Playfully shaping the future

Playful Strategies is a method that is designed to leverage the full potential of a corporate brand and to make its contribution to the company’s success visible and measurable, as well as to manage it in a targeted manner.

Clear strategic direction: By taking an overarching perspective on all brand activities, initiatives and measures can be clearly aligned with corporate objectives as well as selected and prioritized according to their impact.

Effective, measurable implementation: The result is an implementation plan that clearly summarizes the defined brand activities and puts them into an overall context – from quick wins with an immediate effect to strategic initiatives that have a medium and long-term impact.

This enables the value of the brand for successful corporate management to be presented, communicated and leveraged in all areas and at all levels.

The essential 8 steps of Playful Strategies are outlined below.

Step 1: Determine starting point and position

Activities

Review and evaluation of existing documents, e.g. cornerstones of the corporate strategy, brand identity, positioning, service portfolio, target group profiles, competitive analyses, employee and customer satisfaction analyses, trend studies
Interviews with managers from different areas of the company, e.g. top management, marketing, communication, sales, customer service, HR
Workshop with managers from different areas of the company to evaluate, discuss and refine the findings
Consolidation of the findings and preparation of a presentation of the results

Results

Performance profile of the company
Needs profiles of internal and external target groups
Competitor profiles
Future outlook on the industry and the market
Credible, relevant and unique positioning space / target perception space for the brand

Step 2: Formulate and design the target picture

Activities

Workshop with top management and selected managers of the company
Presentation, discussion and sharpening of the findings from step 1
Definition of the company’s entrepreneurial and social ambitions
Formulation and design of a target picture for the company, including e.g. vision, mission and values

Results

Corporate target picture as a framework for brand development
Vision, mission and values

Step 3: Describe the desired target group experiences

Activities

Formulation of the target perception for the various internal and external target groups, i.e. the feelings and thoughts that they should associate with the company

Notes

The target perception is the sum of the experiences that the target groups have with the company, its employees and its offerings
Target groups are e.g. employees, applicants, customer groups, owners/investors, governments/communities, the public

Results

Defined target perceptions for the various internal and external target groups as orientation and target for brand management

Step 4: Define the overarching development path

Activities

Exploration and definition of key topics, initiatives and measures that are essential for achieving the target perception and increasing the brand impact — and that must be further developed accordingly
Selection of the 5-7 topics that have the greatest influence on increasing brand impact, including a brief description of the current situation and the desired ideal situation

Notes

The changes can relate to strategic, tactical and operational aspects
They can include content, tools, structures and processes

Results

Overview of the 5-7 key development paths that are most important for increasing brand impact

Step 5: Identify targeted activities

Activities

The development paths from step 4 are used to derive specific initiatives and measures that contribute to achieving the desired target state
Stop: Initiatives and measures are selected that do not contribute to achieving the target state and should therefore be stopped
Continue: The initiatives and measures that are already contributing effectively to achieving the target today and that are to be continued or adapted if necessary are collected
Start: New initiatives and measures that contribute to achieving the target are explored and summarized

Results

Overview of initiatives und measures that are to be stopped, continued or started in order to achieve the objectives and increase the impact of the brand

Step 6: Select and prioritize the most effective activities

Activities

The identified initiatives and measures from step 5 are sorted and prioritized according to their implementation effort and impact
Initiatives and measures with a high impact and low implementation effort are given high priority
Initiatives with a high impact and a high implementation effort become strategic initiatives that are implemented step by step

Note

In the first step, the impact and cost are estimated on the basis of past experience and assumptions. A more detailed analysis is carried out later on.

Results

Prioritized overview of initiatives and measures with the highest impact and lowest implementation costs
Overview of quick wins with fast results
Overview of strategic initiatives

Step 7: Take the selected path together

Activities

The people or departments responsible for implementing the initiatives and measures defined in step 6 are determined
The initiatives and measures are planned in a way that allows them to have the greatest possible impact with the lowest possible effort

Results

Synchronized schedule for all initiatives and measures for the planning period and outlook for the following or subsequent activities
Cross-divisional networking of all company activities

Step 8: Maintain or adjust the agreed direction

Activities

In order to continuously manage and ensure the impact of the brand, performance indicators and key performance indicators for the implementation and activation of the brand are derived from the overarching business KPIs
Initiatives and measures are aligned with the defined KPIs and their contribution to success is measured accordingly
If the impact is low, initiatives and measures are optimized or eliminated and replaced with more effective ones

Note

The KPIs are continuously discussed and optimized.

Results

Success factors and key performance indicators for the effective implementation and activation of the brand

The main advantages of Playful Strategies at a glance

Internal benefits

Common understanding of the brand, its target picture, its impact and its contribution to success
Impact-driven and efficient processes and structures
Measurable results and conscious management of the brand’s impact

External benefits

Systematic focus on the target groups
Consistent and contradiction-free brand experiences at all touchpoints with the target groups
Optimum brand impact through targeted and synchronized brand activities

Advantages going forward

Future-proof content, tools, structures and processes for brand-driven corporate management
Impact management with performance indicators that take future developments into account
Continuous assurance of the brand’s impact

Playful Strategies

Playfully shaping the future

Playful Strategies is a method that is designed to leverage the full potential of a corporate brand and to make its contribution to the company’s success visible and measurable, as well as to manage it in a targeted manner.

Clear strategic direction: By taking an overarching perspective on all brand activities, initiatives and measures can be clearly aligned with corporate objectives as well as selected and prioritized according to their impact.

Effective, measurable implementation: The result is an implementation plan that clearly summarizes the defined brand activities and puts them into an overall context – from quick wins with an immediate effect to strategic initiatives that have a medium and long-term impact.

This enables the value of the brand for successful corporate management to be presented, communicated and leveraged in all areas and at all levels.

The essential 8 steps of Playful Strategies are outlined below.

Step 1: Determine starting point and position

Activities

Review and evaluation of existing documents, e.g. cornerstones of the corporate strategy, brand identity, positioning, service portfolio, target group profiles, competitive analyses, employee and customer satisfaction analyses, trend studies

Interviews with managers from different areas of the company, e.g. top management, marketing, communication, sales, customer service, HR

Workshop with managers from different areas of the company to evaluate, discuss and refine the findings

Consolidation of the findings and preparation of a presentation of the results

Results

Performance profile of the company

Needs profiles of internal and external target groups

Competitor profiles

Future outlook on the industry and the market

Credible, relevant and unique positioning space / target perception space for the brand

Step 2: Formulate and design the target picture

Activities

Workshop with top management and selected managers of the company

Presentation, discussion and sharpening of the findings from step 1

Definition of the company’s entrepreneurial and social ambitions

Formulation and design of a target picture for the company, including e.g. vision, mission and values

Results

Corporate target picture as a framework for brand development

Vision, mission and values

Step 3: Describe the desired target group experiences

Activities

Formulation of the target perception for the various internal and external target groups, i.e. the feelings and thoughts that they should associate with the company

Notes

The target perception is the sum of the experiences that the target groups have with the company, its employees and its offerings

Target groups are e.g. employees, applicants, customer groups, owners/investors, governments/communities, the public

Results

Defined target perceptions for the various internal and external target groups as orientation and target for brand management

Step 4: Define the overarching development path

Activities

Exploration and definition of key topics, initiatives and measures that are essential for achieving the target perception and increasing the brand impact — and that must be further developed accordingly

Selection of the 5-7 topics that have the greatest influence on increasing brand impact, including a brief description of the current situation and the desired ideal situation

Notes

The changes can relate to strategic, tactical and operational aspects

They can include content, tools, structures and processes

Results

Overview of the 5-7 key development paths that are most important for increasing brand impact

Step 5: Identify targeted activities

Activities

The development paths from step 4 are used to derive specific initiatives and measures that contribute to achieving the desired target state

Stop: Initiatives and measures are selected that do not contribute to achieving the target state and should therefore be stopped

Continue: The initiatives and measures that are already contributing effectively to achieving the target today and that are to be continued or adapted if necessary are collected

Start: New initiatives and measures that contribute to achieving the target are explored and summarized

Results

Overview of initiatives und measures that are to be stopped, continued or started in order to achieve the objectives and increase the impact of the brand

Step 6: Select and prioritize the most effective activities

Activities

The identified initiatives and measures from step 5 are sorted and prioritized according to their implementation effort and impact

Initiatives and measures with a high impact and low implementation effort are given high priority

Initiatives with a high impact and a high implementation effort become strategic initiatives that are implemented step by step

Note

In the first step, the impact and cost are estimated on the basis of past experience and assumptions. A more detailed analysis is carried out later on.

Results

Prioritized overview of initiatives and measures with the highest impact and lowest implementation costs

Overview of quick wins with fast results

Overview of strategic initiatives

Step 7: Take the selected path together

Activities

The people or departments responsible for implementing the initiatives and measures defined in step 6 are determined

The initiatives and measures are planned in a way that allows them to have the greatest possible impact with the lowest possible effort

Results

Synchronized schedule for all initiatives and measures for the planning period and outlook for the following or subsequent activities

Cross-divisional networking of all company activities

Step 8: Maintain or adjust the agreed direction

Activities

In order to continuously manage and ensure the impact of the brand, performance indicators and key performance indicators for the implementation and activation of the brand are derived from the overarching business KPIs

Initiatives and measures are aligned with the defined KPIs and their contribution to success is measured accordingly

If the impact is low, initiatives and measures are optimized or eliminated and replaced with more effective ones

Note

The KPIs are continuously discussed and optimized.

Results

Success factors and key performance indicators for the effective implementation and activation of the brand