Strategic Principles

An in depth dialogue with our client partners to define brand objectives and criteria of success

Before we even begin thinking about a client partner’s brand, an in-depth conversation takes place with our client partners to define the criteria for success. We collaborate with our client partners to agree on what constitutes a successful campaign.

The key outputs of the Discovery process are what we call PPIs – Program Performance Indicators. These are the tangible metrics we and our client partners will use at the end of a campaign to measure success. The PPIs can vary widely based on the specific business objectives for a given brand.

But regardless of what the specific business objectives are for a brand, what the Discovery process ensures is that our team is thinking about success in the client partner’s terms right from the start.

A sophisticated understanding of the internal and external landscape in which a brand competes

One benefit of an agency model focusing on only a select portfolio of 15 of the world’s leading consumer brands is that it allows you to immerse yourself in every aspect of those brands – on a daily basis. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Taylor’s understanding of the landscape in which a brand competes. Landscape Insight is the second of our five strategic principles.

As part of every engagement, we do an in-depth analysis of a client partner’s brand: everything from the competitor set, to emerging trends in the category which may impact the brand. We continually monitor what consumers are saying and doing with respect to a brand. Our deep immersion often allows us to spot trends or opportunities that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Our commitment to Landscape Insight as a fundamental strategic principle ensures that the programs we develop are grounded in the environment where brands compete.

Consumer insight to identify the key drivers of emotional and rational engagement with a brand

At Taylor, we have only one constituent — the Consumer — so it should come as no surprise that listening to the consumer is central to our entire process. Consumer Insight is the third of our five strategic principles, and in a very real sense, the centerpiece of how we develop a campaign.

We conduct dozens of primary research studies, both qualitative and quantitative, on behalf of Taylor’s client partners. Our qualitative expertise spans a full range of techniques, including traditional and online focus groups, as well as one-on-one interviews and ethnographic research to explore the daily life of our consumer. Our survey research frequently leads to actionable insights about the consumer that serve as a springboard for creative ideation.

A hallmark of our approach to understanding the consumer is that we don’t do “cookie-cutter” research. Instead, we design every research project “from scratch” to ensure that it answers fundamental questions about how a target audience engages with a client partner brand. Often, this requires us to develop highly innovative approaches to uncover the true “voice” of the consumer. Ultimately, we believe this investment in consumer insight uncovers the emotional drivers of consumer engagement, as well as the rational.

Creative that is a logical expression of the landscape and consumer insight

Taylor’s approach to creative development is unique within the industry and consistently leads to transcendent campaigns that surprise, disrupt, delight and engage consumers on behalf of our client partners’ brands. We see our role as coming up with ideas that totally transform the conversation around a brand. The brand universe today is so fragmented that “good marketing ideas” simply won’t suffice. What is needed are brand experiences so compelling that they speak to the passions of the consumer on a deeply emotional level.

By definition, these brand experiences need to live in many channels. Creative Directors at Taylor never feel handcuffed by the need to sell in a 30-second TV spot, or a social media app, or even a public relations idea. Their role is to help the account team and our client partners arrive at great brand platforms, confident in the knowledge that we can execute in any of these channels – or more often, in all of them simultaneously.

Another thing which makes the creative process at Taylor unique is the depth of collaboration with our brand planners – it extends through every stage of the creative process. This is our “secret sauce” – the way we’re able to transform brands on a regular basis.

Translating brand marketing strategies into multi-tiered public relations campaigns that engage customers through traditional and digital touch-points.

Taylor has been driving great results for client partners for almost three decades. Throughout this period flawless execution of communications programs has consistently been our calling card. It’s how we built our reputation, and one reason why client partners remain with us for decades. The most brilliant idea will fall short if there isn’t a clear logical trail from insights, to strategy, to breakthrough creative, to flawless execution.

We’re particularly proud of our ability to execute across the full range of communications channels: from strategic media relations and event planning, to multicultural initiatives and digital and social media-driven campaigns. This “channel agnostic” way of thinking, and seamlessly using channels in ways that most powerfully engage the consumer, flows logically from our strategic principles. With our scale campaigns leveraging FIFA World Cup or Olympic Games sponsorships, where we’ve had “boots on the ground” in dozens of countries and worked in a wide variety of languages, what truly resonates is our obsessive attention to detail in each market. Flawless execution is not just one of our strategic principles — it’s one of the core values by which we live.