To beat your competitors, you need to understand them.

It’s branding 101.

Still, it is difficult to get an outside perspective on your own category. To stand out in the category and know what truly resonates with your consumers and the culture your brand is part of.

That’s why we always start a project with a strategic analysis of a brand’s context. We use our tool, the 4Cs, to get a fresh perspective and spot opportunities.

Your context consists of:

• Company
• Category
• Consumer
• Culture

Scroll down where we explain this further and how you can navigate them.

Company – Investigate your existing assets, legacy and brand equity. Which elements do you have at your disposal to build on and develop? Remember, it’s not a walk down memory lane – the focus is on the brand.

Category – Study your competitors when laying your strategic brand foundation. Which trends are growing and fading within the category (and tangential categories), and where is the market heading?

Consumers – Uncover their needs, demands, and tendencies to stay relevant and establish/cement your position in an ever-changing market. Read up on what they are reading, watching, enjoying, consuming and so on.

Culture – Ask yourself, where are we now, and where are we heading? Look for growing or fading social movements. Are there any no-nos or pitfalls regarding action, words, and attitude? Spoiler: there always is. And yes, this ‘culture’ also applies to your category.

But there’s so much more! For you, we’ve got a free book on repositioning, a  simple read but essential for business and brand thinking. Get it at the bottom.

Your brand lives in a context like all others. So when things shift, you must respond to remain distinct. To zag when others zig.

We’ve condensed our collective knowledge into a book. It’s an easy read with a lasting impact.

You will learn the tools to make Danone stand out from the competition.

Just fill out the form below to sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll email you the book right away.