Some strategic attention for a brand in neglect

When incoming CEO, Andrew Boath, joined Office National, he was astonished to find that, despite significant turnover and market share, this vast and well-known office products group had a brand that was craving attention.

Andrew hailed from the FMCG sector, where “brand is king”. Where brand is everything. Instinctively he knew that Office National’s future success relied on changing the way the business perceived the value of its own brand. But how could a national business group with more than 170 locations, 150 individual owners and two competing brands hope to turnaround a culture of brand neglect?

Short of pulling on a superhero suit, Andrew knew specialist expertise was called for. Office National desperately needed some “outside eyes looking in” to help evaluate the brand, define its market and set a strategic direction that would realise its enormous potential. In short … it needed a brand audit.

DDG won the competitive pitch and the Brand Audit team hit the road in an odyssey that took them around the country to listen to, consult with and advise Office National and Office Products Depot owners and staff across Australia. This 6-week consultative and collaborative “road-show” elicited data, opinion and observation. It educated owners, managers, staff and executive. Most importantly, it engaged a broad cross-section of the group members and gave them a voice into the future of the group and their businesses.

DDG’s Strategic Sales Director, Richard Duerden, explained DDG’s role. “As branding specialists, part of this brief was to educate about branding across all levels of the enterprise. We talked about how critical the brand is, how easily it can be watered down and how closely the brand value connects to commercial outcomes and the dollar value of the individual businesses within the group. We talked about how local member identity can be retained while still leveraging from the strength of the ‘big’ brand. We worked hard to foster ownership and participation in the Office National brand evolution, and at the same time gathered the data we needed to formulate a viable strategy for moving forward.”

DDG prepared a comprehensive Brand Audit report that illuminates all aspects of the Office National brand and defines a step-by-step strategic blueprint for achieving the brand’s potential. From alignment of the two existing brands (Office National and Office Products Depot) under a corporate umbrella brand, to developing, protecting and managing a new logo, to undertaking a review of the Marketing Function and developing a comprehensive communications strategy, the document defines strategic imperatives and a series of actions through which they can be achieved.

“Maintaining brand integrity across a multi-owner group is always a challenge – it takes smart leadership, consistent focus and a good understanding of organisational culture,” says Richard. “In Office National’s case, we have validated the new CEO’s initial understanding of the business positioning, affirmed numerous areas for improvement, delivered a very strong rationale for re-branding and supported that with a practical, results-driven action plan to develop and protect the new brand. The Office National Board now has a comprehensive strategic document to focus planning and decision-making into the future. They can move forward with confidence.”

“By being involved at this initiation phase of the brand evolution, DDG has the opportunity to contribute our expertise in shaping the strategy, not just responding to it. We demonstrate our own strategic credentials and ensure that the deliverables that follow are absolutely aligned to the client’s ‘big picture’ direction. This is how really powerful brands are built – from the ground-up, based on well-informed research, consultative elicitation and intelligent planning.”

The DDG “road-show” will go on tour again soon … partnering Office National in developing and launching its new brand structure and rolling-out a fresh visual brand around the country. A well-executed roll-out will promote the culture shift required to gain group members’ ownership and support for the changes, ensuring the brand never falls into neglect again.

And not a superhero suit in sight.