When Coca-Cola became the sponsor for American Idol the set became a branding platform for Coke. The judges kept cups of Coke in front of them. Simon occasionally spouts out, “How much I love Coca-Cola!.” During auditions contestants enter and exit a holding room where the walls are painted Coca-Cola red. The chairs and couches have the familiar rounded contour shape of a Coca-Cola bottle. For this Coca-Cola pays an estimated $26 million annually to do all this branding, including commercial spots.
But does it work?
For Coke it did. The details of the research can be found in Martin Lindstrom’s book “Buyology”. But basically, the integrated branding into the program itself had a much higher recall than just those products that ran commercials. The results revealed that branding integrated into the storyline or show rated higher in the test subjects minds. Coke was simply more memorable as a result of its branding efforts.
Why is this relevant?
In order to increase brand awareness we must carefully align our brand with all aspects of our business. It can’t be just about the colors on your web site showing up on every page.
You must align your business mission or personality with all aspects of your web presence. All of the elements must align in order for your customer to begin to recognize you as a brand. Design elements are important and should be consistent from page to page. The design elements should be carried into all your marketing efforts.
Language comes next. Your web site copy should be consistent. If you are a light and fun type of brand, then your word and tone choices should align with that personality. Carry those language choices into all your marketing materials as well.
Develop a personality that can be displayed visually as well as through your copy.
The best brands tie into your customer’s emotions and create a bond and recognition. Think Apple. They have raving fans. Who doesn’t recognize the Apple logo? Who doesn’t recognize the innovative mission?
Remember though that branding is not just about the logo, design and copy. Ultimately it is the alignment of those elements with your true mission and service to your customer. It is about connection.
Good branding starts with authenticity and connection. From there it must then be recognizable.
Here are some tips to get you started:
- Start with your audience in mind. Not all strategies will work for all business types. If you’re selling expensive wine, you may not want to go with the bright cartoon look and feel. Think Nordstrom’s not Target.
- Keep your benefits up front. Make sure that your brand strategies align with your key benefits. Think about what you are offering the customer and how you can best portray that with your copy, images and design.
- Be consistent. It’s great to have lots of ideas but if every area of your web site boasts a different theme how will your customers remember the important one. When given more than two choices people tend to not choose. If you have too much going on your customers won’t be able to remember any of it.
- Be different. At a minimum differentiate yourself from your competition. There are far too many “me too” sites out there. Mimicking your favorite blogger or web site because it is successful will not help to build a memorable brand. You need to be unique.
Have a little fun and don’t make the process too complicated. Start with simple design features. Choose just a few things to focus on. As you develop your site there’s plenty of time to tweek, adjust and strengthen your brand.
Remember that too much is really too much for the visitor. Using a minimum amount of branding concepts that are consistent and aligned with your audience will be far more effective and much more memorable.
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“Have a little fun and don’t make the process too complicated. Start with simple design features.” I big-time agree with that.
Well done for tying consistent text and consistent design together for complete branding – it’s such a good point and many people miss it!
Hi Yollanda
Excellent tips, your post has made me think about how I am branding my self for my niche market. I have made a note of some of your key points and will incorporate these into my business. When it comes to online marketing so many businesses all look the same. I am the process of developing a business model for the Baby Boomer market involving education with connecting through all forms of social media.
Thank you for your valuable tips.
Hi Stan!
So glad the article was helpful. Please keep me posted on your progress with your Baby Boomer site. It happens to be a huge market and a profitable one if you can reach them in the right ways. Shoot me an email some time and I’ll forward some additional resources specific to that market.
Warmest regards!
Yolanda,
I found your blog through the forum at guestblogging.com.
This is some really good content! I had no idea how deep Coke was involved in American Idol. It’s hard, I think, to really build a brand if you don’t have a foundational idea of who you are (or what your brand is). I’m in the building material industry and the general idea about the industry is that it’s “dilapidated” (think old train yard, rusted metal, run down store front). Everyone I work with has subscribed to that idea, and as a result, we don’t have curb appeal.
I’m printing out the 4 tips to go next to my door so I am constantly reminded of how important it is to build a firm brand.
Looking forward to going through the guest-blogging program with you and reading more of your blog!
Chase, I totally understand your industry perceptions! As you’ll gather from reading more content here, that I also run an automotive repair business and whoa if that industry perception isn’t broken!
Looking forward to working with you at the Guest Blogging forum! I appreciate you stopping by and leaving your thoughts!