Big Picture Marketing Strategy

The Guard Rails for Picture Purpose Marketing Strategy

I learned the Big Picture framework in my master’s program for marketing at the University of Cincinnati. It’s an excellent framework combining strategy and execution.

It was developed by Big Picture Partners, and Marta Dapena Baron has written an excellent book walking you through the entire methodology.

See below for the 6 steps of the Big Picture, adapted from the original book, Marketing Management, The Big Picture by Christie L. Nordhielm.

The 6 Steps of the Big Picture

1. Business Objective

   1. What are you creating this plan for? Specific product, brand, or company?

   2. What’s your category?

   3. What’s your specialty? The niche you own.

   4. What is your core competence? “A core competence is a skill the corporation possesses that results (or might result in the case of a startup) in a sustainable competitive advantage.” I.E., what do you have that makes you different?

   5. What are your business goals and how are you measuring success?

2. Marketing Objective

   1. What is your primary goal? Attracting new customers or keeping existing?

   2. What level of involvement is the purchase decision? Low meaning short term decisions like buying a soda, or high meaning long-term decisions like buying a house.

   3. What type of customer loyalty are you seeking? E.G. Emotional, logical, habitual.

3. Source of Volume

   1. Based on your marketing objective, where are you getting your customers?

      

      Adapted from Marketing Management: The Big Picture, by Christie Nordhielm

4. Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

   1. S: What’s the overall pie? The group of people who could use your product.

   2. T: What’s the ideal customer profile? A smaller piece of the pie with share beliefs, demographics, and behaviors.

   3. P: How are you communicating your value?

5. Product, Price, Place, Promotion

   1. Product: How are you delivering on the value you promised?

   2. Price: What monetary value is it worth to your ideal customer?

   3. Place: How is your product distributed? (Physical location or online)

   4. Promotion: How will I advertise?

6. Analysis and Optimization

   1. What worked and what didn’t? How can I make it better?

See an Example of the Big Picture

23.3MB ∙ PDF file

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I completed this as a capstone student at the University of Cincinnati for completion of my MS Marketing degree.

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Conclusion

I consider the Big Picture to be my guard rails — it keeps me on track when creating a comprehensive marketing plan. All credit goes to Big Picture Partners as creators of the methodology. As a marketing practitioner trained under the direction of Big Picture Partner Faculty Member, Drew Boyd, I am an expert on the Big Picture, but not affiliated with their company. At Pitch Purpose Marketing, I combine everything I’ve learned as a student and practitioner to serve unique needs of social entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Your partner in purpose,

Tony