Johnnie Walker: execution counts as much as strategy

約翰走路：執行與策略一樣重要

原文網址: Link

摘要：約翰走路的成功行銷不只是靠著智慧策略，重要的是他徹底的執行了“Keep Walking”的行銷活動。“Keep Walking”概念只帶給消費者品牌想法，還是需要靠卓越的執行力來深植消費者的腦海。其靠著品牌融入、視覺印象、單一概念，多重執行、記憶創造地一致性等手法，幫助其在國際格局下仍能夠被在地消費者所接受。

　　在一個往Beirut的旅行中，我被一個巨大的約翰走路廣告牌震懾住了。上頭的人物是Bernard Khoury，他是一位本地的建築師，曾經幫助修復這個被15年內戰轟炸成碎片的城市。Khoury生動地表達這個品牌“Keep Walking”的哲理。早期的廣告甚至有更直接的圖像，表現出居住在這個城市中的居民是如何在戰爭的恐懼與艱困之下，仍決心要有所發展。

　　此廣告海報使我們了解“Keep Walking”是如何成為一個全球化的行銷手法，且被本地市場所接受進而在地化。有些關於這個成功案例的秘密昨天出現在我的信箱。是在Effective Brands工作的Marc所做的出色個案研究。這個個案顯示了這個9.5%的銳減銷售是如何在1995到1999年間轉變成3.7%的成長並且引起兩倍的迴響。

　　我從這個案例得到的想法是，這項成功的轉變和此案例所注重的智慧策略較無關，反而和其優秀的執行有比較大的關係，讓我們來看看原因： “Keep Walking”是基於一個成功的洞察，它不只是在於物質上的報酬，它也是關於「一段旅程」。這將品牌概念的走向帶往「激發個人進步、發展」，到目前為止都是明智的做法。然而，約翰走路不是唯一有這樣想法的品牌，無數其他品牌在同樣時間也達成同樣的境界。真的讓約翰走路與眾不同的原因是卓越的執行力。說明如下：

1. 品牌融入

　　標語「Keep Walking」是一個廣告代理商BBH的創意作品，簡單但是非常有力量。它配合了行動使這品牌概念甦醒。但真正的創造力在於這個品牌是如何利用「walking」的概念去「融入」，連結了品牌名稱與其象徵符號。

2. 視覺印象

　　一個已經被完成的成功任務是簡化及增強「walking man」的符號，創造出強大的視覺印象。只使用白色、金色還有黑色，卻創造脫穎而出且夢寐以求的面貌。這改變讓廣告看板的Stopping Power(凝視注意程度)達到80%(由Millward Brown公司估量)，而基準點是60%。

　　有一個我沒有注意到的小轉變是walking man的行走方向改成了由左至右，不再是由右至左，更恰當的演繹了進步的概念，很巧妙對吧?

3. 單一概念，多重執行

　　Rob Malcolm和他在Diageo的全球化行銷團隊將過去27種不同的約翰走路廣告活動整合成1種，這項功績是許多全球化品牌只能望其項背的。這項成功的部份是由於他們專注在「大創意」以及「品牌資產」(像是符號、標語、色彩組合等)。這項方法積極地鼓勵當地的團隊，像是我們先前看到在Lebanon的團隊，去採用或是適應這樣的廣告活動。Rob形容全球化品牌管理是“行動全球化，思考在地化”。

4. 一致性地創造記憶構造

　　Keep Walking的廣告活動已經持續進行了15年，製作發行了30支的電視廣告，超過150份的印刷刊物製作，還有很多其他的行銷方法。這些難以置信的一致性幫助建構了“記憶結構”。植入了品牌的符號與象徵意義進入我們的腦中。你可以按下列聯結看看由演員Harvey Keitel拍的電視廣告。

　　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqAM2-7dvGI&feature=player_embedded

　　總的來說，約翰走路提供了任一個全球化品牌團隊真正的靈感。是的，當然，它創造了一個有著全球化相關性的聰明策略，是一個堅韌且重要的工作。但約翰走路顯示了卓越的執行力是同樣重要的，這麼做才能確保這個想法在全球化的格局之下，是可以真的被欣然接受及運用的。

　

On a recent trip to Beirut I was struck by a huge billboard for Johnnie Walker featuring Bernard Khoury, a local architect who had helped re-build the city, bombed to pieces by 15 years of civil war. Khoury was a guy who dramatised the brand's philosophy of "Keep Walking". An earlier billboard had an even more direct illustration of how the people of this amazing city were determined to progress despite the horror and hardship of war.

The poster was a reminder of how Keep Walking has become a truly global campaign, but one that has been embraced and personalised by local markets. Some of the secrets to this success then popped into my in-box yesterday in the form of a cracking case study from Marc at Effective Brands. The case showed how a 9.5% sales decline from 1995 to 1999 was turned into growth of 3.7% and recall was doubled.

My take-out from the case is that this success is less to do with the smart strategy the case focuses on, and more to do with excellence of execution. Let's look at why.

Keep Walking is based on an insight that success today is not only about material rewards, its also about "the journey". This led to a brand idea of "Inspiring personal progress". So far, so smart. However, Johnnie Walker was not alone in coming up with this idea. Countless other brands got to the same place at the same time. What really sets Johnnie Walker apart is the excellence of execution. 

1. Brand baked in

The tagline "Keep Walking" is a simple but extremely powerful bit of creative work by ad agency BBH. It brings to life the brand idea with a call to action. But the real genius is how the brand is "baked in" by using the idea of walking, linked to the brand name and symbol.

2. Visual impact

A great job has been done in simplifying and amplifying the walking man symbol, creating great visual impact. Only white, gold and black are used, creating aspirational appeal as well as stand out. This led to the "stopping power" of the billboards being measured at 80% by Millward Brown, vs. a benchmark of 60%. And a little tweak I had not noticed was to have the walking man walk from left to right, not right to left, to better illustrate progress. Clever eh?

3. Single idea, multiple executions

Rob Malcolm and his global marketing team at Diageo were able to go from 27 different advertising campaigns for Johnnie Walker down to one, a feat that many global brand folk can only dream about. Part of this success is down to their focus on the big idea and "brand assets" (symbols, tagline, colour pallette), rather than a straight-jacket executional format and structure. This approach actively encourages local teams, like the one in Lebanon we saw earlier, to adopt and adapt the campaign. The way Rob describes this is that global brand management is about "Acting global. Thinking local".

4. Consistency to create memory structure

The Keep Walking campaign has been running for 15 years, and has produced 30 TV commercials, over 150 print executions and many other marketing ideas. And this sort of incredible consistency has helped build "memory structure", hard-wiring brand symbols and meaning into our brains. You can click below to watch one of the TV ads featuring actor Harvey Keitel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqAM2-7dvGI&feature=player_embedded

In conclusion, Johnnie Walker offers true inspiration for any global brand team. Yes, of course, creating a smart strategy which has global relevance is a tough and important job. But Keep Walking also shows how excellence in execution is just as important, if not more so, to ensure the idea is truly embraced and utilised on a global scale.