Flickr user wmliu
As some advertisers cut budgets during these difficult economic times, we are challenged with finding ways to make the best use of available marketing dollars. A confident brand leader with a huge share of voice is in a much better position to weather the downturn. But let’s face it, while we work with many brand leaders, we also help clients who are striving to achieve greater and greater returns on their brands with increasingly limited resources. The current marketing mantra is “Do More with Less.”
The traditional approach for brand differentiation is to first define what’s unique about your brand, then search in that area for what’s meaningful to your consumer, and finally, find the sweet spot where there is an overlap that your brand can own. The resulting brand identity is marketed to all appropriate target audiences.
However, if your budget is really modest, you need to limit your target to the people you can really influence. This includes:
- Really heavy users. Think Starbucks. Loyal customers visit a store 16 times a month. The majority of their marketing efforts are staged in-store engaging their current customers’ entire experience and senses (taste, sound, smell, touch, etc.) via point of sale, music, customer service, aroma and choice.
- Category opinion leaders: Think Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. A while back, KGBTexas successfully launched an “Ambassadors” program to open the first store in San Antonio. The idea was to create “evangelical enthusiasts,” which generated social-circle buzz, media attention and ultimately store traffic.
- Your employees: Think GVTC. An important part of our re-branding efforts for the company was to stage a company-wide employee presentation/pep rally in order to introduce the new brand, generate excitement and get complete buy-in. The result was a highly motivated employee base and improved customer service.
Bottom Line: If you can’t teach the world to sing, create a religion in your own backyard.
