The necessary logic of brand communication plan

Communication is only a subsystem in the brand system, so planning is very necessary.

Every big idea is just an eye-catching link, it is not everything, so what is the whole? Next, let’s take a look at the necessary logic and elements of a communication plan .

Necessary logic of communication plan

First of all, a communication plan requires three steps: front, middle and back. Creative development is only one link in the middle. We have to do so many things to make a communication plan well. This is a very complicated step.

Another boss tells you to ask Zhang San, Li Si, and Wang Wu to write a plan within one day. You tell your boss that a plan is very difficult to write, and that the plan needs a very strong logic to support it and very strong creativity to guide it, so it will take you at least a week to complete this work.

In this way, we will know how demanding the boss's time requirements are. People often say that you should use logic to argue, not creativity to persuade, because if you talk to your boss with your personal opinions, the boss has his own ideas, but when you put forward the workload, the boss may be speechless. Let's get back to the topic and talk about how to complete the work.

forward

The research we talked about before is a task in the preliminary review. Through research, we can better formulate goals, know what our goals are, and at the same time, state the measurement standards.

middle

In the middle link, we need to gain insights, and the insight analysis will serve creativity. Once the big idea comes out, we will know how to plan the content and design the information, as well as the media selection and budget combination. These four parts 3456 are also a focus of our discussion today.

back

After writing the plan, there is still a later stage. Don’t think that everything will be fine after writing the plan. There is still execution. After execution, a review summary and feedback guidance are needed. Has the plan been implemented? Are there any bugs? Why is the result like this? How do we summarize it to guide the next plan and have better data support? These are all things that our brand and marketers need to do. In fact, we need to learn this from our operations colleagues, which is to present the results in the form of data and to express the data in a process-based manner. These are some necessary tasks that we always have to do.

The same plan is also implemented in the front, middle and back

Similarly, the execution of a plan also requires early, mid and late stages, so how do we design a communication plan? It is necessary to reserve time for preheating, going online, and subsequent finishing. This is a real case. Let’s see how he did it. It can generally be divided into these four actions.

Let's first list a cycle, which is actually a time planning table. Of course, it may need to be divided into more detailed ones.

The second is the content of the third section I just mentioned, which is the content process design. We must definitely do several very important parts of the content. In each stage, it may be enough to do one or two contents for you. We must make these contents in line with the big idea and be able to effectively guide the dissemination to be implemented.

At the same time, we need to think about channels and information, what our information says, and how to express it through different channels. This is an integration that we need to think about.

Therefore, the content planning, information design, and media selection mentioned just now are all the key contents that we want to reflect in this plan.

Of course, there is also a budget combination. We have to report to our boss how much money we are going to spend and how much work we are going to do. We also have to give our boss a set of standards to let him know whether my money is overspent and whether it is worth the money. This needs to be explained in detail in the following content.

Recommended tool: the most practical communication methodology that runs through the brand concept

I would like to recommend a good tool to everyone, which is a practical methodology called message house. I believe that many of my friends from the second party will feel familiar with the message house. This is a modified template of a brand communication house, which you can apply to your own work.

First of all, we must emphasize that strategy cannot go wrong. Communication is a subsystem in a brand system. The large system revolves around our brand positioning, so our core value proposition, our values, and our tone must be reflected in it. However, these contents can only be achieved by managers or directors who have worked for 3-8 years.

The second is that we need to come up with the big idea under the guidance of this strategy. The big idea is actually the keyword we want to spread. Of course, it must be consistent with our brand story and our brand logo.

Then you will find that our content, information and channels are three very important elements. This is also a manifestation of our ability to implement communication plans.

Content includes events, activities and other ways and methods. Information is who you say it to, what you say and how you say it. Channels are where you say it and in what scenarios. So these are all logical lines that make our plans more meaningful and informative. We basically organize and implement our plans through such logical lines.

Finally, there is the issue of coordinating resources. We need to organize all the resources you need to coordinate, including money, people, things, and objects.

The underlying rules of content production

People often say that they don’t know what to write about communication plans and that it is difficult to write. In fact, this is a process of continuous deduction, turning the big idea into a key message, and turning the key message into a message house.

We find out our core information from the big idea, and we build an information house under the core information. In this way, we should know how to design our communication plan.

Five core elements must be addressed

Let's think more specifically about the five core elements we need to solve: how to say it, to whom to say it, in what situation to say it, where to say it and what to say. These are five very important elements.

How to say it?

First of all, it is actually a question of brand tone. For example, they both talk about joy, but the joy of McDonald's and the joy of Coca-Cola are completely different. One is pure and carefree joy, and the other is passionate and joyful.

The tone is formed based on our strategic positioning. This requires information from our superiors and customers. We cannot decide whether it should be humorous, relaxed, warm or radical by ourselves, because we cannot make the final judgment on the brand strategy, so we have to ask others.

Who to say?

The second is who we are talking to. Who are our TAs and who are the targets of our communication? In fact, the general direction is often given by our bosses and customers, who are our target audiences? But most of the time, the information they provide is very vague, such as middle-aged women aged 35 to 55, big cities. It is basically the same as not saying anything. So we may need to process it ourselves and see how we can refine and optimize our brand goals in this specific plan goal.

In what context?

The third thing is the situation. It is necessary to set up a sense of scene. Wu Sheng wrote a book called "Scene Revolution". I think there are many cases worth learning from. We have come across some cases before, and their scene design really makes our communication more fulfilling.

For example, there is a brand called "Wanruo Guli". The sense of scene it designed is to tell you that I am a hometown person. It also talked about how it made our communication more efficient through the realization of big ideas.

Where to say it?

Another thing is where to say it. Where to say it is actually a choice of brand channel, whether you are online or offline. In fact, no matter where we say it, it also depends on what means we use to cooperate with each other.

For example, if we use viral videos, then online dissemination may be more suitable. For example, if it is endorsed by a celebrity, it would be more suitable to be widely disseminated through mass media. Therefore, this is also an option that can be effectively coordinated with our previous content.

say what?

Finally, what you say is the brand communication information. What core information are you talking about, what is your selling point, and what is your content? These are all conclusions we need to draw from early insights and research.

A real case

Now that you have seen many basic concepts and model diagrams above, let us use a real case to explain to you how the communication plan is implemented.

This is a project of a brand consulting company, called Tanzhi Study Tour. Of course, the premise of Tanzhi Study Tour is that the brand positioning has been readjusted. As mentioned before, brand communication is only a subsystem in the brand system. When the entire system is mispositioned, communication cannot really solve the fundamental problem.

So when they entered this project, they found that it was previously called Yuetu Travel and was positioned as a high-end travel project. This positioning was not very accurate, and it was impossible to stand out in the overall perception. So they made drastic changes in their strategic analysis and changed its name and visual image. This is also a necessary action to reorganize the strategy of the first system and the performance of the second system of the brand.

Of course, they also designed some new experience links in the brand experience, but this time in this case study we will talk specifically about how its communication was done.

When it comes to communication, we have to think about what kind of resource advantages it has to do a good job of communication. I found that this company has just entered the market after financing, and it does not have too much money to carry out large-scale popularization and promotion. Moreover, its products are relatively niche. They are cultural exploration tourism products targeting some special tourist destinations, such as branches in the Amazon, or the birthplace of Mayan culture in Peru. The cost-effectiveness of these relatively high-end niche products is not very good. In my opinion, they are relatively expensive, but its advantage is that it has a very strong team of mentors to follow the group.

In other words, during this trip, you will travel with top scholars and mentors from Tsinghua University, Peking University, CEIBS, and Cheung Kong University. They are very knowledgeable, and they can also serve as excellent tour guides, helping you to truly feel the profound heritage behind that place and that history.

After the brand consulting company discovered this advantage, they actually saw that its dissemination at this stage has both marketing and branding purposes, that is, it has to sell goods and increase brand awareness, because after all, it has to survive.

Therefore, the company focused on a communication action, which is to hold press conferences and user meetings, because these circles are very small, and people in these circles will know some mentors. Therefore, alumni associations of EMBAs such as CEIBS and Cheung Kong are the most important push channels, and we will also communicate with them extensively through cooperation with them.

After doing several small-scale activities, we found that we still need to hold a relatively large-scale press conference in order to make it have a certain influence in the world and allow it to be truly presented in front of everyone. Because it is not possible to invite all the tutors to the scene every time we do a small activity, and many tutors are unlikely to attend a small event, so the company planned this press conference for Exploration Study Tour, called Multi-Dimensional Me and the World.

In fact, it can be called a brand launch conference as well as a product launch conference. Since the launch of new products will bring new sales opportunities, the company has preset such a communication plan, which is also divided into three stages: front, middle and back.

The early stage is preheating. Through the design of H5, the company allows people in the internal circle to forward the posters and endorse them. Through some interpersonal relationships, some EMBA students who have used the product can come forward to verify the goodness of the product and share their photos.

In the middle stage, this press conference presented comprehensive brand information and product information. Finally, at the end, the design of discount codes was used to carry out secondary promotion and secondary sales conversion.

Basically, it was such a communication plan that guided the implementation of this press conference. The entire press conference scene was relatively simple, presenting a very mysterious exploration atmosphere through audio-visual effects. The emphasis on the multi-dimensional self and the world also fits the brand's positioning, which is to have a dialogue between you and the world. It has become the first domestic travel product to explore humanistic travel and enhance cognition.

The entire press conference was the announcement of information, the mentor's testimony, and the presentation of new products with pictures and texts. Although the process was simple, I was very happy with the final result, which was to see that his sales probability increased by 37.5% compared to usual. This is a very good conversion of sales results.

You will see that a simple release does not just do one thing, it is actually a systematic link throughout the entire brand, allowing you to better connect with your users.

Of course, there are many unsatisfactory aspects of this dissemination, such as the lack of more extensive and sensational dissemination online, and the lack of money to invite big Vs to repost it. These are all limited actions based on online restrictions.

Reviewing the underlying communication actions taken by Tanzhi Study Abroad

Let's take a look at how the underlying actions of this solution are designed.

First, determine your goals

We know what the goal of our communication is. It is for the dual goals of sales and brand, that is to say, integrating marketing and brand.

Second, insight analysis

Let's analyze these students and where these real users come from. Most of them come from the EMBA student circle, so these people are not active Internet users. They are unlikely to participate in any social media activities on the Internet with you, and they don't even pay much attention to those active big Vs. So a simple press conference is a reason for them to attend, because there are people they respect, alumni like them, and very high-end social venues. They are actually willing to take time out to attend such events.

Third, leverage resources

Leverage resources, leverage resources are his teachers. Their teachers are very authoritative, and they are well-known mentors in the entire EMBA circle. These resources are actually the resources we can leverage, and they are also the greatest influence that can be exerted in communication.

Fourth, choose the channel

The reason they did not choose online secondary dissemination this time was, firstly, due to funding, and secondly due to user demand. Overall, they carried out the event offline, and conducted secondary releases through financial media and social media, and carried out some small-scale promotions in the industry.

Fifth, publish

The timing of their release is also relatively good, coinciding with the summer vacation, which is actually a peak sales season, allowing users to spend a happy vacation with their families and children.

Sixth, monitoring feedback

We also monitored and fed back the data to see if there was an increase in online WeChat logins and app usage, and were able to see our real data results through our survey questionnaires and discount code promotions.

The difference between B2B and B2C in communication

Now that we have finished talking about the above case, I would also like to share with you the differences between 2B and 2C communications. Because these two different types of companies still have great differences in communication. 2B companies are all application scenario-based education, and 2C companies are all lifestyle education.

The B2B industry has five characteristics:

1. Decision makers are dual

The decision maker has a dual identity. On the one hand, he is the decision maker of the enterprise and has a social personality. At the same time, he is also a real consumer and actually has his own character traits. So when he makes a decision, he takes both factors into consideration. Of course, the premise is that social decisions account for a larger proportion.

2. Strong operation of industry sales meetings

Another aspect is that many 2B companies will do a lot of sales meetings, which is the so-called conference marketing. So why do this? This is because their circle is very narrow. The 2B industry actually has a circle culture. Although the detection we are talking about is a 2C product, it also has certain marketability in this circle, so it is also very suitable for this kind of offline circle activities.

3. Maintenance of technical leaders and experts (KOL)

The influence of experts, KOLs and leaders in the 2B industry should not be underestimated. They may even have a more profound influence on the public than celebrities, because they determine the direction of many industry policies and even the impact on the industry and some life-and-death matters of the entire industry's products.

For example, pharmaceutical companies will spend a lot of energy, time and even money to maintain medical experts. Their professional evaluation will affect whether the drug sells well or not, and it is a very important judgment factor.

4. Build an ecosystem and share users

In addition, generally leading brands will build an ecosystem, that is, they will become a leading brand in the industry, and will engage in industrial collaboration with upstream and downstream enterprise chains, so that more industries can be influenced by them through industrial collaboration.

Whether it is Huawei or Tencent, they will hold many large-scale industry collaboration activities to carry out disguised brand promotion and publicity.

5. Emphasize usage scenarios and vertical expertise when communicating

Another point is that communication emphasizes usage scenarios and vertical expertise, so his 2B industry communication is significantly different from 2C.

The B2B industry has four characteristics:

1. Deep user insights are needed to truly understand user needs and usage preferences

You may often see 2C in the market, which requires very strong user insight capabilities. After all, each person is different, and deep insights are needed for creative guidance, so that it can support more people to a greater extent. Therefore, it is necessary to understand user needs and usage preferences.

2. Strengthen community maintenance

The operation and maintenance of communities among the 2C population is actually becoming an increasingly important focus, because communities can connect our users with brands more directly. So you will see that these previous brands, whether it is P&G, Coca-Cola or Haier, these former giants, will show off their cuteness on Weibo and then directly interact with our users. This also shows that communication is becoming more decentralized and direct.

3. Integrate channel resources and focus on new forms of channel development

Another thing is that the competition in 2C is very fierce, so it requires new ways of playing with different and new media channels, and then introduces new forms of development, so you will find that many new ways of communication jump out directly in the 2C field.

For example, the previous H5, some viral video marketing methods, poster scanning and forwarding, etc., all became popular in 2C.

4. Emphasize lifestyle education during communication

At the same time, 2C products generally educate about lifestyle. That is, most of the 2C products are about life style, which is more of a life scenario-based education.

Different communication points between B2B and B2C companies

They have different communication points in different communications. The basic roadmap mentioned earlier is from focusing on interests to information satisfaction, eliminating concerns, to exclusive symbols, core differences, to setting demand emotions and stimulating sharing.

In these six steps, we found that 2B actually needs to spend more time on the third stage, which is information satisfaction and eliminating concerns, because eliminating concerns is a very important assessment of 2B decision-making.

Imagine that when your decision-maker imports a batch of computers, in order to demonstrate his professionalism and so-called fairness, will he recommend well-known brands such as Lenovo, HP, and Dell, or some inconspicuous brands? If he has no ulterior motive, he will generally recommend the aforementioned brands because these brands will have more endorsement.

So you will find that in the 2B field, brands are not ignored, but are valued more. People often say that 2B brands are not very necessary because 2B relies on big relationships and relationships with big customers. However, there is a set of data that shows that the decision-making factors of 2B brands are 20% more than those of 2C.

In other words, in the process of eliminating concerns and satisfying information, brands will do better than those without brands. So this is a point we need to consider, that is, how you emphasize safety and professionalism in this process.

In the 2C field, it is more like the previous category, that is, interest, because the competition for attention will be more intense in the 2C market. Interest advantage is an instinctive driver in 2C products, so pleasure is the first priority. The growing demand for a better life is the unchanging appeal of many 2C brands, so in 2C communication, we must carefully think about how our brand brings pleasure to our users.