In Groundswell, the book by social media consultants Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, they write about a smart methodology called POST, which stands for People, Objectives, Strategy and Technology. Here’s a real life case of POST in action (with the brand redacted).
Strategy in the Protein Drink Category.
There is a new protein drink for which I did some brand planning that competes with Ensure, the 800 lb. gorilla in the category. Ensure, like most of the competitors, is milk-based, sold as ready-to-drink shakes and tends to be heavy, filled with lactose, overly sweet, and monotonous for drinkers over time. The new product (which will remain nameless) is equally high in protein but light and fruit-flavored.
Marketing Starts with People.
By studying protein drinkers — People — it became apparent that they go to great lengths to cover up the taste of their protein. They make slushies, add bananas, blend in peanut butter, create complex recipes. Based on this “mixer” mentality, the Objective became clear: Steal market share from the poor tasting shakes and protein powder market.
Strategy then Tactics.
The Strategy was to prove the good taste of nameless new product, by showing the silly lengths to which protein drinkers go to cover up the nastiness. This was not only humorous, but put the new product right in the center of the solution. So where is the Technology? Well, the technology is the social media. And suffice it to say, the media plan calls for serious targeting of social media “Posters” who feed social media “Pasters.” This viral technology approach paired with a clear, focused branding idea will fuel the groundswell. Mark my words. Peace!
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Steve Poppe is the Managing Partner of “What’s the Idea?” a marketing consulting firm. This article first appeared in Chirp Up. Steve has a blog on: https://spoppe.livejournal.com and can be reached via Twitter @spoppe.
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