Brand Transformation & Communications
Customer-centric into the future: With the right brand management, communication, and DEI strategy
Five steps to a sustainable communication and brand strategy
Rapidly changing markets and customer needs increasingly put a brand’s identity to the test. We offer our clients a customer-centric approach by supporting them in implementing a digital brand management and 360° communication strategy and measuring its success. In this context, we help them define their brand’s core and develop customised storytelling for communicating with target groups. We help companies make intelligent use of digital opportunities and translate brand values into the digital world. We focus on target groups, branded content, agile marketing organisation structure, and communication strategy.
The most critical questions in brand transformation
Brand
What does my branding need to achieve? How can I adapt my products and messaging to the respective target groups and extended business models? How do I need to prioritise communications across different channels?
Audience
Who exactly belongs to my target group – and who doesn't? When and in which situations are consumers receptive to my messages and content? When should I launch operationally? Are there seasonal influences? How do I act anti-cyclically to the competition?
Content
With which content do I get into the consciousness of the target group? When is content truly customer-oriented? How do I set my campaigns apart from the competition? Which insights do I need for data-based marketing?
Success factors for long-term branding
- Purpose & Values
- Multi-channel
- Employer Branding
Purpose & Values
Clearly defining the purpose and values of a brand and communicating them to specific target groups
To differentiate a brand from the competition and position it for the target group clearly, it is crucial to define its core as part of strategic brand management. What is its purpose? What values does it stand for? What measures are necessary to turn customers into fans and cultivate love?
To position a brand with a sustainable purpose, it must be sustainably embedded in the business strategy and act as a guideline for actions within the company. The goal is to reach selected target group segments at the right time with the right, personalised message through strategic marketing and measures to convey its purpose and values.
As well as brand identity, consumers want to be involved in an authentic dialog at eye level and believe that it plays a meaningful and sustainable role for them and the environment in times of crisis.
Multi-channel
Multi-platform strategies to ensure efficient cross-channel communication
Loyalty to individual platforms is declining; users typically consume content via various media (sometimes simultaneously). Second-screen consumption is becoming multi-screen consumption. A tonality and communication strategy must also adapt to this new media consumption. This development also changes the customer journey, including touchpoints that make strategic planning necessary.
The motives for using social media are changing. In 2021, the focus was no longer only on exchanges with friends; the younger target group especially expects social media to entertain them.
Employer Branding
Developing an authentic employer identity through employer branding
The employer must provide orientation for employees and potential applicants, clearly distinguish itself from other employers, and make clear the values for which it stands. Currently, the German labour market is dominated by baby boomers and employees from generations X, Y, and Z. Each generation has its own specific needs and desires. Each generation has particular needs and wishes concerning the labour market. It is the task of employers to meet these expectations and address them in a differentiated manner. Today, employees choose their preferred employers – not vice versa. #WarofTalents
A company’s employees also play a decisive role in perception and represent an effective communication channel: Keyword Employee Advocacy. They can convey an authentic image of the company – because a lived brand identity is one of the most critical success factors of a company. Have you already tapped the potential of your employees' voices?
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Why DEI matters
Our society is characterised by diversity. It is essential to reflect this diversity in all areas of life, and it holds many opportunities for companies to achieve sustainable optimisation at various levels. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are factors that will help you secure your company's success in the long term, fully exploit existing potential, and drive new challenges and innovations. The positive impact of more diversity, inclusion, and equitable participation on organisational culture and profitability can be demonstrated in an evidence-based way.
We help you promote diversity and inclusion in your organisation and fully unleash the strengths of a diverse workforce.
Success factors for a successful DEI transformation are manifold. From a DEI-oriented business strategy to the expansion of inclusive behavioural patterns to comprehensive messaging, our experts accompany you on your way to identify potentials, derive targeted and practice-oriented measures, and implement them sustainably.
Our Case Studies
- Communication strategy marketing and sales activation
- International Trade Fair Company – Marketing Operating Model for the Public Sector
- Communication strategy and implementation for a repositioning of a major German car manufacturer
- Communication consulting in the context of a DEI transformation project
Communication strategy marketing and sales activation
Challenge & Situation
The client faced the challenge of implementing a Salesforce taxonomy and, at the same time, enabling all employees to implement and use it correctly. With the help of a holistic communication strategy and accompanying incentives, all relevant employees’ use of the taxonomy was successfully ensured. Our task was to create a communication strategy including the appropriate tools and enable the employees through upskilling sessions.
PwC approach
- Focus on internal messaging as part of the communications strategy during the early stages of the project
- Identification of relevant target groups within the agency
- Advice on how to win over every employee as well as the management for the high relevance of the project in the long term
- Creation of decision-making bases through handouts on inclusive language and linguistic gender use as well as on the organisation of multilingual communication in the corporate context
Result and impact
- Successful implementation of the taxonomy
- Ensuring strategic storytelling across all channels
- Motivating employees to implement and use the tool for optimal evaluation results
International Trade Fair Company – Marketing Operating Model for the Public Sector
Challenge & Situation
Due to the ongoing pandemic, traditional trade shows are constrained, causing our client to rethink their products and adapt their operating model. The shift to digital products allowed entry into new markets and opportunities. In marketing campaigns, the client lacked visibility into how certain input KPIs related to output KPIs. There was little effective or efficient tracking of marketing campaigns, resulting in suboptimal ROMI.
PwC approach
- In-depth as-is analysis to gain a deep understanding of the existing marketing landscape, processes, organisational structure, and tracking capabilities
- Maturity analysis enabled us to identify challenges, determine the maturity level of the marketing department, and derive optimisation measures from it
- Based on the as-is and maturity analysis, we derived an operating model for the marketing objective, including a roadmap and use cases
Result and impact
- The client was ready to expand its product portfolio to include digital products such as virtual trade shows
- Improved marketing processes to increase effectiveness and transparency of input and output factors
- The design of a technical infrastructure needed to track marketing campaigns efficiently serves as the main pillar for the future state of the marketing department
Communication strategy and implementation for a repositioning of a major German car manufacturer
Challenge & Situation
Our client saw the urgency to strengthen its supply chain, which was impacted by disruptions. In a holistic project, we jointly developed a supplier diversity program. By strengthening existing suppliers with a more diverse culture and actively seeking out new, diverse suppliers, we identified a lever to ensure long-term success and supported our client's goal of becoming fairer and more inclusive. To ensure the success and impact of the program and position the brand in line it, the client engaged us to develop a comprehensive communications strategy, conceptualise positioning messages, and develop an operational action plan.
PwC approach
- Development of a holistic communications strategy in the context of setting up two pilot projects of the Supplier Diversity Program
- Comprehensive stakeholder analysis for target group and channel mapping
- Derivation of appropriate communication objectives for internal and external target groups
- Creation of a communication plan with messages tailored to the channels and target groups
Result and impact
- Ensuring project success during the implementation phase of the two pilots based on the elicited strategy through communicative and visual support of selected assets
- Successful brand positioning thanks to our sensitive internal change communication guidance and targeted external campaigns
- Strengthened the reputation of the overall DE&I strategy across the company
Communication consulting in the context of a DEI transformation project
Challenge & Situation
We supported our client in a holistic DEI transformation, helping the agency unlock its potential by promoting awareness of the benefits of greater diversity and building inclusive behaviours. Since implementing DEI into the company's strategy also meant a major change process, we developed a custom-fit communication strategy for our client and supported the specific communication measures.
PwC approach
- Focus on internal communications as part of the communications strategy during the early stages of the project
- Identification of relevant target groups within the agency
- Advice on how to address DEI adequately to win over all employees as well as the management for the high relevance of the project in the long term
- Creation of decision-making bases using handouts on inclusive language and linguistic gender use as well as on the organisation of multilingual communication in the corporate context
Result and impact
- Reduction of reservations on all hierarchical levels through full communication support of the change project and gaining internal project advocates
- Identifying quick wins for the entire DEI project with the help of the guidelines and best practices we provided on the mechanisms of action between language and diversity
“At PwC Germany, we always aim to bring together the perspectives of people with different backgrounds, life experiences, preferences, and beliefs to achieve better results for our clients and society. Fairness and objectivity are cornerstones of our corporate culture. We do not only live this internally. We also accompany companies on their way to anchoring the important topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their corporate culture and thereby becoming more successful.”
Your new brand house
We support you in five steps to sustainably adapt your communication and brand strategy to the new customer behaviour. The roof of your new “House of Brand & Communication” is the brand itself. Under it, strategic communication combines the proper understanding of the target group, the appropriate branded content, and a target-oriented agile organisational structure. In short: the right mindset for your brand transformation & communication from the inside out. The operational foundation for your new approach is then formed by specific campaign planning and selecting the right technologies. We find the right path for your brand, whether with marketing automation tools, data management platforms or artificial intelligence. We also enable the intelligent use of all digital possibilities to translate brand values into the digital world.
From new brand to new leads
Dynamic markets and customer needs are increasingly putting brand identity to the test. New digital channels and touchpoints are making brand management more complex. They are placing new demands on communication with ever new requirements. And technologies also play a vital role – from a comprehensive fact base for effective data-driven marketing to the right marketing automation software for your workflow, we'll give you the overview you need and help your company implement it. Like this, for example:
“Those who move forward boldly now have the best chance of existing on the market in the long term. New business models are no longer optional – it's becoming a must-have to meet new needs along the entire customer journey.”
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