What We Think

As Brand Plans become more bloated, I am getting lost within the tactical landscape and many product managers are feeling the same way.

How can you tell? I can tell when I ask to see the tactical landscape or, as we like to refer to it at ROF, the ‘Mall Map.’ It’s the one page schematic that shows how all the tactics for a given brand link together, identifies the dependencies for each initiative, and helps the marketer determine where there might be potential bottlenecks between initiatives (or even vendors). How is it possible to manage today’s complicated brand plan without having the ‘You Are Here’ dot?

I did a quick poll of ten brands and not one had the complete Mall Map. Sure, the e-Marketing Team had one for their online tactics, but it was just one piece of the puzzle. What was the general response to my polling?
Dan – Is that something you could put together for us because without it how can you do marketing effectiveness?

Now that’s exactly my point!