Branding, positioning, marketing, communications, mission, slogan, tagline—the list goes on and on. It can be overwhelming to try to think about all the aspects of branding and marketing, especially when marketing trends change so rapidly.
Whether you’ve heard the phrase “brand marketing” before or this is the first time you’ve seen the two words used together, this blog post will help guide you through what brand marketing is, as well as provide some brand marketing examples and best practices.
What is Brand Marketing
Brand marketing is using your brand to build a connection—a growing relationship—between your brand and your customers. Brand marketing includes promoting a specific product or service, which creates a halo effect from your brand to your products. By focusing on your whole brand, your customers know who you are and what you stand for, meaning you can better tell the story of a specific product or service. Additionally, brand marketing means also promoting your product or service in a way that gives a lift to your entire brand.
To effectively use brand marketing for your product or service, you must first have a solid brand identity and can then use marketing to build awareness of your offerings, strengthen relationships with your customers and generate sales. It’s all about brand awareness and recognition (and being top of mind).
Brand marketing can help you gain repeat customers, as you can establish yourself as a leader in your category (for example, Colgate as oral health experts). For purchases with a longer life, such as a vehicle, brand marketing can also help evoke feelings about owning a certain brand or type of vehicle.
A Brand Marketing Example
When you think of an organization or company that’s memorable, part of the equation (whether you realize it or not) is the way they make you (and all their customers and potential customers) feel. Here is a brand marketing example to help you get ideas for your own organization.
• Nike. The swoosh logo and “Just Do It” tagline are only part of the equation for Nike’s brand marketing. They take their customers along for a journey and build a feeling or perception of their brand that is done through storytelling. Nike’s ads give very little airtime to the products they are trying to sell, and instead showcase someone facing challenges and working hard to overcome them. Nike’s ads show people doing interesting things in their footwear or clothing, competing, achieving, having fun, etc., and work in social values so their audiences can clearly see where Nike stands on a variety of issues.
Brand Marketing Best Practices
Brand marketing best practices start with a solid understanding of your business, brand and overall goals to determine the best way you can show the right people (or audiences) the value your brand adds to the marketplace. Consider these best practices as you build your brand marketing strategy:
• Know who you are and what you stand for. This means living and dying by your brand’s purpose. All your products, services and marketing should be filtered through your values. If they are not in alignment, take time to adjust before launching it with your consumers.
• Get to know your audience and competition. Research your audience, value proposition and others in the marketplace. What do they need from your product or service? Make sure you know who your target audience is, why they trust you, how your brand makes them feel and what problem(s) your brand solves. Are there any aspects of your customer-brand relationship that could be strengthened? Are there any relationships in need of repair?
• Develop your story. Choose words, messages and ideas that you can use to connect with your audience through advertising, social media and in-person interactions. While it may seem silly, all those little things and interactions, like a reply to a comment on social media, can go a long way in building a relationship with your customers.
Branded promo items are a core piece of your brand marketing efforts
Brand marketing gives businesses and organizations a voice to tell their stories and change the perspectives current customers may have about them. Done well, brand marketing piques interest and gets your customers interested in you and your values, so much so that they dive into your content to learn more and end up developing a memorable relationship with your brand.
One key extension of your brand marketing is promotional products. Promo products are a great way to increase brand awareness and impressions, and they are also a good way to showcase your values and build on the storytelling you’ve been doing through other channels.
Here are a few ideas of how to tie your values to promo products and strengthen your brand marketing:
• Power: If one of your values is power, consider a power bank promotional item paired with a short printed piece to explain how your company values power/gives its customers the power.
• Precision: Many organizations have precision, attention to detail or something else along these lines as a core value, which makes a precision pen a good reminder of the precision or accuracy your customers can count on.
• Health: If the wellness of your employees or customers is a key value for your organization, a variety of wellness promotional items can help you send customers a useful reminder of your company values. Consider branded antibacterial wipes, exercise bands, lip balm, first aid kits or sunscreen.
We hope these brand marketing examples and best practices help get your wheels turning about the ways you can build relationships with your own customers. Brand marketing truly is about the long-run and being consistent. While brand marketing is not something that can be built overnight, it is something that can be strengthened with hard-working promo items. Start a chat with a MARCO Promos team member to find a promotional product that will enhance your brand marketing.
