Branding: How To Create An Ergonomic Project Brand Starting With the Pitch

One of my recent clients that had me analyze the design of their products also asked to me assess the human factors of the brand and associated marketing and instructional material.  What was very interesting for me was to learn about the process they undertook when developing a brand campaign for their products.  That experience serves as part of the basis for this blog.  There is much to be learned and can be applied from an external customer focused branding/marketing campaign to an internal project branding/marketing campaign.  The framework and phases involved serve as the foundation on which to build the brand.  I learned that all branding campaigns have phases they go through.  Sometimes the phases occur in order and sometimes in a cycle where they move back and forth from different phases.  The project leader needs to look at each phase and determine the persons/groups and process needed for the phase.  S/he also needs to know the motivations of each person involved in the project.  This allows the project leader to develop compelling benefits to each person/group involved in the project.  Persons or groups are not likely to get fully involved if the project doesn’t offer tangible benefits such as improved processes that save time, money, etc. and/or intangible (emotional) benefits such as personal satisfaction from working as part of the team that they can expect to receive from being involved in or giving support to the project.

The following phases are adapted from my experiences and from the articles in Project Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2011.

1. Pitch
2. Plan
3. Platform
4. Performance
5. Payoff (ROI)

We’ll look at the first phase in the blog and continue with the rest of the phases in future blogs.

The first phase in all projects is the Pitch.  The pitch is the initial effort to sell the product or project. The pitch explains why the customer so buy the product.  In our case, it’s why the organization should care about and support the project.  This probably seems pretty obvious and yet many projects fail to happen because the need for the project is not made clear.   Let’s look at what a pitch looks like for a product and a project in order to see how closely they are related.

Let’s say the product we want to brand/market is hand soap and the project we want to brand is injury prevention (IP) laborers whose job requires shoveling, lifting and raking.  The first thing we would need to answer is why?  For the hand soap, the question is why a customer would need hand soap and why specifically they would need/want our hand soap.  For the IP project the question is why the company would want/need to prevent injuries for their laborers.  The answer to “Why?” must persuade the key decision makers (customer; management) of the need for change.  There has to be a tangible reason for them to say “Yes”.

So let’s say “Why” for the soap revolves around 99.99% germ killing while keeping ones hands silky smooth and soft, and for the IP project it revolves around reducing work comp costs, keeping the aging workforce productive and improving morale.  So now we need to make the “Why” tangible to the customer and management, respectively.  For the customer, the benefits appeal to their fears, i.e. fear of getting ill, and their feelings, i.e. their skin feeling and looking soft and smooth.  For management, the tangible benefits can be expressed in financial terms, i.e. savings in costs (work comp, staff retention) and productivity (equal or greater efficiency/productivity).

The pitch also involves creating and managing the message.  What words, expressions and/or actions will convey the brand effectively?  For projects, the message will focus on the opportunity involved in the project, not necessary the project itself.  It should clearly be linked to a business strategy, strategic initiative and/or long-term goal.  The pitch should clearly articulate the benefits and/or results of the project.  It is important to match the message with the intended audience.  For example, the message that one delivers to management is probably not going to be the same message one delivers to various groups whose help is needed to plan and implement the project, nor will it be the same for the employees for whom the project need is based.

There are some caveats to the pitch phase that one should keep in mind.  It is easy to want to jump ahead to the planning phase before clearly defining the “why” the project is truly needed.  The WIIFM principle must be applied.  One needs to answer “What’s In It For Me” for all of the players involved and they must agree with the WIIFM or the project’s support will suffer as time goes on.  One also has to be careful not to overstate the problem.  Is the problem or gap really that big?  Will the results of the project be as stated?  If anything, I would advise on underselling and over performing instead of the opposite.   The pitch also has to invoke some type of emotional connection with those involved.  We all like to think that decisions are rational and based on the facts.  Well, science has proved that to be false.  (Hallward, Gimme!  The Human Nature of Successful Marketing, 2007).  All decisions have emotional components to them.  The decision to approve your project will also involve emotions—stated or unstated. The project leader has to determine the emotions involved.  Don’t forget the KISS principle—avoid confusing, professional specific language and using enormous amounts of data.  Adding unnecessary words and information will make it difficult for your audience to understand the nature of the problem.

The above sums up the essentials of the pitch phase.  This leaves us the question, just what is the pitch for the IP project?   What do you think it should be called?  What image could you use to convey the message of the project?  I invite your comments.

Next we’ll explore the branding plan for the project.