Figuring out what makes for an ultra-successful branding campaign isn't always as straightforward as you might think. While there is plenty of canned advice out there, actually applying it to your specific brand is more challenging than you initially think. The good news is that there are numerous ways through. As with everything, it’s just a matter of knowing how. Once you have the right knowledge, you can usually move forward quickly. So, what does an ultra-successful branding campaign look like? How do they work? Here are 6 things you need to take your next campaign to the next level.
By Team Savant
Clear Brand Identity
One of the things that these branding campaigns have is a clear identity. They know what they want to do from the start, and they don’t deviate.
This advice might sound simple, but it is actually fundamental to why some companies succeed, and many others don’t.
These are the ones who treat their public interactions as meaningful because of how they fit into their brands. They don’t do anything that doesn’t jive with that context. For example, Nike has the ethos, “Just do it.” It sounds really simple, but it permeates everything the company does and has changed it from the ground up.
Deep Audience Understanding
Another thing that makes for a great branding campaign is deep audience understanding. If you can get inside their heads, you’ll find it significantly more straightforward to market to them.
We’ve all been in situations where we’ve been on the receiving end of this sort of treatment. We all know what it feels like when a company really gets us, and we want to buy from them. The trick is to know enough about your customers so that they feel exactly the same way about you.
You can get a deeper audience understanding by delving into your audience’s characteristics and what they love. The more you understand about this, the more you can design branding and marketing that really dovetails with their requirements..
Emotional Connection
One of the things that branding agencies, like Excite OOH, focus is on emotional connection. If you can understand your audience and elicit an emotion, that puts you ahead of 99% of your competitors in virtually any industry.
Establishing an emotional connection is something that comes fairly easily if you know what matters to your audience. You can provide them with the emotional energy that makes them want to buy from you.
If you can get this right, it can have a tremendous effect on how people see you. When you use the right music, visuals and stories, you can get more people on your side and interested in what you’re doing.
Consistency Across Channels
At the same time, you need to be consistent across channels for your plan to work. If your branding looks different on one platform compared to another, it will confuse people and, ironically, make them distrust you.
That’s why it is always a good idea to have a branding pack in place. These allow everyone who interacts with your brand to have the same experience, no matter where they find out about you.
For example, you want your colors, logos and tone of voice to be the same on TV as it is on Instagram or the newspaper. You also want it to be the same on the radio or your social media channels.
Going through this process can sometimes feel fake and inorganic, but it is highly effective. If you can get it right, you can start building a brand for yourself much faster.
Relevance To The Culture
If you can make your brand relevant to the cultural moment, that can also help. People love it when they can associate a company with something that’s happening right now.
For example, take Dove’s Real Beauty campaign. This started over ten years ago by selecting real women and then depicting them enjoying Dove products. At the time, it was shocking, since most companies used models. However, it has since become the cornerstone of the brand’s success, and has been used in almost every ad from the company.
If you can think of something like this in your industry, you’re much more likely to win. People will see what you’re saying and it’ll really resonate with them.
Authenticity
Finally, authenticity is something that can really help in any branding campaign. Being true to yourself and your values is critical.
That’s where it pays to be honest and simply focus on what you do well. If you can get this right, it’s hard not to rise to the top of your industry.