ryan mcdaid :: brand planning portfolio
DESCRIPTION
RYAN McDAID BRAND PLANNING & STRATEGY PORTFOLIO 10/3/12TRANSCRIPT
PAST EXPERIENCE
TROJAN CONDOMS :: Pickin’ up Good Vibrations
CHALLENGE: Trojan Condoms has always been known as the trusted brand for “safe sex”. When Church & Dwight decided it was Nme to expand the porPolio beyond contracepNves we were tasked with idenNfying new innovaNon territories and building strategic communicaNon plaPorms that would maintain the brand integrity while evolving the image.
APPROACH: We needed to get inNmate with our consumers to find out what “sexual health” meant to them. Through quanNtaNve surveys, focus groups and ethnographies we engaged Millennial, Gen X , and Boomer couples to find out what role pleasure had in their lives. We gave consumers the chance to arNculate where they felt Trojan had the right to play in the bedroom.
INSIGHTs: -‐ We found that consumer senNment around “sexual health” went beyond contracepNon. It extended to new areas such as mutual orgasms and sexual exploraNon. -‐ Trojan’s extension line of added-‐sensaNons condoms (i.e. Fire & Ice and Ecstasy) had already bridged the worlds of “safe sex” and enhanced pleasure in the minds of consumers. This gave the brand permission to conNnue to explore pleasure enhancing products such as vibrators and lubricants while maintaining consumer trust. -‐ Millennial & Gen X couples asserted that sexual pleasure was not only the foundaNon of a healthy relaNonship but a healthy lifestyle.
RESULT: Trojan VibraNons: a line of vibraNng toys for individual & couples play. Our findings gave Trojan the permission & confidence to fight for distribuNon in drug and mass retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. We then created a brand idenNty to coincide with a porPolio extension that transformed Trojan from a “sexual health” to a “sexual innovator” brand on the forefront of healthy lifestyles.
TROJAN CONDOMS :: Pickin’ up Good Vibrations
SEVENTH GENERATION :: It ain’t easy being green
CHALLENGE: Seventh GeneraNon has always been a fan favorite among dark green consumers but it scared away the mainstream with aggressive environmental messaging and rumors of poor efficacy. We were tasked with the challenge of making the brand image more approachable and giving the mainstream a reason to believe without loosing the core dark green consumer.
APPROACH: To bring Seventh GeneraNon to the mainstream we knew we had to start with the heads of the household, moms. We targeted social groups of mothers who idenNfied themselves as “light green leaning” to find out how “green” fit into their lives and where the barriers of entry existed for the category.
Insights: -‐ The first thing we heard was that the “guilt trips” being delivered by dark green products were turning moms off to the category enNrely. -‐ One of the key barriers we idenNfied was the disconnect between “green” and “clean”. Mothers believed that green meant you had to compromise on efficacy. -‐ We found that for moms green started with organic foods and products that were consumable. This gave us the key insight that green messaging is most effecNve when it is Ned to personal health instead of environmental health. -‐ Finally, we found that word of mouth was the most powerful tool for spreading knowledge and product recommendaNons. We knew that if we wanted to get the word out about 7th Gen we needed to create social currency for these consumers.
RESULT: Seventh GeneraNon lightened up. We turned down the “guilt factor” in the product messaging and switched to a voice of educaNon and celebraNon. In the end we reminded moms that Seventh GeneraNon products are looking out for both her loved ones and the world they will inherit.
SEVENTH GENERATION :: It Ain’t easy being Green
DIAGEO GUINNESS USA :: Making Lemonade OuT of Lemons
CHALLENGE: Each summer the Diageo Guinness USA porPolio turned into a bunch of lemons. It was clear that the lineup lacked a strong summer player. We were tasked with exploring innovaNve ways to build within the porPolio without having to introduce a new brand to the category.
APPROACH: We dove into the DGUSA porPolio history to idenNfy which of the brands had the ability to win in the summer months. Acer understanding each of the personaliNes in the DGUSA porPolio and analyzing their consumer percepNon and brand health we idenNfied Harp as having the most room for image augmentaNon.
INSIGHTs: -‐ Harp’s history was steeped in innovaNon and rapid response to market shics and trends. -‐ We found small brands like Leinenkugel dominated sales each 3rd quarter with their summer shandy. -‐ Data showed that the shandy’s refreshing light taste made the brew appealing to both male and female consumers leveling the gender divide that typically plagued the import beer category.
RESULT: Harp Shandy was born. Diageo realized they had a brand that was versaNle enough to take on a lighter summer flavor extension without loosing its idenNty. Harp Shandy was launched in test markets during the summer of 2012 proving DGUSA is a porPolio for all seasons.
DIAGEO GUINNESS USA :: Making Lemonade OuT of Lemons
COLANGELO :: Building an Organic insights machine
CHALLENGE: Insights are the lifeblood of creaNve campaigns but harvesNng them takes Nme and resources. The Colangelo strategy team was constantly stretched thin across a myriad of campaigns and couldn’t serve every account. We set out to find a way to empower account & creaNve teams to derive insights on their own.
APPROACH: We knew that to empower account and creaNve’s to act like planners we first had to idenNfy and reward exisNng strategic behavior. To observe how these teams worked we spent Nme with account and creaNves to find out what they personally did when taking on new projects.
INSIGHTs: -‐ We found that even though employees were regularly reading and researching they were not saving and archiving data in a place where their teams could access it. -‐ Employees wanted to share insights but were afraid to overload each other’s inboxes with informaNon that was not immediately perNnent. -‐ The employee behavior of using social media to share arNcles was well established within the agency.
RESULT: The Tentacle Blog: an internal wiki that allowed each Colangelo employee to log in, share and tag arNcles. This plaPorm ensured informaNon could live in a searchable online archive and be recalled at the start of any project. It increased efficiency on projects, expedited the spread of industry informaNon and created a company culture that was excited to learn and share. We took it up a notch by gamifying the wiki and rewarding frequent posters. In the end everyone was a winner.
COLANGELO :: Building an Organic insights machine
What Coworkers have said:
Ryan McDaid is a rare talent, super smart, very insightful and incredibly articulate
and he managed not just to impress me (to the point where I’m writing this) but
captivated an audience of 30+ creatives at NY Creative week with an incredible impromptu session that had them laughing,
engaging and lingering at the end just to say “thanks” in person. Suffice to say,
Colangelo was well represented in the creative community that day. You should all know this, and be proud.
- Brett Minieri :: CREATIVE DIRECTOR
