Last Updated: August 14, 2018
Brand marketing is important for protecting your most valuable asset. What is the most valuable asset your company owns? It’s not a piece of equipment, a building, or even your product or service. The most valuable asset your company owns is your brand.
A brand is anything associated with the perception of your company. It can include elements like your trademark, logo, packaging, marketing messages, core values, digital assets, brand colors, etc. In most cases, brand marketing helps guide the perception that consumers use to decide who they can trust. Trust is important because it influences the consumer decision on who to engage with and buy from. If you’re in an industry that relies on consumers for revenue, your brand is your most valuable asset, and it needs to be protected.
To help understand how to protect your brand, it’s important to understand the aspects of brand marketing. A brand has both tangible and intangible components. Coca-Cola provides an excellent example of both tangible and intangible branding that they work hard to protect.
The intangible aspect of Coca-Cola’s branding is the emotional attachment that the marketing messages have created between consumers and the brand identity. The tangible aspect of their branding is the unique shape of the bottle, the logo, and the recipe for the beverage. Because Coca-Cola has protected their tangible and intangible branding with trademarks, copyrights, licenses, patents, and security, they have exponentially strengthened their company brand over the years.
Coca-Cola fostered their brand positioning through marketing campaigns that focused on the emotional benefit of Coca-Cola while using unique packaging and the iconic red and white logo that made the product recognizable in stores, on commercials, and in movies. Because it is so protected and recognizable, the threat of imposters or copycat products that could dilute their brand has been weak, keeping the Coca-Cola brand strong.
Another substantial aspect of the Coca-Cola brand strategy is their consistent marketing campaigns. If you look at how the Coca-Cola image has changed over the years, you will only see subtle differences. From the taste to the branding, Coca-Cola has remained consistent and that’s why the brand continues to strengthen. However, maintaining a successful brand marketing strategy on a global scale isn’t easy and there will always be challenges that need to be addressed.
One way is to make sure that any disruptions to positive branding are addressed swiftly and appropriately. An example of overcoming brand tarnishing is the Chipotle salmonella debacle. In 2016, Chipotle’s brand loyalty took a hit. The response from Chipotle was strong and they took specific measures like closing for a day, getting all new food products, and deep cleaning their facilities. Part of their reactive campaign also included distributing free burritos to encourage their customers to return. Because of their response, they’ve managed to gain back brand loyalty and continue to strive for the freshest ingredients to help retain their loyal customers.
Another way to achieve successful branding is by using customer stories. Historically, stories have been used to keep audiences engaged and passed on so that they are still remembered after generations have passed. Stories invoke feeling and response and have a lasting impact on the listeners.
When a brand can tell a story, it is more likely to be remembered by the audience who is exposed to it. People don’t always continue to purchase from a brand because they like their product better, sometimes they remember the brand story that sets the product apart from competitors.
The challenge in telling your story is getting in front of the audience enough for them to hear or see your story and remember it. Distractions continue to increase in a complex digital and physical world. One way to overcome the saturation is to have more mass media advertisements and product placements than your competitors. When you do this, your brand is more likely to attract the consumer as they are browsing products. When they can recall your brand story, they are more comfortable choosing your product, even in front of a large selection of other similar products.
This idea is referred to as effective frequency. It’s the idea that if consumers are frequently exposed to a brand’s consistent message and image multiple times, they can more easily recall the brand, remember them, and retain a positive impression of them.
This idea has been around for quite a while, as demonstrated in Thomas Smith’s book Successful Advertising that was published in 1890:
Although advertising channels may have changed since 1890, the idea of effective frequency remains the same. But remember, the messages you put in front of people need to be consistent so that your target audience recognizes and remembers your message every time they are exposed to it.
To help with consistent brand marketing, business owners and brand managers should invest in the right digital tools that help create a connected digital ecosystem. Successfully implementing these systems will help bridge the gap between physical and digital channels and provide an effective platform for different departments to work collaboratively. When brands operate inside of a digitally mature ecosystem, they can capitalize on the business benefits of an efficient brand marketing processes.
Download the Digital Maturity Model white paper.
Another way to protect your brand and keep it consistent is through a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system. A DAM is a digital repository and it is so much more. With new technology, a DAM is the solution to manage your assets from concept to consumer. It’s a single place for you to organize your content and have complete control over who has access and where you promote it. A DAM exists to provide control, automation, improve speed-to-market, and enable companies to better manage the increasing number of digital assets they create every day. A DAM should be the starting point for every piece of digital content your company creates to ensure strong, consistent campaigns that support positive brand marketing.
To help protect and strengthen consistent branding, a DAM can provide:
If you don’t currently use a digital asset management solution or are looking for more functionality, MediaBeacon is an industry leader in the DAM space and is eager to learn more about you and how we can partner to help you protect your brand. Contact us to learn more!
Learn more about Brand Management and Digital Asset Management best practices on these pages:
