A Brand's Struggle as It Climbs the Strategic Communication Staircase
- Mateo Arjona
- 24 abr 2023
- 4 Min. de lectura
VOL. 0017 – FLORIDA, MONDAY, ABR 24, 2023


Juan F. Arjona Harry
President & CEO Strategee
All brands want to be the consumers' or end users' preferred option, but few actually succeed in winning those preferences and encouraging purchases. Where can the secret be found to being a part of that collection or collection of successful companies that have a fan following of patrons and customers who follow and buy from them, frequently even with their eyes closed?
The secret is to position yourself in a way that is relevant to customers, well-structured, rational, and constant over time. To do this, you need to invest in marketing and advertising.
Many times, those who lead a brand in a market find themselves scratching their heads, wondering why things didn't go as planned, despite supposedly doing everything right. The answer lies in the "Strategic Communication Ladder". In the following lines, we will see what it consists of and how this methodology ensures a real and effective path towards positioning and subsequent sales.
Those in charge of a brand in a market frequently find themselves perplexed, wondering why things didn't turn out as expected while ostensibly doing everything correctly. The "Strategic Communication Ladder" holds the solution. We'll go over what it entails and how this process guarantees a true and successful path toward positioning and subsequent sales in the lines that follow.
First and foremost, it's crucial to make it clear that for positioning to be successful, three essential elements must be present; these are methodology (following a structured set of actions over time, psychologically ordered to build a result), time (7 years is the maximum amount of time that can pass between the beginning of a brand's communication messages and its crystallized (compact) positioning, and money.
Any attempt to compel any of the aforementioned placement conditions leads to irritation for the person making the endeavor as well as the possibility of mixed messages that could misposition the brand or, in the worst case scenario, make it irrelevant to everyone. In the end, every money invested—no matter how much—is gone. However, it is also not realistic to believe that positioning can be achieved solely through methodology and time (i.e., without marketing investment or with very little investment), as this approach - which is somewhat typical in Latin America - ultimately leads to dissatisfaction among the brand and its management teams while giving competitors in the market an advantage.
From the standpoint of a customer, a brand goes through many stages in its life in the market. By recognizing these stages, communication and messaging can be strategically guided, which eventually results in consumer advocacy for the brand.
The Strategic Communication Ladder is made up of these steps. The stages are listed below, along with a brief explanation and their communicational goals metrics:
Known, in this stage the brand must advertise through the defined means of communication and basically communicate who they are, why they entered the market, what they came for, who their customers are, and what benefits they offer to consumers. [Top of Mind].
Recognized, in this stage, the brand - as a result of its communication process - must achieve that consumers or end users recognize it when they see it, or mention and recognize it when asked induced or spontaneously. [Top of Mind, Top of Heart].
Internalized, in this stage, the brand - over time and through the communication process - must become part of the individual's consumption constellation, regardless of the frequency with which it is consumed or used. [Top of Mind, Purchase Frequency, Top of Heart].
Normalized, in this stage the brand must become the brand purchased and consumed or used with the same frequency as the category in the everyday life of the end consumer. It becomes an integral part of their frequent consumption constellation. [Top of Mind, Top of Heart, Differentiation, Purchase Frequency, Usage Rate, Occasions of Consumption].
Recommended, in this stage the brand must become a reason for recommendation to someone due to its advantages and benefits when consumed. [Top of Mind, Top of Heart, Differentiation, Relevance, Purchase Frequency, Usage Rate, Occasions of Consumption, Recommendation Position].
Defended, the brand that reaches this stage has entered the innermost circle of its consumer, and therefore, they defend its consumption, defend its attributes, messages, innovations, and overall, defend everything the brand does and justify it whenever someone talks about it or shares experiences with it. [Top of Mind, Top of Heart, Differentiation, Relevance, Purchase Frequency, Usage Rate, Occasions of Consumption, Recommendation Position, Replacement Index].
Promoted, this is the highest level of brand loyalty, and it is when a consumer or end user decides spontaneously, without any communication effort or resources from the brand, to promote its purchase and consumption due to the undeniable advantages and benefits derived from its use or consumption. [Top of Mind, Top of Heart, Differentiation, Relevance, Purchase Frequency, Usage Rate, Occasions of Consumption, Recommendation Position, Replacement Index, NPS].
To address this great challenge, brands must review each of the five major components of their positioning kit, such as:
Brand Foundation.
Implementation of the Logo and Identity in products/services and packaging, and its presentation in the market.
Coherence of the brand promise with product benefits and brand benefits.
Construction of the Branding Plan (time in years, methodology, and execution order).
Construction of Communication (message, communication techniques, media, and residual - conventional and digital).
At Strategee, we contribute in a real and meaningful way to the brand positioning process in the market, achieving each stage of the Communication Strategic Ladder within the indicated time, designing the right and secure path together with our clients to achieve their positioning.