Category Strategy Onboarding

Businesses with a high level of energy around their category strategy get better results.

What do we mean by a high level of energy?

• Everyone "gets" the category strategy (by everyone we mean all departments, not just commercial)
• People outside of category can easily explain the category vision and what the business is trying to achieve
• Everyone understands the category drivers, and are actively working towards implementing them and making a difference

When we surveyed Category Controllers and senior stakeholders most reported a lack of energy and excitement.

Many commented that the category strategy is simply viewed as a document, something that category own and present to customers. 

Why is it hard to get other departments onboard with the strategy?

Often the problem isn't the category strategy itself.

The issue isn't what's communicated, but how it's shared. 

Have you heard of the concept of Cognitive ease?

Cognitive ease (coined by Daniel Khahneman) is a measure of how easy it is for our brains to process information and understand something.

The cognitive ease associated with understanding something, affects how we feel about it.

So if others "get" your category strategy quickly and easily, they're more likely to buy into it, feel energised and commit to helping you deliver it.  

So how can you make it easy for others to understand your strategy?

1. Don't assume one meeting to present will be enough (insights take time to sink in)
2. Don't just rely on powerpoint decks (people absorb information in different ways and can only take in a limited number of facts in one go)
3. Don't assume a given level of knowledge (you may be surprised by how much or how little others know about your consumers or category!)

How can Dynamic Reasoning help?

We have developed an onboarding programme that brings great results.

Using mixed media, we combine concise decks with quizzes and surveys to help users learn at their own pace.

Creating bite size sections our onboarding programmes get the whole business up to speed, engaged and energised by the category strategy.