2. Why Do Wargaming? Allows you to anticipate and control the dialogue about your brand and the category in your terms, not your competitors’. Makes sure that all elements of communication operate from a common strategy Uses research to test strategy elements, claims and other elements of marketing mix in advance Sets up a framework to track and allow for necessary adjustments post-launch 2
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4. A Competitive message track to highlight the reasons why the brand is better than competitive alternatives.
5. A Response track to counter likely challenges from a competitor brandTriple Track Model
6. The Brand Competitive Track Equity Track Key reasons to select the brand Response Track Points out weaknesses of competition Responds to salient competitive attacks The Triple Track Model
7. Effective Wargaming: Examples Most utilized application: Political Campaigns- 2004 Presidential Election: Bush vs. Kerry Branded applications:- The H2 Wars: Pepcid AC(J&J) vs Tagamet(GSK)- Smoking Control: Nicorette/Nicoderm(GSK) vs Nicotrol(J&J)
8. The Smoking Control WarsBackground Nicorette and Nicoderm CQ switched in 1996, creating $500M OTC smoking control category Nicoderm CQ based launch on 3-step down, Rx heritage J&J’s Nicotrol launched 3 months later with unique positioning- took 3 step Rx regimen and launched with 1 step (highest dose) and shorter course of therapy(6 weeks vs 10 weeks Concept testing of Nicotrol approach showed strong appeal amongst likely quitters Launch advertising used ‘real people’ approach that was initially thought to be effective However, Nicotrol lost credibility with smokers by referring to 1 step approach as ‘quick & easy’
13. Step 2: Wargaming Workshop Immersion and Planning Wargaming Workshop Synthesis and Refinement • Triple Track Model • Multi-functional teams • Interactive and collaborative
14. Wargaming Workshop: Developing the Triple Track Model Participation: Extended global brand team members (Sales, Regulatory, Market Research, others?); US and ex-US Pre-reading and work assignments Split into teams, assigned as competitor or current company Each team builds on the projected scenario & presents back to all teams Key claims and counter-claims developed for each scenario Claims prioritization and gap identification Recap and summary
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17. Summary Wargaming is a critical part of the brand-building process Allows you anticipate competitive impact and create actionable scenarios that can shape how you build your brand prior to and through launch Galvanizes the internal organization and provides a common language and perspective Proven to have been successful in political and branded products environment
