Monday 14 April 2014

BRANDING: REAL BRANDS DON'T BRAG...THEY TELL STORIES

At this age and time, story telling has become the quintessence of brand marketing. It is no longer just about devising communication campaigns that only brag about aesthetic packaging of a product or the excellent services a brand offers. As a matter of fact, rhapsodizing about product attributes or usage benefits no longer guarantees patronage. It’s not just about putting Lady Gaga in an advert to adulate the brand for two minutes or that elaborate print campaign with the faces of Photoshopped-models. Yes! that TV advert might be intriguing, that radio jingle might be the sing-along type, that magazine advert might be pleasing to the eye, but if these campaigns are only inundated with boring messages rather than enthralling stories behind the brand, you are giving your customers a reason not to care, thereby making it easier for them to look elsewhere...and they will gladly do so! There are myriad options in the market for customers and the span of their attention is getting shorter by the minute. So unless that brand says something worth listening to and that message is imbued with enthrallment, such a brand is likely to be overlooked. Even though attentiveness does not necessarily induce purchase or instantly translate to loyalty, it is a starting point to get the customer to notice your brand. Once the attention is gained, the next step is to court the buyer with the experience the brand delivers.