Brand Building is essential for the success of any product or service in free market economies. When a new product enters the market, it is virtually unknown. Along with the quality of the product and service, customer engagement is also required to build a broad consumer base.
Marketing and brand communication can go a long way in expanding customer outreach and thereby gain customer loyalty.
Brand Communication refers to a group of activities that shape and influence the opinion of customers towards a company and its products or services. Brand Communication also helps to create an effective brand image.
Brand Activation or brand engagement aims to influence the consumer’s actions and choices through interaction with the brand. Digital Marketing via various social media platforms enables brands to communicate directly with their customers. This is crucial, especially in today’s markets as marketing and brand promotion have become largely customer-based.
Effective brand communication can go a long way in ensuring a positive reaction towards a brand. Brand Communication employs strategies like experimental marketing, promotional marketing and in-house retail marketing for effective brand activation.
Measuring Effective Brand Communication
Using the following criteria, you can easily determine whether your brand communication is encouraging brand activation:
Consumer Network-It is important to reach out to a broad and relevant consumer base to boost brand activation. A good brand communication campaign will have a target audience at the local, regional, national or international level that it seeks to cover.
Strategy and Authenticity-A thorough review of the campaign strategy must be carried out to ascertain whether the proposed brand communication campaign will lead to brand activation while staying to the core values and aims of the brand or company. The information provided to the public must be authentic else it may lead to loss of confidence in the brand.
Investment and Returns-The expected costs, benefits and returns must also be thoroughly evaluated. The returns and benefits will include not only the expected boost in sales, but also the anticipated expansion in the consumer-base, and increase the number of loyal customers and brand followers on social media platforms.
Consumers’ Response- The success of brand communication can be determined through the evaluation of the customers’ response. The campaign must be designed such that it creates interest and tempts its target audience. The consumers must enjoy their interaction with the brand. In this respect, it is not just the sheer volume of response that matters, but also nature. A positive response implies successful brand activation and vice versa.
Creativity and Timing- The interaction with the consumers must be creative, keeping in mind their tastes and preferences. The timing also has to be spot on, the right customer at the right time, in the right place.
Brand Image in the Long Run- Any proposed brand communication campaign has to be undertaken keeping in mind the long-term goals and aims of the brand and company. Brand Activation has to be such that it boosts the image of the brand in the long run.
LSI Keywords: brand building, brand communication, brand activation, customer engagement, widening consumer-base, digital marketing, brand communication via social media, effective brand communication.
