A primary challenge in much of the day-to-day marketing world is identifying and applying new ways of thinking about existing products or services.
In other words, make sure that branded products and services remain fresh, relevant and meaningful. The concepts and execution to do this are an important part of practical marketing discipline. This doesn’t happen by accident. It requires dedicated attention, up-to-date customer understanding, smart thinking, creative ideas and tactical execution.
In my new book, Strategy First, Then Tactics.® How Practical Marketing Discipline Provides the Winning Edge, I provide numerous examples of strategies and tactics to keep brands relevant and fresh.
Here’s a new example from crafts retailer Michaels, which just unveiled a new brand identity focused on helping core and new customers alike bring their creative ideas to life.
Michaels has three objectives for this initiative:
- Cater to a wider audience of creatives to drive demand while meeting changing customer needs
- Position itself for future success
- Increase relevance while maintaining engagement and trust with its core customers
The company is utilizing a new logo, tagline and advertising to convey its messaging and achieve these objectives.
The “new brand strategy and purpose [is] focused on fueling the joy of creativity,” said Michaels’ CMO in a statement. The company said the new logo and “Everything to Create Anything” tagline are meant to be a visual reflection of that purpose, with brand storytelling that connects to the joy and self-expression that creativity evokes in all of us.
New advertising introduces Michaels as your creative partner, with the message of “Turn ideas into I-did-its.” The goal is to communicate that Michaels provides the best tools, guidance, inspiration and value to instill confidence and break down barriers to creativity and self-expression.
Harvey Chimoff is a global marketing leader with expertise across consumer packaged-goods brand management, B2B manufacturing, and fractional CMO consulting. He is a customer-focused champion who connects marketing across the organization to drive performance and achieve business objectives. Harvey is the author of the new book Strategy First, Then Tactics.® How Practical Marketing Discipline Provides the Winning Edge, available on Amazon. Contact him at HarveyChimoff.com.
harveychimoff.com 
Leave a comment