Brand Campaign - Your Brand's Lifeline!
~Nisha Ghanshani
(Taken from an interview with marketing guru, Ajeet Khurana as he demystifies marketing)
Marketing being the ever evolving and dynamic field that it is, a lot of buzzwords and theories are continuously being coined. However, one catchphrase that has caught the fancy of many a marketing professional has been "Brand Campaign."
A brand campaign is the deployment of all of one's branding tools over a period of time. These branding tools are in fact all forms and media of brand communications. Thus, advertising, public relations, brand experience, brand imagery etc, are a few of the branding tools that can be used in a brand campaign. When these tools are utilized optimally, it leads to a positive brand image in the minds of the target population. A successful brand campaign, which has used these resources judiciously, also causes high brand recall among the consumers.
However, utilizing branding tools strategically is easier said than done. It requires sacrificing on short term goals to fulfill the long term and larger brand goals. But then the wisest choices are often the most difficult to trail. Thus, though following a brand campaign is a wise decision, sticking to it is difficult. Noted marketing guru, Ajeet Khurana defines the two cardinal rules to be followed in order to create a successful brand campaign.
Identify and Define Expected Outcomes
One very important step to be taken even before one decides what the brand campaign will entail is to define the results you are expecting. This helps in deciding which tools are to be used in achieving the desired outcomes. This also prevents attaching of unrealistic expectations to the results. Using the outcomes as standards against which performance can be measured can also assess the effectiveness and the efficiency of the brand campaign.
Synchronize all Tools of the Brand Campaign
Each of the tools of branding has their own advantages and disadvantages. Advertising for example is the most scalable and most popular tool. However, it may not always be the most effective or the most cost efficient. Thus, an optimum mix of the various tools will ensure a successful brand campaign. However, simply employing all the tools is not enough. The tools, each one of them, have to be in sync. This means that the message that is being communicated must be standard across all forms brand communication. Thus, if advertising is touting a particular product as being a premium one, the brand experience provided through below the line promotional marketing should also have the same superlative touch and feel.
The bazaar today is cluttered not only with increasingly homogenous products but also increasingly heterogeneous consumer segments. In this situation, only brands that communicate strategically with their consumers will survive in the long run. A brand campaign is what adds this quintessential strategic element and draws the line between brands that live and those that shall perish.
[The picture used in this article has been taken from the photo library of stock.xchng.]
Other Articles by Nisha Ghanshani
Building Brand Equity | Branding Strategies | Brand Campaign | Branding Services | Brand Strategy | Branding and Marketing | Branding Agency | Building Strong Brands | Co-Branding | Identity Branding | Logo Branding | What Is Brand Equity? | Brand Equity | Brand Image | Brands