A New Map for Product Managers — Strategic Brand Development for the Global Middle Class Markets

This course will go inside NGO, Government, and Commercial entities to provide a playbook for product managers looking to “move the needle” in their enterprises through effective business strategies. Here, we employ the same ANM course series principles regarding global networks and international/national rulesets and the inevitable changes they compel in enterprise dynamics both internally (with employees) and externally (partners and customers). Fully leveraging insights from across the ANM series, this course introduces to produce managers a series of techniques, strategies, and tools to build brand purpose and brand equity on both global and regional scales.

The first week reviews lessons learned from this series’ first two courses, drilling down on key insights most applicable to product managers, such as analyzing markets and their dynamics in terms of their implications for brand strategy. Can you maintain the same brand positioning in a market democracy as in one controlled by a single-party regime? What about your brands’ positioning on social media in an age of rising cyber sovereignty? Is it possible — or even advisable — to maintain a singular brand personality and brand identity in such varied market circumstances? In most cases, the underlying needs of potential customers are the same, and yet it is essential to recognize how differently supervised and structured markets generate decidedly different rulesets for introducing, establishing, and expanding a successful brand.

Second week dives into how your enterprise can improve its customer analysis and marketing for global products by first accessing, and then networking with, the “integrated value chains” being constructed and concentrated across the world’s major manufacturing/demand hubs (presently, North America, Europe, East Asia). Drawing upon the ANM playbook, this week explores how opportunities abound for new products and services within the North-South integration dynamics generated by climate change and demographic transitions. Given the potential time-zone alignment afforded by regionalization of supply chains, effective marketing strategies can disrupt local markets on both price or convenience. For established products, the emergent global majority middle class offers ample opportunities to refine brand name and brand voice. Nonetheless, marketing efforts still involve proven concepts such as Clayton Christensen’s Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) and Steve Blank’s business model canvas (BMC). Strong brands result from a quality product matched with a clear brand identity that works within the rules and regulations of a particular economy. To effectively develop this combination requires 1) detailed mapping of local value networks, and 2) the exploration of, and experimentation within, those networks through various generative and evaluative techniques.

In the third week we further explores the value-network concept, to include how product designs influence business models for creating attractive and expanding networks. Working across superpower network boundaries requires carefully calibrated brand messaging that avoids triggering local protectionist sentiment while ensuring brand values remain stable in the eyes of the consumer. Through marketing efforts that speak directly to target audiences, investors can be assured of effective brand strategy that combines visual identity (to include color palette, typography, fonts) with local core values. However, creating whole new value chains is not always the most effective operational strategy. In fact, brand building often demands company structures and interfaces optimized for ecosystems and APIs, with content marketing modified for markets that are centrally managed or have specific constraints. The week also covers key negotiations and rules of engagement that enhance the value network created by product managers across suppliers and channel (marketing) partners. These various partnering strategies enhance the brand strategy by customizing brand names for, and fast-tracking brand recognition with, the target audience so that powerful brand identities are firmly established in competition with existing brands.

The final week brings in explicit templates for successful brand strategy, leveraging work by luminaries like Geoffrey Moore on how best to navigate changing power dynamics within global value chains while staying true to one’s product vision to grow the customer base. This requires constantly exploring new technologies and offerings to unlock new products for potential customers and to update the customer experience for the existing customer base. As new technologies develop, companies need to decide — based on their long-term goals — where and when to deploy them within their business to improve customer experience, optimize operations, or develop entirely new products. Such pivots typically trigger different brand development strategies. Optimization requires ensuring that your brand identity and core values remain intact while reducing workforce requirements and potentially threatening the brand promise of quality. Updates to the customer experience requires ensuring any changes to the tone of voice, tagline, or brand guidelines fits within the larger brand story. New products or services may require you to build a brand that taps into a whole new customer base, necessitating an entirely new style guide. In each instance, ensuring long-term growth and customer loyalty means maintaining a customer orientation throughout your enterprise, employing organizational and product designs that strengthen your value proposition while attracting long-term partners to succeed in competitive markets bursting with new customers who don’t yet exhibit strong brand loyalty.