Many retailers do not organise the marketing communication within their company adequately and as a result fail to get the optimum return from their brand. Retailers are therefore letting money slip through their fingers, both in the short and long term.

Laurens Hoekstra and John-Robin Smith, Managing Partner and Business Director at NykampNyboer respectively: “Every retail organisation knows that a great deal of money is involved in maintaining a brand. The status of marketing communication has not been developed fully in many cases and a brand has to be in top form every day. This calls for a structured and ambitious approach.”

“In spite of this we see the focus being placed primarily on products, services and personnel. Often there is no clear insight into the costs of the brand and its various manifestations. What’s more, retailers do not measure the impact of the efforts they make in relation to their brand, or only do so to a very limited extent. A clear brand policy is lacking.”

“The initial ‘quick win’ in the area of marketing communication can easily amount to between 10 and 25 percent. This gain is the result of lowering the costs of labour, printed matter and logistics. The next step is to assess the use of the brand image and materials. You see lots of communications that are not in keeping with the image of the brand. As a result they fly back like a boomerang and fail to reach their target. As a retailer you need to think carefully about the image you want to project and act accordingly. We support many companies, including ones in the retail sector, with the development of this strategic vision.”

As part of this exercise we make use of the Brand Excellence Scan, which provides an insight into the extent to which a brand is delivering on its promise, on the shop floor, in advertising communications and online. How do employees and consumers experience the brand and do these feelings tally with the desired image? In short, are you fulfilling your promise as a retail brand? Based on the results of the scan a step-by-step plan is drawn up that aims to improve the perception of the brand using fewer resources. Hard figures demonstrate that this approach is successful.,

Source: Interview with Laurens Hoekstra and John-Robin Smith in the December edition of RetailTrends (PDF).