4 Steps to Successful Brand Planning

We believe consistent branding, advertising, and marketing are the keys to enjoying short and long-term, sustainable public awareness and participation. Below are our 4 steps to get you there:

1. Create, gather, and analyze research for strategic meaning. 
2. Select the factors that will most likely influence your marketing. 
3. Make a distinction between goals, strategy, and tactics. Goals are desired results systematically achieved through the implementation of the strategy and tactics. Strategy is a big picture view of the entire forest, not the individual trees, of how a goal should be achieved. Tactics are actions you take to execute the strategy. 
4. Implement these distinctions and heighten your ability to succeed. 

Celebrity Status Takes A Hit

According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, Inc., appealing to the human emotions has a more positive affect on a buyer's choice than celebrity endorsement—good news for brand managers on a budget. The key factor is brand identification, which is, in many cases, more effectively accomplished through emotion rather than celebrity.

This is a shift in the paradigm of brand identity. Where celebrities were once looked up to and admired, now, researchers Nicole Verrochi Coleman and Patti Williams—from the University of Pittsburgh and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania respectively— say, a celebrity's personal issues can and have proven to adversely affect the brand they represent. (That may not be a surprise to most of us, but now it's documented proof.)

In the study, Coleman and Williams stated, “Consumers tend to choose products that bolster emotions associated with [their own] particular identity.” In other words, consumers connect better with advertisements and brands that share their feelings and opinions on a given topic more than who's endorsing the product or service. This means, that by incorporating emotions related to the brand’s identity, companies not only increase the number of brand loyalists, but they can also by-pass potential celebrity costs and risks.

An example of this tactic was used by MasterCard in its "priceless campaign". According to MasterCard, their marketing goal was to emphasize that MasterCard was the best way to pay for 'everything that matters.'" Its use of emotional appeal with the slogan "There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard." enables MasterCard to build and maintain strong brand value and trust among consumers.

Source: Nicole Verrochi Coleman and Patti Williams. "Feeling Like My Self: Emotion Profiles and Social Identity." Journal of Consumer Research:August 2013. For more information, visit http://ejcr.org/.