Q&A with Acclaimed Brand Strategist, Professor and Author Kim Whitler
Today we’re thrilled to welcome Kimberly A. Whitler, the Frank M. Sands Sr. Associate Professor at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, to the GBK Collective team. Kim’s research and experience on brand and marketing strategy are second to none. In addition to researching and writing on a variety of marketing topics for Harvard Business Review, Forbes and other media outlets, Kim is the author of the #1 new book in product management, "Positioning for Advantage: Techniques and Strategies to Grow Brand Value".
In the Q&A below, GBK President Jeremy Korst interviews Kim on what goes into defining a holistic brand strategy, what makes a brand distinctive and stand out from others, some of the biggest challenges facing marketers today, as well as the various techniques covered in her book.
Jeremy: To kick off, tell us more about your background and what inspired you to write your new book Positioning for Advantage.
Kim: Prior to teaching at University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, I spent nearly 20 years in general management, strategy and marketing roles within the CPG and retailing industries. This included brand management and GM roles at Procter & Gamble and Aurora Foods and then more recently, officer at PetSmart and CMO of David’s Bridal, the country’s leading bridal apparel retailer.
One of the first things that stood out to me after leaving the corporate world to teach, was how differently companies approached brand and marketing strategy depending on several factors, including the industry. As we discussed in our HBR article last year, many technology companies largely ignore market and consumer insight when developing products, bringing new innovation to market based on a set of internal assumptions. This is a far cry from CPG and retail companies that shape brand and product strategy – based heavily on customer insight.
In addition to the dichotomy between industries when it comes to what informs brand and product strategies, there are also a number of common gaps or challenges that hold back companies and marketers from effectively positioning their brand and products around the needs of their target customers.
That’s what inspired me to write, "Positioning for Advantage: Techniques and Strategies to Grow Brand Value". Most of us have an intuitive sense of superior branding. We prefer to purchase brands we find distinctive―that deliver on some important, relevant dimensions better than other brands. Yet, surprisingly, very few leaders have had formal training that goes beyond marketing theory to actually bridge the gaps and implement a successful brand strategy.
Positioning for Advantage helps CMOs and marketing leaders, as well as upcoming marketers or students, to understand not only what superior branding looks like but also how to make it come to life.
Jeremy: Amazing. The upfront section of the book focuses primarily on how to define a successful brand strategy and craft your positioning – based on the specific needs of your target customers (something you and I also covered in our HBR article). Another point you stress in the book is that executing on your brand strategy requires constant rigor and prioritization. Can you summarize some of the key takeaways for our readers?
Kim: Absolutely. As we’ve discussed in our past conversations, any successful brand strategy is defined first and foremost by understanding your target customers and their unique needs, and then based on those insights, developing positioning that’s distinct, ownable and relevant.
Once you have the blueprint for your brand strategy, desired positioning and a vision for the value you want to deliver in the market, the next step is to develop and implement smart marketing plans that achieve the desired positioning and make sure every decision – including resource allocation, program priorities (product decisions, pricing, promotions), organizational structure, strategic partners and go-to-market activities maps to your strategy to win in the market. It’s key to understand that strategic positioning isn’t just for marketers – it has to be embraced and executed throughout the entire organization.
But of course doing this successfully isn't as easy. With dozens of brands within any given category competing and clamoring for customer attention, success requires a steadfast commitment and ruthless prioritization. With this in mind, Positioning for Advantage provides a comprehensive how-to guide for creating, building, and executing effective brand strategies.
I touch on the essential marketing strategy techniques and move through the major stages of positioning a brand to achieve in-market advantage. I also share a number of tools – from strategic positioning concepts to strategy mapping and influencer maps - as well as frameworks and step-by-step processes to build and manage growth brands.
Jeremy: It was impressive to see how much ground you covered in the book. Another key takeaway for me in reading was that successful brands set themselves apart from competitors by explicitly defining their brand position, listening to their target customers (not all customers), constantly reinforcing their position, while continuing to invest in the core products or experiences they are known for. What advice would you offer companies who are looking to expand their addressable market or break through with new segments?
Kim: As firms look to expand their addressable market or target new segments, they need to make sure that they're targeting those customers for the right reasons, and understand how it maps to both their current brand and broader brand strategy. Too often we see companies that are in essence trying to market to any and all potential customers, which may actually negatively impact their success and ability to differentiate the brand in the market.
As the GBK team knows inside and out, any successful segmentation effort comes down to generating superior insights to unlock the ideal positioning to appeal to each segment. More importantly, it informs strategic choices about where the brand should play, what products and services to bring to market and what marketing investments to make. This takes an intentional process that leverages a combination of internal and external data – the latter coming most often from primary research.
Let me give you an example to make this vivid. This morning, in my MBA marketing class, we went over conjoint -- a methodology that helps marketers identify how consumers make trade-offs. The MBA students were in teams of five. As one group was debriefing, the leader explained that the five individuals didn’t agree on what cell phone features mattered. They each had a different “willingness to pay” for different levels of different attributes. It was at this precise moment that I then asked them whether their individual views are possibly representative of any broader segment of the market. This is a significant blindspot. We tend to think that others think and feel as we do. But as this example demonstrates, not even five individuals agreed. There is variance among people in terms of their needs, wants, and priorities.
Unfortunately, there are a number of firms, even large, respected ones, that don’t have a company-wide strategic planning process, or segmentation approach. This can make the firm vulnerable to competitors for several reasons: 1) the top management team (TMT) isn’t aligned on strategic priorities, 2) individual departments may operate at cross-purposes because they aren’t tethered together by any central marketing plan, and 3) the firm wastes resources (both money and labor) as individual TMT leaders are focused on departmental priorities, rather than priorities that map to the larger brand strategy.
Jeremy: I can tell you this is definitely the case in many technology companies, or demand generation and sales-focused cultures, where the collective team is going after any and all leads without investing the necessary time to understand who their most valuable customers are. In both cases, the strategic role of marketing is underplayed and radical change is needed. What other challenges or gaps do you companies face when it comes to building and executing a successful brand strategy?
Kim: In addition to organizational silos, or a lack of strategic alignment across the TMT and individual teams, there are several other common mistakes companies make that I touch on in the book.
The first, and probably the most costly, mistake companies make is identifying the desired brand position without unique data or insights. Many companies go through processes that don’t include identifying the relative strength/weakness of brand position. Firms need to apply the best available data and insights to inform brand strategy, and validate those findings through follow-up research, voice of the customer feedback, as well as constant experimentation.
The second mistake is defining brand strategy after product or service definition. As you and I discussed in our HBR article last year, it’s surprising that many technology companies largely discount or even ignore market and consumer insight when developing products. CMOs and marketing leaders in the CPG or retail space would be surprised to hear this approach existed at all. If there was no clearly identified customer need and opportunity to drive differentiation in the marketplace, why would you develop a product in the first place?
Another common mistake firms make is not having an effective way to measure the impact or ROI of their marketing investments – in line with their broader brand strategy and priorities. As marketing becomes more data and technology driven, brands also need to be careful that they don’t erode brand trust. Far too much of the marketing we see today is focused on applying technology and algorithms to serve content with a goal of increasing traffic, clicks and eyeballs across channels. While this may drive near term results, long term it can take you off course from your intended goals.
Jeremy: Very well said. We are thrilled to have you join the GBK Collective team to help advise clients on brand and marketing strategy. What are you most looking forward to in the role?
Kim: Absolutely. I’m excited to join the GBK team to collaborate with your growing client roster across industries, in addition to my role teaching marketing at The University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. Working with GBK provides an opportunity to apply my ongoing research and expertise as a former CMO to help marketing leaders and firms solve challenges or pivot based on changing market dynamics, build stronger brands and create actionable strategies to maximize growth.