Brand advertising is at the heart of any businesses success. It’s all too easy as a business owner to make the mistake of thinking of your brand as a logo and a color scheme along with a slogan. To the consumer (Remember them? they’re the people who keep you in business), your brand is synonymous with your company. People build a relationship which can be very personal to your brand, not your company per se. The best brands build an emotional connection with consumers, leading to customer loyalty.
Successful brand advertising is all about building this connection with the consumer, most importantly establishing your business or your product as something which is a known quantity to them – something comforting which they can trust. You already know how great your product or service is; but that alone won’t guarantee your success. You need to raise the profile of your brand in order to get the attention of consumers and begin building a relationship with them based on trust.
While some media lend themselves more readily to brand advertising than others, a comprehensive campaign of branding or re-branding will typically be done across several different media. Print and television are usually the media of choice for brand advertising, including ads in publications, billboard and other advertising as well as ‘captive audience’ formats such as adverts on subways and buses.
Television is also a visual medium and as such it can make a powerful brand impact on consumers when used effectively but regardless of the media chosen, simplicity is the best way to advertise your brand. A combination of print and television media brand advertising is generally a good media mix for a brand advertising campaign. Your other marketing efforts can build on your branding later, but when you need to establish a presence for your brand, keep it simple for the biggest impact.
Radio spots and online advertising can also add to your brand advertising campaign; while they usually are not a suitable substitute for the more traditional print and television placements, they can be a valuable part of your branding efforts. Online advertising in particular is growing in popularity, with a growing number of businesses choosing to go where consumers are ‘ which is online in many cases. Online brand advertising incorporating banner ads, blogs and even video are becoming more common and they seem to be having an effect on the consumer; meaning that these online brand advertising venues are to be ignored at your peril as a business.
