expect everything and compromise on almost nothing. They want a more personal shopping experience – at all points in their decision-making process. for the manufacturer, this requires precise strategy, creative excellence and flawless execution, for it’s vital to understand a consumer’s demands, create compelling communications and deliver those consistently no matter the brand point. StrategiC exPertiSe Compelling and consistent do not happen without strategy. There must be objective insights (through brand and channel audits and audience analysis) and instinctive insights (into human behavior) for a brand’s message to be compelling – to resonate with increasingly demanding shoppers at all touchpoints. There must be similar insight into retailers and the changing retail environment. As retail channels increase – but the number of retailers overall shrinks – there are complex dynamics that must be considered, in how retailers interact with brands and with consumers. With large retailers now setting the agenda for issues like in-store marketing and product sustainability, strategists must consider these as well. And with retailers and brands facing many individual pressures, strategies that achieve collaboration between the two can have excellent results – although this can require some deft politics. finally, considerable thought must be put into how all strategic elements will be executed in the creative and production phases of brand materials. Raw materials are increasingly expensive today, but burgeoning global production efficiencies can offset this. In light of all these factors, strategy is a vast, complex expertise. from product ideation to marketing to design to pre-production and production – all tied together by workflow management – strategy is crucial in setting the context for a successful brand. Brand point management must be brought to bear throughout the strategic stage. Brand Point Management 9
- 10. Creative exPertiSe The stakes have never been higher for the creative element in product marketing. The pressures facing brands and retailers – growing product choice, global competition, diminishing shopper loyalty, the pressure to innovate, fragmented media, brand-message overload – all call for a very high level of creative sophistication if a brand is to generate affinity and make sales. Through its creative features, packaging must command attention and convey brand attributes attractively, and do so consistently wherever that product and its promotional materials appear. This has to be considered at the brand-development stage and be executed through strategic design, structural design, environmental design, retail design and more. It goes more granular, too – in retouching, in adaptive design across individual Skus and distinct cultures globally, in dimensional imaging, 3d imaging and more. Brand compliance and digital asset management are foundational services that apply throughout the creative stage. Within brand point management, the creative component in a product’s lifecycle will synergize with strategy and execution, and the most effective vendors of creative services will have deep institutional knowledge of those other services – and thus be able either to provide them for stronger solutions and cost savings or to collaborate with other vendors for superior results for the shared client. In either case, this is brand point management at its most effective. exeCutionaL exPertiSe As the stakes rise for strategy and creative, they rise for execution as well. Strategies increasingly encompass a broader range of media, and as creative efforts increase to keep pace with strategies, execution must keep pace with both. This means that premedia, prepress and print management must continue to make technological advances, and that workflow management and digital asset management must encompass those advances. It means that these services must be delivered over an ever-larger geographical footprint and with increasing sensitivity to the distinct characteristics of cultures worldwide. vendors of services in the execution area must become experts in – or at least highly versed in – strategy and creative, as technological advances and globalization threaten to turn certain elements of execution into commodities. Actually, for those vendors, this is an opportunity to ensure their viability and to improve the finished product for clients, as experts in premedia and printing have unique insights into what’s possible in the way of strategy and creative. As many experts point out, this argues for partnering with executional vendors earlier and earlier in a brand’s lifecycle, and like so many of the scenarios described in this white paper, this calls for brand point management. Brand Point Management 10
- 11. where it haPPenS: environMentS It is instructive – in fact, vital – to see brand points occurring in four key environments where there is the greatest opportunity to turn shoppers into buyers: At Home, on the Go, At the Store and on the Shelf. at hoMe The home is the most effective environment in which to begin creating desire for brands and their products. But the home is also where the consumer’s attention is potentially most fragmented. domestic responsibilities and distractions can prevent concentration on media delivering brand messages, and these media are themselves under pressure. for example, the fragmentation of the television audience and the effects of digital video recorders like Tivo are well documented, as is the cannibalization of television by the internet. At the same time, consumers view the home as a private place and resist the obtrusive delivery of ad messages there. nevertheless, they do welcome advertising that is useful to them and will help them make purchasing decisions. numerous recent studies have corroborated the enduring strength of newspaper advertising, including fSIs. nearly two-thirds of u.S. adults use inserts to make shopping decisions in a given month, according to one study.11 And we see retailers and brands becoming more targeted in how they reach shoppers at home. Increasingly, catalogues are printed in regional variations – which emphasizes strategy, creative and execution in the brand management scheme. or retailers and brands that formerly produced broad marketing materials now produce smaller, more targeted and more attractive materials. And these materials now often have a new aim: to send shoppers to the web for more detailed information or to make purchases – calling for new messaging and imaging strategies. Brands must understand all of these unique dynamics in order to execute in a way that elicits both a positive response and a measurable one. It’s both art and science combined. direct mail, catalogs, fSIs and other types of printed communications targeted to consumers in the home can be extremely effective when manufacturers and retailers understand the category and the dynamics of how the products are shopped for and bought. Getting inside shoppers’ minds and influencing their decisions from the earliest stages is where smart companies can gain distinct competitive advantage in the marketplace. on the go Brand points encountered on the go are quite different from those at home. Billboards, posters, bus shelters, bus backs and sides, building wraps – the consumer interacts with these for a matter of seconds, rarely more, but the interaction can be intense and effective if the message is noticeable, easy to understand, not confusing verbally and visually, and memorable. The unusual sizes of these brand materials put emphasis on premedia and printing/production. There are special demands put on photography, retouching and creative imaging to ensure that the communications leverage the advantages of their large formats. The printing of such materials is a complex expertise in itself. from conception to production, on-the-go brand experiences are a special science, but the results can be exceptional when the strategy, creative and execution are done right. 11 MoRI Research, “Consumer usage of newspaper Advertising 2006.” Brand Point Management 11
- 12. at the Store The store has become a critical environment for brand points. This is illustrated by the fact that roughly three-quarters of purchase decisions are now made in-store, and a similar share on impulse, according to several studies. Creating compelling and consistent brand experiences in the store is extremely challenging for manufacturers, as every retail store is different, with varying levels of control exercised by the retailer. Thus there is an increasing focus on “shopper marketing” in its many definitions – all of them referring to sophisticated methods of influencing people in their roles as conscious consumers of products and brand messages. Shopper marketing acknowledges that many traditional types of “broadcast” marketing can’t be counted on today to deliver customary results. Therefore, greater emphasis is being placed on viewing the store as a marketing medium. Accordingly, manufacturers and retailers are working hard to modify the shopper’s in-store experience. no longer able to count on space for traditional PoP materials, brands are creating more eye-catching, larger and more interactive displays. But this depends on a superior relationship with retailers, who allocate such space judiciously. Another area of focus for manufacturers and retailers is trip-based merchandising, considering the types of trips people make to the store – from short jaunts to longer pantry-stocking trips, to special-occasion purchases or impulse trips. This is spurring the migration of products to new areas of the store, with cross-merchandising efforts such as combining food products to suggest a dinner, or combining certain wines with certain foods or certain cosmetics with certain age-group products, as examples in the grocery context. Category management is still another area of focus, with manufacturers and retailers working to create aisles that cater to specific categories, such as organic, ethnic or breakfast-specific sections. In-store marketing is a brave new world. Creating compelling and consistent brand experiences in every one of the instances described here requires strategy, creative and execution on local, regional, national and global levels. on the SheLF The shelf is ground zero for product marketing today. It is where shoppers are most engaged with a product and most inclined to buy. That’s why retailers and manufacturers are making enormous efforts to control this brand point. Shelf space is becoming even more crowded and competitive, as new brands fight for space, iconic brands re-invent themselves to attract attention and house brands become as sophisticated and popular as traditional national brands – and even become national brands themselves, distributed outside of their “home” chain. for all players, design and packaging are playing a key role, primarily to offer compelling, emotionally resonant brand experiences but also to comply with widely varied labeling requirements for contents and nutritional facts. on the shelf is where the revolution is happening. Packaging changes at record speed today, with all manufacturers tweaking designs on a regular basis, and iconic packages undergoing radical aesthetic and ergonomic changes. Brand Point Management 12
- 13. from a packaging standpoint, a product’s route to the shelf is long and complex – not surprising, given the importance of the on-the-shelf brand point. It includes package ideation, creative structural design (often using 3d visualization), photography/retouching/creative imaging, the adaptation of graphics for different cultures, digital asset management and print management. And the on-the-shelf brand point doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The power of a great package is increased when previous brand point experiences – At Home, on the Go and At the Store – are consistent with the message of the package itself. This is a crucial synergy. SuStainaBiLity and Brand Point ManageMent SChawk’S Seven PLedgeS For SuStainaBiLity Sustainability is more than a buzzword today: it is a rapidly evolving business practice that can positively impact manufacturers’ and retailers’ bottom lines Schawk’s sustainability efforts while conferring significant environmental benefits. go beyond direct reductions in resource use, to the streamlining Wal-Mart has supported this movement by pledging to reduce overall packaging by five percent over the next five of workflows and the production years. It is putting pressure on its suppliers by developing a packaging “scorecard” that evaluates and rates its of goods and services that exceed suppliers and is available to its buyers as they make purchasing decisions. And this, in turn, is putting pressure regulatory standards. Schawk’s on its competitors to match the efficiencies that will result and the consumer goodwill it will generate. seven pledges for sustainability cover the full range of its – and Because every one of the four brand point environments described in this document involves packaging its clients’ – business practices: and/or other manufactured materials, sustainability is a critical feature of brand point management going forward. It encompasses: • Use clean production technologies » Environmentally friendly technologies and production practices » Goods and services in line with regulatory and proprietary environmental aims • Provide goods/services that enable clients to meet and » Relationships with partners throughout the supply chain to share ideas and leverage knowledge, exceed regulatory initiatives and an in-house philosophy that fosters the same » Workflow streamlining • Build/develop idea exchange with clients, suppliers, » Promoting healthy environments in one’s own community and those of supply-chain partners products and service providers Sustainability initiatives fit hand-in-glove with the powerful technological momentum now driving the printing • Help clients streamline brand and packaging industries. Brand point management initiatives must address these innovations at all points in development workflows through the development process and across a wide geographical footprint. technology, materials and source reduction • Innovate new services and solutions that drive environmentally friendly brand development practices moving forward • Nurture a climate of innovation internally • Create healthy environments in the communities in which we live and work Brand Point Management 13
- 14. the Future oF Brand Point ManageMent It's instructive and exciting to view tomorrow’s shopper marketplace as one in which yesterday’s distinctions continue to be blurred. In past generations, a wide variety of retailers provided shelf space and brands provided goods for sale and the marketing behind them. vendors provided discrete services, ranging from strategic to executional, and the brand took charge in coordinating these. The marketing of goods evolved from a local and regional task to a national one, and vendors for packaging were sourced from relatively close to where the goods were created, while vendors for marketing materials were sourced close to where the goods were sold. All of these strict delineations have broken down and continue to be blurred today. Retailers – who are consolidating in number – have taken the upper hand in the store. And in making decisions about in-store marketing – and even in marketing their own brands – they have taken much turf from the brands. Brands are responding with a push for new items and in revamps of existing items and packaging. In an era of globalization, the traditional array of discrete vendors “close to home” is being replaced by a worldwide vendor network to maximize speed to market, sourcing efficiencies and the bottom line. And vendors are striving to be more things to more people, branching beyond their previous areas of expertise – both to maximize their own usefulness and to respond to global forces that are commoditizing some executional functions while putting greater emphasis on strategic and creative. And all of this is being played out in a world of ever-shifting media, where wireless technology is making it possible to serve up marketing images wherever a consumer might be, where design, premedia and printing services that were once done manually and visually are now done online and automatically. It’s a world in which a stunning percentage of product images are computer-generated – not simply photographs of real, tangible objects – and where those images must be printed on myriad high-tech and eco-friendly substrates. And it’s a world where printing technologies have become so powerful that every public surface is potentially a palette for brand messages. As these distinctions continue to blur, brands and retailers must take firmer control of all lifecycle phases of the products they sell. They must see and coordinate the synergies of strategy, creative and execution across all shopper environments, whether they handle this in-house, hire many discrete vendors or contract for synthesized services from one or a few. To take this control, they – and their vendors – must practice brand point management. In a shifting, changing world, the importance of the brand point – that powerful moment when all forces converge and a shopper interacts with a brand – is the one constant. Brand Point Management 14
- 15. SChawk: PoSitioned to Lead Historical perspective helps when it comes to understanding the changes of today and tomorrow. Schawk has seen them coming. Schawk’s historical roots stretch back more than 50 years into the execution of brand marketing – into a very wide range of graphics and premedia services. But through intelligent growth and by watching clients’ needs closely, Schawk has developed skills and services that guide the life of a brand from the very concept of a new product to the printing of its packaging and promotional marketing materials, worldwide. Schawk has forged deep relationships worldwide with manufacturers and retailers alike, and is in the special position of being able to encourage collaboration among them. With thousands of employees working on four continents, Schawk can prepare brands and retailers for engagement with consumers at countless brand points around the globe – from consulting and strategic planning, through the conception and design of every kind of printed brand material, to oversight of all premedia processes and enterprise services that mesh with your strategy – and with all of our services – to ensure compelling, consistent brand execution worldwide. There are international companies with offices worldwide, and there are global companies, whose offices collaborate in ways that truly leverage that footprint. Schawk’s history, people, skills and relationships are strongly oriented around brand point management in all of its forms and nuances. In a marketplace where brand point management holds the key to compelling and consistent brand experiences – and to bottom-line success – Schawk is positioned to lead. Brand Point Management 15
- 16. Schawk, Inc., (nySE: SGk), is a leading provider of brand point management services, enabling companies of all sizes to connect their brands with consumers to create deeper brand affinity. With a global footprint of more than 60 offices, Schawk helps companies create compelling and consistent brand experiences by providing integrated strategic, creative and executional services across brand touchpoints. founded in 1953, Schawk is trusted by many of the world’s leading organizations to help them achieve global brand consistency. for more information about Schawk, visit http://www.schawk.com. © 2008 Schawk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. no part of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the copyright holder. SCHAWk is a registered trademark of Schawk, Inc.