Branding Emotion, Consistency and Frequency
We buy stuff from people we like, right? We also buy from people who we trust, who build our self-esteem, who validate us, and satisfy a multitude of other needs. So why do we go to stores we hate or use vendors we don’t trust? You probably have numerous reasons but most boil down to having a strong relationship with the brand, even when we have become disenchanted. Understanding what emotions are tied to a brand is not something most businesses think about it, yet we should. Every product or service that is truly branded involves some emotion, either in its use, people who represent it, memories developed, or solutions experienced.
I got my first car in the early 70s. For $50 down and $125 a month, I graduated from college and stepped into my bright yellow Volkswagon. For decades, Volkswagon has been the fun but affordable brand, from the flower on the dash to the “Drivers wanted” days of the Passat and beyond. What is that commitment like Volkswagon’s fun yet affordable makes our own brand perform as promised? You probably have a brand truth, the words which often play out in a tagline, a slogan, or some other key message delivery. Are your customers and potential customers aware of your brand truth? People buy based on personal motivations derived from some set of values that they hold. These are emotional in nature.
Just do it. Got milk? You can think of a dozen brands in a few seconds. What makes these brands gain remarkable awareness may be that they represent great products, but usually an element of branding cuts through the rest of the clutter we are exposed to every day. A word of caution when you think of your own business though: short doesn’t always mean memorable, clear, or effective. I periodically hear financial advisors, consultants, and other service-oriented professionals say in describing their business, “I help people increase their revenue.” This may insult the intelligence of their listeners. Their messages should come from an analysis of what specifically differentiates how to increase revenue.
Understanding the emotion your brand offers is just one exercise to work through during a weakened economy. You should also review your strategies for brand’s consistency and frequency. It takes more than seven exposures within a short period of time for your brand to make a lasting impression on your market targets. During the recession, if you maintain consistency in branding your brand, your market targets will be that much more aware that others in your industry have cut back or disappeared. It’s like “whatever happened to ….”. It is critical to maintain consistency in everything from brand truth to commitment long after the excitement of a new marketing campaign or promotion dissipates. Too often, businesses change a campaign before they need to or even worse, just never complete the strategies to make an impact on potential customers.The old saying “don’t start something you can’t finish” doesn’t apply today. Engage everyone to implement the branding plan and understand that it should never be finished. The strategies should have depth and longevity in mind unless something just isn’t working. Start the e-news campaign, the newsletter or the blog with the commitment to maintain it.
When you only have so many dollars to use in maintaining consistency and frequency in your branding, develop the best global presence you can on the Internet and then evaluate your target market segments to determine two or three for focus on additional strategies to brand your business in the primary geographic markets you want to grow. Which market segments need your services the most during this recession? How can you tweak your offerings to further brand your company over your competitors? What has your market history taught you about where to spend your time and money? When you have finished answering those questions, get creative.
In the book Breakaway Brand by Francis J. Kelly, III and Barry Silverstein (a good read I highly recommend), a great example is used of how a brand developed a campaign for a specific market segment to compete against a competitor for whom they could never achieve the same level of marketing exposure. The Jetta Trek was a branded promotion that was based on a link between Jetta drivers and people who enjoy mountain biking (15 million). You could purchase a special edition of the Jetta which included a package with appeal: a bike rack and a Trek mountain bike. Bikes valued at $1000 were purchased for a few hundred dollars in return for the marketing exposure which
Volkswagen could offer. According to the authors, “Volkswagen created not just a promotion, but a sub brand…a win-win.”
What can you do in your own business to brand to specific market segments and give them the attention needed to positively impact your revenue? Here are just a few strategies you may have overlooked…
Maximize your presence in the market segment’s industry. Commit to joining their associations and participating on committees where you can frequently brand face-to-face your brand truth. Advertise and submit articles in industry publications. Conduct seminars for or in partnership with associations which are highly targeted to management within the industry. Keep your services up-to-date in industry online directories.
Identify co-op and partnership opportunities. Be sure you have identified every co-op advertising opportunity you have and negotiate using a well-defined strategic plan. Look at how you might trade services for additional branding opportunities.
Create a local presence on the Internet. If there is an advantage to a potential client purchasing services or products from their local market, make sure you get your local messages across on the Internet. Start a blog or create articles for your web site highlighting clients or case studies which explain how you have created solutions. Invite vendors and other associates to write for your site. They may in turn offer the same opportunity on their sites!. When you develop webinars use a variety of local, respected experts, and when you present in your own seminars, load your presentation or handouts on your site after the event. . Include a business calendar and bio on who is the speaker for events, conduct surveys of two or three questions and then use the material in your newsletter or other pages. The point is to think of frequency in creating excitement on the Internet with unique strategies. Even brief book reviews related to your industry can put you in a positive position with site visitors.
The bottom line is branding is hard because it takes courage and risk. If it doesn’t start at the top with the CEO or President of the organization, you better have someone who adopts the role of brand champion. With thorough analysis, planning, consistency and frequency, branding can survive the budget cuts and provide the lifeline to support both sales and operations.