Brand architecture begins with role definition
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Article Brand Strategy Education
Build a stop-doing list into brand planning
When an annual plan only adds new initiatives, the stop-doing list is missing. Old activities then consume all the resources, leaving no room for new principles. A more reliable approach is to name the brand activities to stop this year and record that decision in a stop-doing list.
Key points
- In the annual plan, the stop-doing list shouldn’t remain a plan that only adds more things to do.
- Left unchecked, the same thing will keep happening: old activities consume all the resources, leaving no room for new principles.
- Start instead by naming the brand activities to stop this year in the plan.
- Record the decision in the stop-doing list, owned by the brand lead.
- From now on, assess it with one question: have the listed activities been removed from the schedule?
01What should the stop-doing list stop?
The first thing the stop-doing list needs to stop is the plan that only adds more things to do. In the annual plan, failing to stop has a direct consequence: old activities consume all the resources, leaving no room for new principles.
Keep the list of activities to continue short. That’s how you protect the commitment to name the brand activities to stop this year in the plan.
Name the brand activities to stop this year in the plan. If you can’t do that, the stop-doing list is still just a plan that adds more things to do.
02Where ambiguity enters the stop-doing list
Ambiguity often slips in through well-intentioned additions. To accommodate more situations, people turn the stop-doing list back into a plan that only adds more things to do.
Every addition makes the boundary harder to enforce unless you revisit the underlying problem: old activities consume all the resources, leaving no room for new principles.
03Start with a negative list for the stop-doing list
A negative list is more useful than adjectives. Specify when the stop-doing list should not be used, so the team knows that naming the brand activities to stop this year in the plan is more than a slogan.
Keep the list short enough to read in full when the plan is finalized.
04Use tools to keep the stop-doing list within bounds
The stop-doing list exists to prevent boundary violations, not to collect ideas. Ideas that fall outside it can still exist, but they shouldn’t be passed off as part of the list.
It works because the brand lead owns it and has the authority to say no.
05What to do when the stop-doing list crosses a boundary
When a boundary is crossed, don’t just revise one finished piece. Go back to the stop-doing list and add the condition that was bypassed.
Then check again with the same question: have the listed activities been removed from the schedule?
Framework
The Stop-Doing List: Four-Layer Structure
From non-negotiable principles to tools usable in practice, each layer answers one question. This keeps the stop-doing list from becoming a plan that only adds more things to do.
L1Stopping
This layer states what cannot be compromised in the stop-doing list.
L2Continue
This layer turns the stop-doing list into conditions that can be checked.
L3Handover
This layer defines what can change from one situation to another.
L4Review date
This layer puts the stop-doing list in the hands of the people using it, and specifies exceptions.
Note: This diagram is a conceptual framework. It explains a way of thinking and is not statistical data. Source: Qingmei Future Insights.
Recommended actions
Action 01
Start from the site
In the annual plan, mark the moments when the stop-doing list is actually called for. Don’t start by rewriting it as a plan that only adds more things to do.
Action 02
Keep it to one page
Use the stop-doing list instead of longer explanations. Keep only what supports the principle: “name the brand activities to stop this year in the plan.”
Action 03
Judge it by one question
When the plan is finalized, ask only: have the listed activities been removed from the schedule? If you can’t answer, it isn’t a decision yet.
Action 04
Name the owner
Brand lead. A stop-doing list without an owner will be quietly changed when conflicts arise.
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