What is the intersection of Brand Strategy and PLM (product lifecycle management) process, and why are they both so important?
Brand strategy defines the roadmap on how, where, what, when, and to whom you tell your brand story. A well-defined and executed strategy leads to a consistent brand message, a secure emotional connection with customers, and higher brand equity, which informs the marketing strategy.
Product lifecycle management (PLM) defines rules and guidelines on how, what, where, when the product is conceptualized, designed, manufactured and presented to the consumer, which includes and impacts the marketing strategy.
The intersection is at the point of the marketing strategy. Throughout my career, I have brought these three separate, usually siloed, organizations together with a unified goal – the customer!
Guess what happened? The teams started to see value in each other, and engage in true collaboration at the beginning of the process, which informed a cohesive brand story early. The product was created to support the brand story and delivered on time, which meant that store associates had inventory for customer awe and delight. The customers were happy and came back often to experience their favorite brand.
On-time delivery – Yes!
Happy Customers – Yes!
Positive comp sales – Yes!
Success – Yes!
Easy – No!
Managing these strategies and processes is not for the faint of heart nor the neophyte. It takes time and experience to navigate landmines while identifying the real opportunity for your product, brand, and teams. Investing in a team that is experienced in and focused on process creation, innovation and improvement provide a successful roadmap that clears the path for your product, brand and marketing teams to work together in making the magic that drives the business.