Brand Communications

Brand communications

• Communication happens when the

consumer meets the brand

• Imperative to ensure that every ‘brand

meeting’ builds the brand

• Is it happening?
 Brand communications
• Consumers are constantly meeting the brand
– Through advertising
– With editorial mentions
– By sponsorships
– On the point of purchase materials
– Over the supermarket shelves

• They often meet our brands, but how often do

they notice them?
 The need for communication

• The need for impact

• The need for an involving, positive

experience

• The need to affect behaviour

• The need for high payback

 Communication imperatives

• Communication process begins after

identity process is clearly laid out

• Remember, brand communication is just a

reflection of strategy

• Put differently, strategy leads creative and

not the other way around
Communication model
 Non-receipt of message

• Selective Attention
– Due to message explosion

• Selective Distortion
– Receive what fits into their belief systems

• Selective Retention
– Only a few remain in memory
 Effectiveness influencers
• The greater the influence of communication
source over recipient, the greater the recipient’s
change/effect in favour of source

• Communication effects are greatest where the

message is in line with the receiver’s existing
opinion, beliefs and dispositions

• Communication can produce the most effective

shifts on unfamiliar, lightly felt, peripheral issues
that do not lie at the core of the recipient’s value
system
 Effectiveness influencers

• Communication is more likely to be

effective if the source is believed to have
expertise, high status, objectivity or
likeability

• The social context, group, or reference

group will mediate the communication and
influence whether or not the
communication is accepted
 The communication process
• Communication is not a one-way street anymore

• Communication is an interactive dialogue

between the company and its customers
– Takes place during the pre-selling, selling, consuming
and post-consuming stages

• Companies must ask not only ‘How can we

reach our customers?’ but also, ‘How can our
customers reach us?’
 Communication imperative

• Managing and coordinating the entire

communications process calls for a
unifying mechanism

Integrated Marketing Communications

 Integrated marketing communications

• IMC is a concept of marketing communication

planning that recognizes the added value of a
comprehensive plan

• It evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of

communications disciplines and combines all
these disciplines
– To provide clarity, consistency and maximum impact
– Through the seamless integration of discrete
messages
 Why IMC

• Fragmenting mass markets into a

multitude of mini-markets, each requiring
its own approach

• Proliferation of new types of media

• Growing sophistication of customers

 Advantages of IMC
• IMC produces stronger message consistency
and greater sales impact

• Forces management to think about every way

the customer comes in contact with the company
– How positioning is communicated
– Importance of each vehicle and timing issues

• Assigns responsibility to unify the company’s

brand images and messages as they come
through thousands of company activities
 In essence…

IMC will improve

the company’s ability
to reach the right customers
with the right messages
at the right time
and in the right place!
Communication Approach
 Communication plan
• The communications plan is an investment plan

• Establish goals, identify alternative routes, weigh

up the risks, potential benefits and decide which
route is likely to be effective, within your financial
limitations

• By using this as a model for investing, in

different channels, brand value can be increased
 Hallmark of a good communication plan

• A good plan will provide a strategic framework to

identify the different goals for brand
communication
– Assign these to channels which will be most effective

• Will provide a blueprint against which campaigns

in different channels will be briefed and
evaluated
• Will aid priority setting, and a check on how
realistic brand objectives are
• Will provide an overall work plan for the
communication team, company and agency
 Role for communication
• What role would the communication play in the
overall scheme of things?
– Introduce the brand
– Make Brand TOM
– Reinforce attitudes
– Claim leadership

• Define the role creatively and persuasively

– ‘I have to’ to ‘I want to’
– ‘Move the brand from the shelf to the hand bag’
 Communication strategy
• What would be the overall communication
strategy?
– The strategic route to achieving our intended goals

• Some examples…
– Shift focus from functional to emotional benefits
– Increase visibility
– Establish brand superiority
– Create launch excitement
 Taking a creative leap…

• Vaseline lip guard

– ‘Appropriate the property of smile’

• MasterCard
– ‘Give an emotionally bankrupt brand, a heart’
 Tone of voice

• Define the tone and manner of

communication

• Some examples…
– Leadership
– Empathy
– Humour
– News
The 8 Essentials
 • Address the key business issue

• Communication to be developed in context of

business goals and brand strategy
• In effect, what is required is a clear definition of
the role of our brand communications – a need
to be able to answer the questions
– What is the purpose of this communication?
– How does our Communication fit into the life of the
brand?

• The question to ask are:

– What is the business-based purpose of the
communication? Why are we doing it?
• Build consistent long-term Brand Equity

• Ensure that all brand communication delivers a

clear, relevant and competitive consumer benefit

• Communication should bring consumer close to

brand and enhance the quality status of brand

• Need to make people feel that brand is playing a

real role in their lives, and is relevant to them

• The question to be asked: Is every

communication derived from and reflective of the
BPS?
• Be focused on single-minded Strong Idea

• A ‘Strong Idea’ binds all communication together

so that they are cohesive / consistent

• What constitutes a ‘Strong Idea’?

– Must be related to the brand; must involve the brand
– Must be related to, or evolved from BPS
– Must be involving for the consumer and hold their attention
– Should be unique
– Is proprietary
– Should work across all forms of communication
– Should be enduring over time
 • Be highly visible
• It costs the same to run a TVC whether it is dull
and boring or whether it is relevant and involving
– A good ad is the best media discount possible

• Ensure all communication investment is money

well spent, and this means communications
have impact
– Impact that is relevant to our brand

• Some possible ‘clutter breakers’ include…

– Making communication simple
– Developing additional communication channels
– Being innovative in media
– Making better use of sampling and relationship marketing
 • Be locally relevant to core target

• Need to catch the eye by planting a

relevant idea in the consumer’s mind
– ‘This is just right for me and the way I live my life’

• Focus the message / execution on the

core target and not over-worrying about
the ‘alienating’ effect on others
 • Be likeable

• All communication should be likeable

– Achieve best scores in tracking research for
‘likeability’ of brand vs. competitors

• All communication should be

contemporary, both in content and tone
– Reflecting life as it is lived today, and
positioning the brand as relevant to today’s
way of life
 • Be executionally excellent
• Many brands are consumed for pleasure,
enjoyment and indulgence
– Consumption shots should realistically communicate
this in a totally credible way

• Unique, proprietary product shots and

mouth-watering consumption sequences
appeal to senses
– Help create appetite appeal, differentiate our products
and motivate purchase
 • Bring about a sale

• Seek to create communications which

have…
– The consumers’ interests at heart
– That are involving in content and execution
– That are original and provocative
– That get talked about
– Have the ‘must see again’ factor

• To help ring in the cash registers!

Unilever Principles for Great Advertising
(UPGA)
 1. Concentrates on one big idea

 Brand’s benefit is conveyed, not just by a

selling message or a series of messages
– But single-mindedly, by one big idea

• A visual and or aural expression of that

one big concept exclusively linked to the
brand

• Example: Dove
1. Promise discriminates brand from competitors

 The advertisement must communicate a benefit

– But different from competitive brands

• The brand must therefore communicate

uniqueness
– Uniqueness in physical brand itself or in some other
value inextricably associated with brand

• Example: Close Up, Vaseline

 1. Involves target consumer

 It elicits a favourable emotional response

by appealing to the consumer’s self
interest
– Relating to a known need or problem
– Promising satisfaction of that need
– Solution to the problem

• Example: Surf
1. Establishes relationship with consumer

 The ad should induce a strong feeling in

favour of the brand

• It should establish a preference for

brand, so consumer feels confident
choosing it

• Example: Vim, Wheel

 1. It’s credible / feels genuine

 Though manner of presentations may

involve humour/hyperbole, the
fundamental benefit must be obtainable

• Example: Bru, Hamam

 1. It is simple and clear
 The execution should be simple and the
expression unambiguous

• It should be clear from the ad what target is

expected to do
– This does not mean everything needs to be spelled out

• Communication is two-way. The consumer

should participate

• Example: Lux
1. Integrates brand name with central idea

 The big idea must be inextricably linked

to the brand name

• It must be remembered only in

association with the brand

• Example: Lifebuoy, Clinic Plus

 1. Takes advantage of each medium
 Ideally, big idea should find expression in all
media
– TV, Print, Radio, Outdoor, Direct mail

• Each medium has its own characteristics,

which offer opportunities for exploitation

• The big idea itself is fundamental but the ad

should take maximum advantage of the media
possibilities available

• Example: Rin
 1. Idea must be campaignable

 The big idea will and must endure

– It is not a single ad but a campaign
– It is not one campaign but a series of campaigns
– This is more than simple repetition or even variations
on a theme
– The big idea will not only endure, it will grow

• Example: Axe
 1. Must help build brand personality

 Each ad affects consumer’s perception of the

brand
– If any ad conflicts with that perception it will cause a
negative feeling and several such ads will begin to
weaken brand personality

• It is vital therefore to ensure consistency

– Each ad helps to build or reinforce the desired brand
personality

• Example: Pond’s DFT, Magic Talc