The other day I met with a friend for coffee.
The conversation branched out into a bunch of topics which I liked.
At some point, we talked about food and fruit companies.
I pointed out that some of the major fruit brands are located down here in Miami.
The first brand name that came to my mind escaped me, so I described it instead:
“You know that blue and yellow sticker you see on bananas…”
Ha! Do you mean Chiquita?
Bingo!
Hello friend,
How are you? I hope you’re doing well entering the fall season.
Under the gun to meet quarterly sales targets CMOs often spend more on short-term performance vs. long-term brand awareness campaigns.
Don’t just take my word.
Gartner CMO Spend Survey 2023 reveals that companies allocate an average of 40% of their total budget to long-term brand building, with the remaining 60% directed towards short-term performance initiatives.
True! Brand-building takes time but if done right and consistently carries stronger staying power than performance marketing’s “temporary fireworks.”
You obviously need both campaign types but spending should be more even.
You measure brand awareness with mindshare - the popularity level of your brand.
This could be through analysis of volume and positive mentions on social and other media channels.
To use a more vivid metaphor for mindshare, imagine your customer’s mind as the planet Mars—a remote foreign territory.
You want to build your “branded settlement” there wrapped with positive vibes, so every time your customer thinks about your product category your brand name will pop up first vs. your competitors.
Pretty much like the first fruit brand that came to my mind was Chiquita.
Yet, the fact the name escaped me means the brand has still room to improve, at least with me :)
The mindshare concept also reminds me of my podcast interview with Dirk Lueth, Co-founder, of Uplandme, Inc. two years ago.
Instead of Planet Mars, brands and individuals buy, sell, trade, and develop virtual properties on the blockchain tied to real-world addresses.
The same rules of real estate driven by location prominence and value apply.
What is Brand Awareness?
According to Michael Podolsky:
Brand awareness is the foundation of a successful brand. It is the level of recognition and familiarity that a brand has among its target audience. Building an effective brand promotion strategy is essential when looking to attract new customers and retain existing ones. When a company has high brand awareness, it becomes easier for consumers to recall and recognize it when making purchasing decisions.
- Forbes
As you can see the beauty of high brand awareness is that your “branded settlement” occupies a significant mindshare with your customer.
In essence, you get an “autopilot awareness engine” even in the absence of direct ad exposure. You achieve it through brand stories you share that build trust and word of mouth.
Some key stats:
Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising report reveals that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know, including influencers, emphasizing the significant influence of influencer marketing on brand awareness.
A Shopify study reveals that 82% of consumers base their purchasing decisions on brand trust, underscoring the importance of brand awareness in the e-commerce industry.
Similarly, a Statista report finds that 63% of customers in the tech sector are more inclined to purchase from brands they recognize, highlighting the critical role of brand awareness in competitive markets.
Tactics to build your brand awareness
Solid value
You can have the best branding, yet if your product sucks your campaign will backfire. So make sure your product delivers an outstanding value before anything.
Branding
It all starts by defining your target audience and developing a relatable brand strategy that covers both conceptual and visual attributes.
What does your brand stand for beyond making money? Typically called ‘purpose’ but I liken it more to “brand narrative.” What are your values? Vision? Mission?
Setting these brand attributes will provide you with a powerful ‘GPS’ for all your brand stories to support.
It helps if you treat your brand as a person and not as an abstract idea. I touched on this concept in
Then you start building the visual aspects of what your brand looks like in terms of colors, fonts, voice, and style guide for different media formats.
The result will come out as a Brand Book like Starbucks or Google spelling out their dos and don’ts.
Get out there
With your distinct identity, tell stories that keep your brand top of mind (yep! building that mindshare) to bring to life your brand narrative.
In the process, you’ll humanize your brand on channels your ideal customer flocks around the most.
Examples
Your brand awareness strategy could include hero content like Apple’s innovative 2030 Status | Mother Nature spot:
Sponsorships like JP Morgan in US Open:
To keep your stories on track it helps to keep this in mind:
These are high-level tactics you should consider when building your brand strategy. The most important aspect here is brand consistency.
Brand awareness is a marathon, not a sprint.
The more you distribute meaningful and memorable stories that support your brand narrative across media channels such as traditional media, social, and now even AI chatbots, the more solidified your “branded settlement” will become in your customers’ minds.
Consistency > frequency > diversity
See you next time!
Best,
- Shlomi
Shlomi Ron
Chief Storytelling Officer, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
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