Don’t Create Your Brand Advertising Until You’re Clear on Your Brand Strategy
Your brand strategy – brand promise, brand position, brand personality – is how you win space in your customer’s mind. When it comes time to create a brand advertising campaign, it is important to ensure that your campaign embodies your brand strategy.
To Do That, We Recommend That You:
- Ensure that you are clear on your brand strategy
- Are explicit in identifying, and deciding on, whether your brand promise, brand position, brand personality (or some combination of these brand strategy elements) will drive the brand advertising campaign
- Ensure your brand strategy is actually embodied in the final brand advertising campaign
1. Brand Advertising Based on Brand Position
Position-driven brand advertising is all about positioning your brand in the mind, relative to a brand category and other brands in that category. Because the mind remembers differences, this style of position-driven advertising remains a pillar of the advertising world. It is usually feature oriented – number one, first, biggest, fastest, etc. And so, it may be more intellectual than emotional at the core.
Classic Examples of Position-Based Advertising Include:
- Avis — “We’re number two. We try harder.” against number one Hertz
- Pepsi — “The Pepsi Challenge” against number one Coca-Cola
- Burger King — “Have It Your Way” against number one McDonald’s
Current Examples of Position-Driven Brand Advertisements Include
- BMW — “The Ultimate Driving Machine” as number one in the luxury automobile category
- Samsung — “The Next Big Thing Is Already Here” against the Apple iPhone (see our post on Viral Videos)
- WIND Mobile — “The First With Coverage in TTC Stations” against all other Canadian telecom companies
2. Brand Advertising based on Brand Promise
Promise-driven brand advertising uses the brand promise which — if well formulated — is magnetic to the audience’s need. Unlike positioning-based advertising, promise driven brand advertising doesn’t reference the competition. This makes it a lower risk, in terms of potential legal action from competitors. It can also give these campaigns greater longevity.
Well Known Promise-Driven Advertising Include:
- Walmart — “Save Money. Live Better.”
- Mastercard — “Priceless”
- Harley Davidson — “Freedom”
3. Personality-Driven Brand Advertising
Brand personality-driven advertising is for firms and products where style — not position or promise — is the driving force behind message. Certain fragrances, automobiles, even insurance companies use this approach to get noticed. Sometimes, a company relies so heavily on personality-driven brand advertising that it warrants its own derisive term: “brand washer.” Brand washers are firms whose products provide little or negative value. Tobacco companies that use ruggedness or sexiness to drive their brand advertising are classic brand washers.
Some Examples of Personality-Driven Brand Advertising Include:
- Charles Shwab — “Talk to Chuck” — straight-shooter personality
- Mountain Dew — daring and weird personality
- Levi’s — classic but adventurous personality
Your Favourite Brand Advertising
What is your favourite brand advertisement? Is it based on a brand promise, brand position or brand personality?
Learn More
Learn more about how brand strategy impacts brand advertising with Distility eLearning.