Branding: The Right Media Mix Can Make the Difference

Ruth Kusemiju May 15, 2020 0 Comments

Branding is most often considered as something to do with visual appeal. However it is much more than that.

Branding your corporate identity in your products and services is actually a promise made to the customer, a promise that is based on your company’s reputation, the quality of your product, product experiences and so on..

Branding your corporate identity in your products and services is actually a promise made to the customer, a promise that is based on your company’s reputation, the quality of your product, product experiences and so on.

Branding is no longer simply about visual appeal.

Unfortunately, many graphic design firms who position themselves as advertising agencies believe that branding your corporate identity is all about developing great looking visual solutions.

However, there is much more to branding than just looking good. A powerful online presence has become a vital ingredient of your branding strategy, developing the right media mix holds the key to building powerful brand equity. 

This article explores how a brand conveys its promise and how your product/service itself denotes the promotional mix it needs – keeping in mind, that while developing the right media mix for promoting your products/services; the continuous explosion on the  internet and the significant role played by interactive advertising agencies in this regard.

Branding is easier said than done. Some advertising experts still mulling over what exactly defines branding. Why does one brand score over others and why does one fail to generate customer confidence despite everything going supposedly right for it?

• Is it the logo? 
• Is it the color? 
• Is it the design of your ads, your brochures, the packaging of your products/services, the look of your corporate office, etc? 
• Or is it the promise that a particular product or service conveys – the promise of quality, authenticity, and credibility?

Hmm…….actually it is a combination of all this. But primarily, it is the 4th point which matters most – the promise! Why is it that some products or companies are able to build up high brand recall and brand loyalty in the minds of their customers? 

Whereas for some others, no amount of big budget advertising and marketing expenditure can help register their product as a brand people may keep coming back to?

Quality + Marketing = Winner

It really depends on two vital things – one, the quality of your product/service and two, the promotional and marketing mix you develop to reach out to your customers.

First and foremost, if you have a good quality product with great performance, coupled with warranties and the right kind of value for money, you have the arms required to win the war. That’s step one.

Now for the ammunition, that is the promotional mix that will position it as a brand that assures reliability.

It is not enough to have a slick-looking logo, a trendy color combination, a visually appealing packaging, and some hip ads splashed all over the TV channels, newspapers and the internet to win over the customer. 

You must first know what exactly is required to build up brand equity for your product, how to convey the brand’s promise.

In fact, how you brand your corporate identity goes a long way in establishing your product/service in your customer’s mind.

How does a brand convey its promise?

That’s actually quite an interesting way to look at branding. This promise of the brand is conveyed through quite a few factors:

• the product’s reputation (the company’s own reputation also goes a long way here), 

• its experience (particularly if the product has been in the market for some time – a perfect material for viral marketing), 

• the product’s name – a catchy, easy to remember name helps 

• its logo – though innocuous looking, a logo is a stamp of authority 

• its positioning in the market and accordingly its pricing 

• news and reviews about it – it is all about sharing notes, information and experiences through social media platforms and what is written about has become vitally important 

• advertising – a good tagline or slogan can race into public memory 

• marketing collateral – depends upon your product/service and what media suits it best such as flyers, sales letters, direct mailers, and so on)

Developing a promotional mix depends on the character or features of the product/service.  A Right  Media Mix Can Make the Difference

In other words, a right media mix means: 

• Creative design solutions (the design, color, and content of your ads, marketing collateral and website to boost your brand equity, attract customers, and generate sales) 

• Website Design (every product/service worth its name has a website these days, some have truly interactive, animated sites encouraging customer engagement), 

• Viral marketing (vitally important in today’s age of social networking, tagging, podcasting, blogs, forums, wikis and what have you) 

• Television commercial production, print media advertising (traditional media cannot be overlooked) 

• Strategic films (have become necessary elements of roadshows, exhibitions and other promotional campaigns) 

• Corporate video production (a very important tool for your brand) 

• Direct marketing (marketing collaterals need to be just as effective and resonant with the overall branding scheme as the communicate directly with the customer)  

• Outdoor advertising ( roadshows, participation in business fairs, exhibitions, etc)

There are some interactive advertising agencies that have recognized the need of the hour – developing creative design solutions that employ user-centric investigation and involve critical and systematic thinking. 

User-centric means understanding the needs and priorities of the end-user; the clients’ customers, channel partners, users, and brand communities.

So if you want to register your brand as one that is synonymous with customer loyalty, you must develop a complete package, keeping the customer as the prime objective.

Organize product stories around the way they prefer to learn about, compare, select, and confirm purchases, connecting brands, and their experiences.

AboutRuth Kusemiju

Ruth Kusemiju is a social media advertising consultant and marketing strategist. She serves as the Director of Social Media Strategy for iVEN Digital and is keen to help small, medium and large-sized businesses leverage the power of the internet and social media to increase exposure to their brands and get their products and services in front of the right people. She’s keen on using social media which is one of the most powerful advertising tools that businesses can use to connect their brands to their targeted market niche. She is one who lives her life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. She is independent and stubborn and rarely strays from her vision - no matter what it is. A healthy food eater and lover of nature.