571. Kathy Hines, Unleashing Brand Fundamentals

Kathy Hines, former Chief Marketing Officer at brands like Dickies and Vice President at brands like North Face and Kipling ,shares her experiences. She started her career in career management consulting at Bain and later went on to Nike, where she gained foundational experience in lifestyle and sports marketing. At Kipling, she led marketing strategy and E-commerce. She then led marketing and strategy for the North Face in Europe. After a four-year stint in VF Europe, she returned to the US and took on the role of global chief marketing officer for Dickies in Texas, where she was also responsible for licensing. Her experience at VF has given her a broad range of skills and experiences.

Developing a Professional Marketing Plan

Using a sports and lifestyles brand as an example, Kathy shares her process for developing a professional marketing plan. She begins by identifying the brand's aligned corporate strategy and working closely with the leadership team to understand financials and operational opportunities. The team then collectively develops long-term objectives, such as being the leader in performance and lifestyle apparel across key markets.

For example, strategic choices include improving gross to net profits, targeting specific geographies, such as the UK, China, and the US, or focusing on elevating iconic products to consumers. The latter approach allows the brand to ensure it is the best in the world at that product. The marketing strategy should align with these strategic objectives and align with the brand foundations, which include the purpose of the brand, brand values, and brand personality.

The Importance of Brand Foundations

The brand foundations are essential for the marketing team to align on who they are and why they exist. These foundations include the brand purpose, the brand values, which define the brand, and the brand personality, which guides the direction of the brand in terms of the brand and design guidelines which are visual manifestations of the brand, while the tone document informs global communications, PR, and social media. The marketing plan should also include a clear vision for the brand, a clear mission statement, and a clear communication strategy. By focusing on these areas, the marketing team can create a comprehensive and effective marketing plan that aligns with the brand's long-term objectives and strategic choices.

Examples of Brand Purpose and Its Place in the Marketing Plan

Kathy shares several examples of brand purposes, including Kipling's brand purpose of making happy, and Napapijri’s brand purpose of Unlimit the Future. These examples demonstrate the power of brand purpose in shaping a company's identity and strategy. A marketing plan can be a singular page or a series of sub-chapters, with the brand purpose at the top. The purpose is the pinnacle of the brand, defining its values, personnel, and personality. Sub-chapters can include marketing-related details and strategic choices to align the brand foundations with corporate strategy. If the brand purpose is a one-page manifestation, subsequent pages can further explore the brand purpose, values, personality, and how these factors inform communications in PR, social media, and ecommerce. These drill-downs are crucial for ensuring alignment with the brand's overall vision and strategy.

Segmentation in Marketing

Kathy discusses the importance of segmentation in marketing, stating that while it is important to understand a brand's core consumer base, it is also crucial to consider the potential of the audience and the growth of that audience. For example, if a brand is rooted in an extreme sport, and the core consumer is an extreme athlete, branching out from there to less extreme athletes who do not compete, or a consumer who is inspired by the sport can help unlock and grow the brand by connecting the core consumer to concentric circles that ripple out from the center. 

Price Strategies in Marketing

Price strategy is another important aspect of marketing, often set by the product team.  However, when a brand has a multi-geographic product, it can lead to price and brand differences as well disruption to brand cohesion. To address this issue, a cross-functional team from product design, merchandising, marketing, and leadership teams should conduct a full pricing study to understand the brand's potential. In ecommerce, it is essential to be cautious about discounting the product to maintain a healthy, profitable business. Ecommerce growth often drives top line sales through occasional sales, but if the product is discounted, the rest of the market will follow, making the brand less profitable and less desirable. Full price sell-through is another key metric for identifying a strong brand. This indicates that a significant percentage of the product is selling through at full price without any discounts, which is a strong indication of brand health and helps avoid market degradation.

The Importance of Monitoring Metrics 

Kathy emphasizes the importance of clear tracking of KPIs and simple KPIs and to collect data that can be informative. One favorite metric for brands is Google brand interest, which is an intuitive index measuring search volume for the brand. By tracking this consistently, businesses can see whether interest is increasing or decreasing, which is important for understanding brand health. Additionally, tracking global brand interest allows for a more accurate understanding of geographic differences. A regression analysis from Google suggests that increased consistent increase in Google brand interest is directly tied to increased sales for the brand. Brand engagement is also important in social channels, as high engagement indicates people are interested in the content being posted. Full price sell-through is another key indicator of a brand's success. Lastly, tracking direct-to-consumer offerings through ecommerce or retail can help determine if the customer base is growing or if there is a growing number of opt-ins to communication. By focusing on net new people, businesses can ensure their total pie of customers grows each month. Kathy mentions that the degree to which a marketing technology stack is included in a marketing plan depends on the brand's unique circumstances and the technology partner team.

Strategic Partnerships in Marketing

Strategic partnerships can manifest in various ways, such as collaborations with emerging designers, faster go-to-market processes, agency partners, and effective partnerships with wholesale retailers. Agency partners, if treated as an authentic member of the team, can be magical. By addressing these partnerships in a comprehensive and effective manner, brands can create unique and valuable products and experiences.

Blu Moon Marketing

Kathy’s company focuses on three areas: private equity portfolio companies, consulting companies, and public and private companies. She assists in due diligence, diagnostic phase, and client work for private equity funds. Her company also provides additional support to consulting companies by assisting with pitches and client work. They also offer project-based support for public and private companies, focusing on business strategy, marketing strategy, segmentation, go-to-market strategy, budget analysis, and design. 

Timestamps:

04:01 Business strategy and marketing plan development

08:58 Brand purpose, values, and personality for various companies

13:28 Brand segmentation and its importance in growing a brand

20:17 Pricing strategies and metrics for brand health

25:25 Tracking KPIs for brands using Google brand interest, social media engagement, full price sell through, and customer base growth

30:09 Marketing strategies and partnerships

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-hines-1194851/?originalSubdomain=uk

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.