Brand consulting at Planner At Large.
Not just the what, but the when and the how.
An effective brand strategy makes the brand more likely to come to mind when a relevant buying situation arises, ahead of competing alternatives.
We help identify a credible competitive edge plus the moments in which that advantage matters.
Our job is to make the brand easier to recognize, retrieve and buy (of course) — but equally, to make clear what the strategy requires the organization to do to build and maintain that advantage.
Case: global automaker
The story
A global automaker’s “certified pre-owned” offer lacked distinctiveness: standard features, confusing branding, little reason for buyers to care, and for dealers, extra work with no clear payoff. As a result of the lukewarm response, rollout of the program had stalled at just four markets.
And this was more than just a case of “brand blahs.” The commercial implications were dire: with used-car margins up to 8x those of new cars, this business was meant to serve as not just a customer magnet but a core profit engine.
The thing is, for used car buyers looking to get as close to the new-car experience as they can afford, this market is a minefield. Any joy of discovery is almost always outweighed by fear of being ripped off. So it seemed only fair to ask what if anything a giant maker of new cars knows about the used-car buying experience.
Well.
It turns out that this company, which wanted to become one of the world’s largest sellers of used cars, was actually the world’s largest buyer of used cars. Treated strategically, that fact didn’t just change the proposition, it reversed the brand equation entirely — from self-interested seller to experienced and empathetic buyer, and from “just another used-car program” to a place for buyers to safely navigate a market notorious for hidden risk. An idea that helped launch this previously unloved program into 24 markets.
The lessons
An edge can be discovered, not invented. The competitive advantage was already there.
Positioning is a business decision, not a messaging exercise. The discovery changed how the business could compete.
A stronger position can unlock more than customer demand. It can give the organization, and its commercial partners, a reason to commit.