Grow the Core: How to Focus on your Core Business for Brand Success

Grow the Core stands conventional wisdom about business growth on its head and provides a proven formula for growing your business in recessionary times. These days, it′s a common belief among business leaders across industry sectors that the best way to grow their businesses is to expand into new markets. In reality, virtually all  top–performing companies achieve superior results through a leading position in their core business. Unfortunately, there′s very little in the way of practical advice on how to do this. Grow the Core shows you how tofocus on your core business for brand success, with a program of eight workouts road-tested by the author's consultancy, the brandgym. The book provides inspiration, practical advice and proven tools for building and strengthening your core business. It is packed with case studies from brandgym clients, including Mars, Friesland Campina, SAB Miller and Danone. The book features exclusive brandgym research, in addition to front–line experience on over one hundred brand coaching projects.

Table of Contents:
Thanks xi Introduction xiii Part I: Why Grow the Core? 1 1. Defining the core 3 What is the core? 3 Anchoring the core 7 Key takeouts 9 Checklist 9 2. Stretching the brand, forgetting the core 11 Getting it right… brand stretch can work – Apple 11 Getting it wrong… brand ego tripping – Virgin 13 Snow White and the 17 dwarves 20 Neglecting the core – Bausch & Lomb 24 Key takeouts 25 Checklist 26 3. The case for the core 27 Two ways to make a million – Heinz soup 27 The case for the core 30 A new marketing mind-set – Scooty 30 The challenges of growing the core 32 Key takeouts 36 Checklist 36 Part II: Grow the Core Principles 37 4. The core growth drivers 39 Core growth driver 1: Penetration 39 Driving penetration with distinctiveness 44 Fresh consistency – James Bond 48 Driving penetration with distribution 57 Core growth driver 2: Premiumisation 58 The Grow the Core workouts 59 The best brand in the world – Nespresso? 61 Key takeouts 65 Checklist 66 5. Renovation or re-invention? 67 Renovate the core – Walkers 69 Re-position the core – Lucozade 72 Re-define the core – Bertolli 76 Re-invent the core – Kodak and TomTom 77 Key takeouts 82 Checklist 83 Part III: Grow the Core Workouts 85 6. Workout 1: Bake the brand into your product 87 Bake in your brand – The Geek Squad 89 Using product to grow your core 1: Amplify a product truth – Morrisons and Castle Lite 92 Using product to grow your core 2: More of what you want – McDonald’s 97 Using product to grow your core 3: Less of what you don’t want – Walkers 99 Key takeouts 100 Checklist 100 7. Workout 2: Create a distinctive identity 103 Identity crisis 105 Being the 1 in 1000 106 Balancing freshness and consistency – Tropicana 108 Updating your identity – Nivea 110 Creating your identity – Charlie Bigham’s 111 Suggesting a benefit – Waitrose Essentials 113 Re-positioning – Green & Black’s 115 Adding value – Molton Brown 115 Packvertising – innocent 116 Family ties – Nescaf´e and Red Bull 118 Amplifying brand properties – Felix 121 Five-minute focus groups 122 Key takeouts 124 Checklist 124 8. Workout 3: Communicate with cut-through 127 Communication breakdown 129 Fresh consistency 132 Think like a TV producer 137 Creating a campaign – Sainsbury’s 138 Refreshing what made you famous – Hovis 140 What about social media? 144 Key takeouts 161 Checklist 162 9. Workout 4: Go beyond promotion to activation 163 Grab and go – innocent’s Big Knit 166 Creating an activation property – Carling ‘Be the Coach’ 168 Amplifying the property – Nike 172 Key takeouts 175 Checklist 176 10. Workouts 5 and 6: Drive your distribution 177 Workout 5: Existing channels 180 Workout 6: New channels 182 Key takeouts 188 Checklist 189 11. Workouts 7 and 8: Extend the core 191 Delivering a double whammy 193 Workout 7: Pack extension – WD-40 196 Workout 8: Product extension – Ryvita 199 Key takeouts 202 Checklist 202 Part IV: The Grow the Core Workplan 203 12. Grow the core – getting started 205 Stage 1: Insight 207 Stage 2: Ideas 214 Stage 3: Exploration 214 Stage 4: Action 215 Key takeouts 220 Checklist 221 References 223 Also by 227 Index 229

About the Author :
David Taylor is founder and Managing Partner of the brandgym, a network of senior brand coaches that help teams create a clear brand vision and the action plans to turn this into growth. Clients include Sainsbury's, LVMH, Unilever, T-Mobile and SAB Miller. David has been named one of the world's 50 leading marketing thinkers by the CIM. He is the author of four successful books on branding published by John Wiley: The Brand Gym, Brand Vision, Brand Stretch and Never Mind the Sizzle...Where's the Sausage? were all number 1 on Amazon's branding books ranking. He also writes brandgymblog.com, one of world's top 60 marketing blogs. David started his career in brand management with P&G before doing an MBA at INSEAD. He then started the Paris office of Added Value in 1993 and grew it to 50 people, leaving to create the brandgym in 2001, to spend more time on brand strategy, and less time bored in board meetings. david@thebrandgym.com

Review :
"Includes useful tips, including how to strengthen a core brand with a limited communication budget." (Supply Business, January 2013) "For a marketer, retail buyer, entrepreneur or interested consumer, this is a great book looking at whether businesses should stick to what they know of their original or most profitable brand or whether businesses should expand into other broader areas." (Supply Management, February 2013) "The marketing division of any well-established company should study this book- you never know when the mighty might fall." (Professional Manager, May 2013)