Description

Building exciting brands by using a leadership mindset with Mihai Bonca, Senior Marketing Consultant and Clinical Lecturer, MBA, University of Oxford

Fiday, June 10th from 12h00 to 12h45

Successful marketing can be described as applied thought leadership applied into a specific marketplace. It creates ownable competitive advantages by building relationships, trust and long-term consumer value. Empowers companies know more about their audience than competitors do. Differentiates brands, ensures attachment, leads to longer customer lifetime value and as a result, higher profitability. Any leading organization operates in a meaningful H2H (humans to humans) space, not in B2B or B2C.

However, the majority of brands are commodities, pitching clients mainly on lower price and promos. They fail to build distinction or devotion. Their strategies usually lack leadership, strategy, consumer “Big Ideas”, human experience and rely on daily tactics. As a consequence, profitability struggles as well.

Agenda

1. Competitive Advantages:

• Leaders create superior performance by better understanding customers and differentiating against competition
• We will debate about the principle of building on strengths and minimizing flaws. To achieve that, a company should prioritize, focus on “Points of Difference”, aiming to become dissimilar. Should avoid waste on “Traps” and “Nice to have”. Competitive Weaknesses should be minimized in time as “Points of Parity”
• Two main positionings: low margins/ high volumes vs. differentiation/ specialization
• Key tool: Competitive Map

2. Brand Architecture:

• The architecture shows the way a brand connects with the outside world through a mix of performance and promises. We will highlight how the leading brands are built through a clear ambition, values, beliefs, benefits, arguments, personality and design elements.
• In successful cases a brand becomes a magnetic artefact, able to attract a loyal “tribe” of customers
• Best in class examples: old school – Mastercard vs. Visa, new school – Revolut
• Key tool: Brand Relationship Ladder

Bio sketch:

Mihai Bonca is a Senior Consultant at Brand Architects. He has extensive experience involving brand repositioning and renovations. The local and international brands lead by Mihai repeatedly achieved market leadership, while he received more than 25 industry awards for marketing contribution.

He helps Boards and CEOs of local and multinational organizations redefining strategies, transforming brands and marketing approach, building roadmaps. In the past, Mihai held Board Member positions and managed four countries as a Group Marketing Director. His expertise ranges from traditional FMCG to B2B and e-Commerce.

Mihai holds an MBA degree from Oxford University and contributes towards the new generation of professionals by teaching Marketing Strategy as a Lecturer/ Clinical Expert in different business schools.

When not in office, with clients, in conferences or with students, Mihai can be spotted on the basketball court.