Background
Marla scanned another product at her register, noting the Great Value label on the package. Walmart’s brand seemed to be popular among Marla’s regular customers. This reminded her of what her instructor had said about Brand Advertising in her recent lecture. Here’s some of what that lecture contained:
In today’s digital world, it is more important than ever to ensure that your brand is distinct and recognizable if you want to develop a loyal relationship with the customer. Let’s take a look at how branding can be part of your marketing strategy and your advertising strategy.
Branding as Part of Your Marketing Strategy
Your brand is the personality of the company—and it’s the promise you make to the consumer. The brand evokes emotions from the customer. When customers have loyalty to the brand and the brand is recognizable, we say that the brand has equity. A strong brand is credible and has a good reputation. The customer is aware of the brand and is satisfied. All these characteristics are established during the marketing planning process. Generally, the brand is identified when the company starts, which is why a solid marketing plan at the beginning of the startup is so important. To incorporate branding as part of your marketing strategy, you will need to think about how the brand is used for all the products in that product line. Each new product will use the same brand, but not all products will use the brand in the same way.
Branding as Part of Your Advertising Strategy
As you create an advertising strategy, you will decide how to ensure that the brand is well recognized and that when the company uses it on their products, they are respecting the story of the brand. The brand’s story is the message that you want customers to think of when they see your products. For example, when customers see Walmart’s Great Value branding on merchandise, they associate it with low prices. When they see an Allstate ad, they associate it with Allstate’s brand slogan, “You’re in good hands.” Your brand can communicate an attitude, a quality of life, a lifestyle, or a philosophy. Customers associate themselves with your brand when they value what your brand represents and they want that for themselves.
The advertising strategy will show where the brand logo will be placed in commercials and on print media, etc. The advertising campaign will also select specific media and will decide when to roll out ads. The creative process will position the brand in terms of how it relates to the product and the consumer. The campaign will establish the frequency and reach of advertisements and also how the brand will be used with retailers and in sales promotions. Each advertising campaign will have its own budget to meet measurable objectives.
Sample Solution