Launch an Advertising Campaign

An advertising campaign has many different stages, which you will learn about throughout this course. Let's begin with positioning.

If you currently operate in a highly dynamic, extremely competitive market, your major challenge will be to grow successfully within it. You will have to determine your market positioning and understand how your prospects, customers, partners, and even your competitors perceive your brand.

But to understand the context of this market positioning, you must first analyze your situation. Therefore, you will have to put together a list of the data that will help you. You can categorize the main data requirements as follows:

• Economic

• Structural

• Organizational data

Collect Key Data

You may be wondering where you'll find this information. You will already have several data sources at your fingertips to help you :

• Each department at your company will most likely have key data.

• Studies conducted by firms in the sector may be useful.

• Trade press, conferences, and webinars are another good source.

• Public statistics and studies (e.g., ONS or other publicly available data).

Here are some ideas of useful data points to kickstart your analysis:

• Earned revenue: Understand how it changes - is it subject to a cycle?

• Breakdown: Differentiate revenue from products and services.

• Source: How is it generated? Is offline or online more important? 

• Competition: Identify companies in the same (or similar) product and service segments as yours and analyze their positioning in relation to yours (e.g., price/quality).

• Company values: Define your current corporate culture, values, and how the business operates. For example, do you have a strong ethos of environmental sustainability at your company?

• The company's brand: Understand the perception and image your prospects, customers, and partners have of you. 

• Which media do my target audience use? Think about this both in terms of broad media type (video/social media/news, etc.) and the specific titles or brands they prefer (e.g., Facebook vs. Twitter vs. YouTube, etc.).  

• Product or service lifecycle: Calculate the different lifecycle stages from R&D to launch, growth, maturity, and eventual decline.

Once the list is made, you can complete a SWOT analysis that will help you move forward in your diagnosis.

Use a SWOT Matrix to Analyze Your Context

Essentially, it is a visual summarizing tool that will help you in your future strategic decision-making. It is used as a way to analyze internal and external factors - both negative and positive.

The four types of factors are divided into internal and external, then split again between positive and negative.

Internal SWOT Factors

These are your company's current organizational features, considered strengths or weaknesses depending on their possible impact on the business.

• Strengths: available resources or skills that give you a competitive advantage in your market. 

• Weaknesses: any deficiencies that create a disadvantage regarding the competition.

External SWOT Factors

Here you define the outside forces considered either an opportunity or a threat in your company's environment and their possible impact.    

• Opportunities: the environment in which the company operates may present areas with high development potential.

• Threats: potential changes that are either already in progress or might arise in the future that could negatively impact the company's business activities.

🥤 Discover Bio Boost's SWOT Matrix

I'll demonstrate! Let's explore an example of a SWOT analysis using our fictional case study: Bio Boost🥤. 

Candice and Julien launched the start-up Bio Boost🥤 two years ago. The company produces energy drinks with a wide range of fruity tastes. Sales are continually growing, via various distributors, and the brand has a very positive image with the public.

However, the market is highly competitive, and to gain market share and increase revenue, the marketing team plans to launch a new range of organic products in its home market.

This project is in line with the core brand values. From the very beginning, Bio Boost🥤has sought to limit its carbon footprint and be as environmentally responsible as possible in its production.

Developing a new product will take R&D time, and there is a risk that competing brands may release an equivalent product.

Let's Recap!

• You can make a detailed diagnosis of your situation by going through the four main SWOT criteria: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

• Thanks to a SWOT analysis, you can:

  • Better understand your situation in the market. 

  • Anticipate a possible threat to your business.

  • Find opportunities for development.

• All of this information helps you understand your situation within the market and have a good vision of your positioning.

You now understand your market positioning. In the next chapter, you will learn how to define your advertising objectives.