An example of what a best in class key issues deck looks like.

1. We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
Case Study, using fictional “Gray’s Cookies” brand to complete a key issues
presentation, which is the second stage of our overall Beloved Brands planning process.
Key Issues Format

2. We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
Define
the
Brand
Think Strategically
Big
Idea
At Beloved Brands, we use a branding approach
Vision Analysis
Key Issues
Strategies
Execution
• Advertising
• In-Store
• Innovation
• Consumers
• Category
• Channels
• Competitors
• Brand
Values, Goals
• Experience
Brand Plan
Create Brand Plans
Inspire
creative
execution
Analyze
performance
Sm
art
Creative
Ideas

3. We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
2
4
31 Strategic questions to help frame
the key issues
5
Drivers and inhibitors currently facing brand. Risks
and opportunities for future.
Deep dive review looks at every
potential area of the brand
• Market: Macro view, economic indicators,
consumer behavior, technology, political
• Consumer: Target, buying habits, trends,
consumer enemies, key insights
• Channels: growth channels, major customers,
available tools and programs
• Competitors: Performance, positioning, innovation,
pricing, distribution, perceptions.
• Brand: Funnel, reputation, tracking results, pricing,
distribution, financial analysis.
Drivers Inhibitors
Factors of strength or
inertia that accelerate
your brand’s growth.
Weaknesses or
friction slows brand
down, leak to fixi
Opportunities Threats
Changing consumer
needs, technologies,
channels, legal,
Competitor launch,
trade barriers,
customer preference.
What is the core strength your
brand can win on?
How engaged are consumers?
What is your current competitive
position?
How tightly connected is your
consumer to your brand?
What is the current business
situation your brand faces?
3
1
5
4
We make brands stronger.
We make brand leaders smarter.
1. Where could we be?
2. Where are we?
3. Why are we here?
4. How can we get there?
5. What do we need to do?
Before getting started on your Brand Plan, map out your
strategic thinking by asking 5 simple strategic questions
Vision/Purpose/Goals
Situation Analysis
Key Issues
Strategies
Execute & Measure
Questions to ask Planning elements
1
2
3
4
5 6
Use “where are we” questions to uncover answers
that frame the overall brand plan.
Lay out elements
of the Brand
Plan, on one
page and in
a formal
presentation
Brand
Plan
2
The Annual “Brand Plan On a Page”
Analysis Issues and Strategies Executional Plans
P&L forecast
• Sales $30,385
• Gross Margin $17,148
• GM % 56%
• Marketing Budget $8,850
• Contribution Margin $6,949
• CM% 23%
Drivers
• Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to
Purchase
• Strong Listings in Food Channels
• Exceptional brand health scores among Early
Adopters. Highly Beloved Brand among niche.
Inhibitors
• Low familiar yet to turn our sales into loyalty
• Awareness held back due to weak Advertising
• Low distribution at specialty stores. Poor
coverage.
• Low Purchase Frequency even among most
loyal.
Threats
• Launch of Mainstream cookie brands
(Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco).
• De-listing 2 weakest skus weaken in-store
presence
• Legal Challenge to tastes claims
Opportunities
• R&D has 5 new flavors in development.
• Sales Broker create gains at Specialty Stores
• Explore social media to convert loyal following.
Key Issues
1. What’s the priority choice for growth: find new
users or drive usage frequency among
loyalists?
2. Where should the investment/resources focus
and deployment be to drive our awareness
and share needs for Gray’s?
3. How will we defend Gray’s against the
proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’ launches
from Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco?
Strategies
1. Continue to attract new users to Gray’s
2. Focus investment on driving awareness and
trial with new consumers and building a
presence at retail.
3. Build defense plan against new entrants that
defends with consumers and at store level.
Goals
• Increase penetration from 10% to 12%,
specifically up from 15% to 20% with the core
target. Monitor usage frequency among the
most loyal to ensure it stays steady.
• Increase awareness from 33% to 42%,
specifically up from 45% to 50% within the
core target. Drive trial from 15% to 20%. Focus
for sales is to close distribution gaps going
from 62% to 72%.
• Hold dollar share during competitive launches
and continue to grow 11% post launch gaining
up to 1.2% share. Target zero losses at shelf.
Advertising
• Use awareness to drive trial of the new Grays.
Target “Proactive Preventers”. Suburban
working women, 35-40.Main Message of “great
tasting cookie without the guilt, so you can stay
in control of your health”. Media includes 15
second TV, specialty health magazines, event
signage, digital and social media
Sampling
• Drive trial with In-store sampling at grocery,
Costco, health food stores and event sampling
at fitness, yoga, women’s networking, new
moms.
Distribution
• Support Q4 retail blitz with message focused
on holding shelf space during the competitive
launches. Q2 specialty blitz to grow distribution
at key specialty stores.
Innovation
• Launch two new flavours in Q4/15 & Q4/16.
Explore new diet claims, motivating and own-
able.
Competitive Defense Plan
• Pre Launch sales blitz to shore up all
distribution gaps. At launch, heavy
merchandising, locking up key ad dates,
BOGO. TV, print, coupons, in-store sampling.
• Use sales story that any new “healthy” cookies
should displace under-performing and
declining unhealthy cookies.
Brand Vision: To be the first ‘healthy cookie’ to generate the craving, popularity and sales of a mainstream cookie. $100 Million brand by 2020.
Forecast
Analysis
Brand Vision
Strategies
Execution
Key Issues
Goals
1
5
4
3
2
6
5
Leading the Brand Planning process

4. Case Study: Gray’s Cookies
Gray’s Cookies is based on a 40-year-old family recipe that had been used for years in a local coffee shop in Stowe
Vermont. Gray’s was a local favorite and even among tourists, famous for it’s Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter
flavors. No one realized it was also a healthy treat—low fat, low calories. With the growing health trend in the 1990’s,
the Gray family decided to capitalize and launched Gray’s on a regional basis in New England and received moderate
success. In 2005, one of Boston’s internationally known diet experts came out with a glowing review of Gray’s. Other
dieticians backed Gray’s. The brand was now receiving national attention and demand. Robert Gray, grandson of the
original founder took Gray’s national.
Using the regional sales results, Gray’s was able to gain a national listing at Whole Foods in 2006. Other food
retailers took notice and Gray’s secured listings at Safeway, Super-Valu, Kroger, Tops and A&P. Gray has a strong
listing base at food, but limited in other channels. Gray’s launched one new product every second year, with Oatmeal
in 2007, Peanut Butter in 2009 and Cranberry in 2011. Only Peanut Butter is meeting current sales thresholds. Gray’s
success came from “proactive preventers” consumers, who claim to work out 3+ times per week and ‘read labels
before eating’. Gray’s is loved among the very tight niche, but has yet to be embraced by mainstream consumers. The
brand’s awareness is soft, trial is fair, and conversion to purchase is very strong because of the taste. Gray’s recently
conducted a blind taste study shows Gray’s is as good as the market leaders. On top of that, watching what Special K
was doing, they did a study that showed if you used Gray’s as a Desert replacement, consumers could lose 5lbs over
12 weeks. The current customer value proposition is targeting Healthy Proactive Preventers. Arguably, Gray’s is a
beloved brand already among that niche target. Where else can they go, in order to get a broader mainstream
audience? Main benefit is balance of taste and health. Emotional connection is the guilt-free zone; allowing
consumers to cheat, yet stay in control of their diet. Reason to believe is one backing up of the taste and the other the
health. Natural ingredient is a bit of a throw away re-enforcement, maybe for the packaging.
The big question for Gray’s is how do you gain a broader audience for Gray’s? Or do we try to get current users to
use more. How do we use Advertising to drive more awareness? What role does gaining a broader distribution play?
And while there’s been mixed success using innovation, what’s the plan going forward?

5. 2017 Key Issues
This is an example of an Ideal Brand Plan presentation to follow as a
potential format or tips at each part of the plan.

6. Key
Issues
Gray’s Cookies Business Review summary
• Consumer: New consumers attracted to Gray’s
“guilt free” positioning, but conversion to loyalty is
due to the great taste.
• Category: As America’s eating habits are
changing the cookie category is shrinking, while
the good-for-you segment thrives.
• Channels: Gray’s has many distribution gaps,
but needs to be mindful of choices, to maintain
investment in driving consumer demand.
• Competitors: Grays has an opportunity to
dominate the good for you competitors before
traditional brands enter segment.
• Brand: Growth has come from product quality,
but new “guilt free” position will connect deeper
and fuel demand
It is time to transition Gray’s from a
product-led brand into an idea-led
brand by connecting with
consumers by owning the idea of
“guilt free” snacking, rather than
just selling a great tasting cookie.
Begin to dominate and lead the
“good for you” cookie segment.
Themes each section from the review
Major Brand Challenge
Analysis

7. Key
Issues
Gray’s Cookies summary analysis
Drivers Inhibitors
• Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to
Purchase (65% vs. norm of 50%).
• Strong Listings has driven strong Distribution
in Food Channels (95%)
• Exceptional brand health scores among Early
Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”) making it a
highly Beloved Brand among the niche.
• Awareness among mainstream target (20%)
held back due to weak Advertising scores. Low
Attention scores and Brand Link scores.
• Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16%.
Poor sales coverage.
• Low Purchase Frequency (2.2 boxes/yr vs. 7.3
norm) even among most loyal early adopters.
Opportunities Threats
• R&D has 5 new flavors in development. Could
launch Peanut Butter in Q4 of 2013 (top 15%
in testing), Chocolate Chunks in Q2 of 2014
(top 50%)
• Sales broker could specifically target specialty
stores, which are in high growth (+15%/year)
• Explore social media to convert strong loyal
following into more mainstream mass appeal
• Awareness among mainstream target (20%)
held back due to weak Advertising scores. Low
Attention scores and Brand Link scores.
• Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16%.
Poor sales coverage.
• Low Purchase Frequency (2.2 boxes per year
vs. norm of 7.3) even among the most loyal
early adopters.
Analysis

8. Key
Issues
Brand Health and Wealth
Internal Health:
Divided team on whether to go after new
users or drive frequency among core users.
Advertising programs has not created
awareness. Channel strength has not
reached beyond Food. Innovation has not
been consistent.
Health:
Gray’s is a beloved brand among a core
niche (“Preventers”) but relatively indifferent
and unknown among broader audience.
Even among loyalists, frequency is very
weak and Gray’s is considered a special
treat rather than a usual brand.
Internal Wealth:
Gray’s has a unique recipe. With marketing
investment, profit margins have fallen
from 12% to 9%, without seeing the growth
ROI from the programs. Debate on whether
Gray’s should focus on channel growth vs.
marketing led programs.
External Wealth:
Gray’s has a strong growth rate at +20%
CAGR. Sales of $25Million with a 48%
gross margins, above category norm of 42%.
Gray’s has achieved a 3.3% share at
grocery but only 0.4% in the other channels.
Internal
Brand Wealth
External
Brand Health

9. Key
Issues
Brand Vision
To be the first ‘healthy cookie’ to generate the craving, popularity and sales of a
mainstream cookie. Make Gray’s a $100 Million brand by 2020.
2016 Goals
Gray’s Cookies Vision and Goals for 2016
Goals 2015 2016 Comments
Sales $27.5M $30.38M 11% growth rate
Share 0.8% 1.2% New triple chocolate 0.5% share
Distribution 62% 72% Increase coming mainly from fixing specialty.
Awareness 33% 42% Below norm, 80% among niche, < 20% overall
Purchase 10% 12% Brand promise & sampling helps drive trial.
Repeat 4% 5% High quality Taste converts high repeat

10. Key
Issues
Drivers
• Taste drives a high conversion of Trial to Purchase (65% vs. norm of 50%).
• Strong Listings has driven strong Distribution in Food Channels (95%)
• Exceptional brand health scores among Early Adopters (“Proactive Preventers”)
making it a highly Beloved Brand among the niche.
Inhibitors
• Brand Funnel scores show that we are still a niche player (low familiar), but have
yet to turn our sales into strong following (low loyalty)
• Awareness among mainstream target (20%) held back due to weak Advertising
scores. Low Attention scores and Brand Link scores.
• Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16%. Poor sales coverage.
• Low Purchase Frequency (2.2 boxes per year vs. norm of 7.3) even among the
most loyal early adopters.
Gray’s Cookies Drivers and Inhibitors

11. Business
Review
Gray’s taste is well liked by consumers. Taste drives a high
conversion of trial to purchase (65% versus a norm of 50%).
• In a blind taste test, Gray’s performed equal to the
consumer’s regular cookie. When Consumers
found out it was a low fat, low calorie option, they
said they would make it their regular cookie.
• In the market, Gray’s has a very high conversion
to purchase beating the norm (65% to 50%) and
considerably higher than the other two ‘healthy’
cookies (Dad’s and Sarah’s)
• Gray’s taste helps drive a high repeat %, beating
norm 40% to 25%.
Continue to drive trial, with the
high conversion to purchase.
Repeat %
Conversion % to Purchase
Sarah’s
Dad’s
Norm
Gray’s
Sarah’s
Dad’s
Norm
Gray’s
Driver #1

12. Business
Review
Need to maintain strength at Food, even while
looking at new distribution points.
• In the food channels, Gray’s has 90% distribution compared to 60% to Dad’s, our nearest
‘healthy’ cookie competitor. However, Gray’s has an over-reliance on the Food channel,
with 73% of the business coming from the Food channel, compared with 40% of Dad’s,
who have a much more balanced distribution. The category norm is 38%.
Strong Listings has driven strong distribution in Food
Channels (90%)
Gray's
Dad's
Driver #2

13. Business
Review
Exceptional scores among early Adopters (“Proactive
Preventers”) making it highly beloved among the niche.
• Gray’s is very healthy among “Preventers” with strong awareness at 80% and all related Brand
Funnel scores significantly above norm. However, that strength has not carried over to the
overall market, where Gray’s is significantly under-developed in the overall market.
Explore ways to leverage Love from Preventers, as early
adopters, to influence the rest of the market.
Preventers Overall Norm
Brand Funnel Scores Preventers vs. Overall
Driver #3

14. Key
Issues
Brand Funnel scores show a niche player (low familiar),
yet to turn our sales into strong following (low loyalty)
• Skinny Brand Funnel shows a lot of gaps,
pointing to the lack of marketing success in
generating awareness,
• Year 6, Gray’s still has very low Brand
Awareness (33% vs. 60% norm).
• Poor Ad tracking shows low Attention (30%
vs. norm of 50%) and poor Brand Link ratio
(.32 vs. .55 norm)
Both ends of funnel need fixing.
Need to choose between either
building awareness or driving loyalty.
Inhibitor #1

15. Key
Issues
Awareness among target (20%) held back due to weak
advertising scores. Low attention and brand link scores.
• The latest Ad (“Back Home Again”) failed to
break through (Aided Recall of only 38% vs.
62% norm).
• The Brand Link was considerably off at only
33% vs. 50% norm.
• On the positive, the brand appears highly
unique suggesting the concept is strong.
• For those who are engaged, the purchase
intention scores in line with norms.
Need better execution of Advertising. Focus on driving
stronger recall and brand link to push awareness.
Tracking!Results! Gray’s! Norm!
Aided Recall 38 62
Unaided Recall 30 46
Brand Recogni on 10 23
Brand Link .33 .50
Main Message 64 60
Uniqueness 38 22
Purchase Intent 10 9
Ad!Tracking!
Inhibitor #2
Ad Tracking

16. Key
Issues
• While Gray’s is exceptionally strong in Food, it is equally weak in the Specialty channels,
with only 16% distribution compared to Dad’s at 72%.
• In Specialty, Gray’s focuses on national listings but there are very few national accounts.
Dad’s uses 210 part time merchandisers to reach the Specialty channel.
Low distribution at specialty stores at only 16%. Poor
sales coverage.
Explore options to reach the specialty market, which
could add incremental sales volume.
Inhibitor #3
Distribution % by channel

17. Key
Issues
• Gray’s is under-developed on usage frequency, vs. the category norm and vs. Dad’s the
nearest competitor. If we could match the norm, we could triple our business. Even amongst
the most loyal consumers, most use it as a treat (4x per year) rather than a usual brand.
Low Purchase Frequency (2.2 boxes per year vs. norm
of 7.3) even among the most loyal early adopters.
Usage Frequency
weekly
monthly
4x per year
1x per year
Frequency among Loyalists
Leverage Brand love among loyalists to drive frequency.
Achieving category norm would triple the business.
Inhibitor #4

18. Key
Issues
Risks
• Mainstream cookie brands could enter the ‘health’ segment through R&D or
Acquisition. Rumors that Pepperidge Farms will launch in Q1 2014, and Nabisco
Q3 2014.
• De-listing of our 2 weakest skus (Oatmeal and Cranberry) because of POS
thresholds, could weaken our in-store presence down to 3 skus.
• Legal Challenge to “tastes as good as your favorite cookie”.
Opportunities
• R&D has 5 new flavors in development. Could launch Peanut Butter in Q4 of
2013 (top 15% in testing), Chocolate Chunks in Q2 of 2014 (top 50%)
• Specialty Sales Broker could specifically target Specialty Stores, which are in high
growth mode (+15% per year)
• Explore social media options as a vehicle for converting strong loyal following into
a more mainstream mass appeal.
Gray’s Cookies Risks and Opportunities

19. Key
Issues
1. What’s the priority for growth—find new users or drive usage frequency
among loyalists?
2. Where should the investment/resources focus and deployment be to
drive our awareness and share needs for Gray’s?
3. How will we defend Gray’s against the proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy
cookie’ launches from Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco?
Gray’s Cookies Key Issues

20. Key
Issues
Key Issue #1: What’s the priority for growth—find new
users or drive usage frequency among loyalists?
• Analysis shows there is more opportunity to drive trial in first two years,
and then move to frequency strategy in year three.
• Most motivated target is 35-40 female, proactive preventers, who work
out 3x a week.
• “Guilt free treat” is most motivating message and own-able for Gray’s.
• Advertising helps drive awareness in the most efficient manner, but
needs sampling to re-enforce trial.
• Raise concern and re-look strategy if the frequency among the most
loyal does not increase.

21. Key
Issues
Key Issue #2: Where should the investment/resources
focus and deployment be to drive our awareness and
share needs for Gray’s?
• Recommend a balanced marketing mix of advertising to drive
positioning and sampling to drive trial.
• Focus for sales is to close distribution gaps at specialty stores
• R&D should focus on driving annual innovation to create an optimized
portfolio mix.
• Watch outs: trying to do too many activities, working/non-working
marketing spend.

22. Key
Issues
Key Issue #3: How will we defend Gray’s against the
proposed Q1 2014 ‘healthy cookie’ launches from
Pepperidge Farms and Nabisco?
• Pre-launch (Q4) the sales team to shore up all distribution gaps.
Leverage category data to close deals.
• At launch defense plan includes heavy merchandising, locking up key
ad dates and BOGO.
• Marketing support includes 15s TV ads to muddy airwaves, couponing
and in-store sampling.
• Watch out is to stay aware of exact timing to ensure focused defense
plan lines up.