Branding in an Omnichannel Marketing World
Many of today’s best-known brands were born in a time of limited, highly engaging media channels. Now media channels are virtually unlimited, and advertising engagement is fleeting. So, what’s a brand marketer to do? Here are five tips for effective brand building in today’s omnichannel marketing world.
1. Tap into audience aspirations
It’s still about creating a brand promise based on a deeply human insight that builds an emotional relationship for being a trusted solution. Many brands established themselves by channeling peoples’ aspirations for the American Dream. Today’s consumers have many different dreams, what is your consumer’s? What will your brand do to help them achieve it? For Soli Organic, their promise was to make fresh, flavorful organic food affordable for everyone.
2. Look for shortcuts to brand equity
Brand’s still need an engaging and motivating creative articulation, but in today’s multi-touchpoint media environment, you will need shortcuts to effectively signal your brand idea in a short form assets like banners, shopper ads…. Think logos, icons, illustrations, brand expressions, audio stings, like Netflix, PBSNewshour. These can link together those touchpoints into a powerful brand story.
3. Tell your brand story with actions
PR and social media create the opportunity for your brand story to be more credibly told by your brand’s actions, like brand partnerships or causes, instead of words in an ad. Whether it’s Subaru’s long-standing partnership with National Parks Foundation, REI closing its stores on Black Friday to encourage people to #OptOutside, or Patagonia literally giving the company to the cause, these actions add emotional connection and value to these brands. Even simple gestures, like showing support for front line workers during COVID adds heart.
4. Create a personality that encourages engagement
A winning Personality goes a long way, even for older brands that need reinvention. Wendy’s was literally the red-haired stepchild of fast food, until she found her voice on social media. Brands need to get noticed to grow. It’s better to risk some people not liking your brand, than risk no one noticing Bottom line, think of and interact with brands as if they are people, not in the demographic sense, but the sense of people of having a voice and POV. Frank’s RedHot personality is strong, like his hot sauce. He’s also close friends with Wendy and known to have late night chats with her.
5. Be a part of their world
Being part of the conversation adds frequency and association to brands. It can be simple acts like a couple of billboards expressing shared love or moving fast, and jumping on trending topics.
Bottom line, change is the one constant, so even how you build a brand needs to change. Happy branding!
