Fundamentals of Brand Resonance
By Carla Stratfold
CEO, OnRequest Images
The third of three posts on branding
Resonance with clients and consumers is different for every brand. The good news is there is a brand for every customer, business and walk of life. The presence of social media and networking sites is proving this point better than any marketing researcher in history as organizations are witnessing instant feedback on their brands and campaigns.
Brand resonance can be defined as how well you connect with your customer both formally and casually. Creating resonance with your brand means your message has to permeate consumers’ minds and lives. More than ever, marketing needs to be impactful and emotive to create this type of resonance.
While there is a formal brand presence defining what a company is, there is also a more casual side that says a brand is human. This is the way brands earn trust. Creating resonance means you do not hammer people with your message, but offer them a solution to their unique problem. It’s about adding value.
One of the quickest and most impactful ways to break through the information overload and clutter is with compelling visual material, be it photography, video, illustrations or an iconic element. Typically to evoke the most recall with consumers, you need a fun, simple and to-the-point campaign. However it’s important that consumers link the campaign to your brand and not just recall the ad or marketing piece because it was cool or fun.
Think about how simple and to the point Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG campaign was. Its success was unprecedented; the yellow band became a global symbol of what it means to be a survivor while providing a personal statement about the individual that wore the yellow band.
Another successful campaign was the E*TRADE baby ads. These ads became a phenomenon on the Internet and YouTube, because they are entertaining, viral and memorable with clear E*TRADE branding.
We hope as marketing managers continue to strive to create brand resonance, they’ll remember the importance of images that capture the personality, emotion and benefits of their brands.
About our guest blogger
As CEO, Carla Stratfold brings more than 20 years of experience to OnRequest Images, a leading provider of custom photography for some of the world’s leading brands.
