This is the presentation on brand strategy in turbulent socio-economic conditions that I gave at the 2011 Branding Conference in South Africa. A key part of the presentation was the use of scenario planning. I also spoke about Sagacite's work on rapid adaptive strategies. I have added a couple of notes to several of the more obscure slides to help viewers understand what I talking about.
1. scenarios as the foundation of brand
strategy in today’s volatile socio-
economic and business environment
Patrick Collings
Sagacite
Branding Conference
8 - 9 June 2011
by mark visosky
2. introduction to a new
way of thinking about
brand strategy
photo by bart
7. ...and if they were bic pens
Note: Spoke about how deciding where you want to position a brand determines the
entire organizational structure and operation. Example of expensive and cheap pens.
8. “...many enlightened organizations are moving
branding entirely away from communications
and toward connecting strategy, culture, and a
wider stakeholder involvement.”
Nicholas Ind & Majken Schultz
Strategy + Business
10. the world is facing increased
turbulence over the next
decade and beyond
Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World
released by the National Intelligence Council
11. caused by leadership change in emerging
markets, major policy shifts by governments,
increased armed conflict, interlinked economies,
budget cuts by local and national government
by antitezo
28. one that accepts that we can’t predict the
future and should concentrate on being
flexible enough to successfully engage it, in
whatever form it may take
29. “Giving up the illusion that you can predict
the future is a very liberating moment. All
you can do is to give yourself the capacity
to respond to the only certainty in life -
which is uncertainty. The creation of that
capability is the purpose of strategy”
Lord John Browne, former CEO BP
30. “Nearly all of the Best Global Brands have
embraced the idea of constant change,
evolution and innovation, and are able to
continually meet the changing requirements
of this customers.”
Interbrand Best Global Brand 2010
41. approaches
Royal Dutch/Shell & Global Business Network
The French School
The Futures Group
Wilson and Ralston
Lindgren and Bandhold
Reference scenarios
Decision Strategies International
Procedural scenarios
Industry scenarios
Soft creative scenarios
45. learning to learn
learning must be a continuous
process and involve learning to re-
perceive or reinterpret a situation
46. start with a question
scenarios start by isolating the relevant
decision that needs to be made
47. gather the information
be flexible as you gather broadly and narrowly,
focus on the question but not at the detriment
of the unexpected and look for disconfirming
evidence
48. identify the drivers
identify the driving forces that influence
the outcome of events: some will be
obvious and others less so.
49. composing the plots
build the scenarios around four questions:
what are the driving forces, what is uncertain,
what is inevitable, how about this or that
scenario
50. the simple 4 choices
keep the scenario exercise to four simple
and realistic plots that lead to different
choices for the original decision
51. keep talking & watching
developing and maintaining scenarios is an
ongoing process of tracking developments,
assessment, extrapolation and questioning
52. and then the process often implodes
image by jim sher
62. “In the next few years, successful companies
will distinguish themselves by managing
uncertainity better than do their competitors.
The very best will create uncertainity for their
competitors to struggle with - and there will
be hell to pay by those who fall behind.”
George Stalk
Senior Partner and Managing Director
The Boston Consulting Group
63. Note: Spoke about how computer and mobile companies not only have to worry
about socio-economic issues but also what game-changing offerings Apple releases.