A few months ago, our team discussed how brands’ shared values influence consumer behavior, and demonstrated why and how this trend isn’t slowing. Even as far back as 2012, it was discovered that nearly 64% of consumers relate to brands based on shared values. Fast forward to over a decade later…
Logos and graphics may be the initial eye-catcher, but the brand message is what stays in mind and impacts consumers’ perceptions (kind of like, well… dating). Messaging helps communicate a brand’s personality to its audiences through multiple channels and, consequently, directly affects its position in the marketplace. Each interaction serves as a new opportunity to influence consumers’ perceptions.
For all the talk about a brand’s visual identity, there is a severe lack of conversation around developing strong, appropriate brand messaging. So: how does a brand craft suitable messaging that satisfies its values and appeals to its audience? Here are the top elements to consider:
Brand Messaging Guidelines
People who create brands oftentimes do so with specific concepts in mind ranging from the company’s value proposition, its core values and its competitive advantage. But, that’s inherently where the problem lies: complete awareness of self including building the product or service takes priority over how to communicate the “what” the “how” and the “why” that every brand story needs to tell. That’s where brand messaging comes into play.
The goal is to convey a single idea – even if the message is delivered differently across various media. Consumers are constantly looking for a stronger connection to brands, and it heavily depends on communication.
As you create your brand message principles, think about some of these questions:
Who is your audience?
Congratulations! You created a company behind a (hopefully) unique offering. Now, who’s going to buy it? Let the target audience be the first thing to consider. Once identified, there is a perspective to follow that informs how a brand can be perceived, and perhaps more importantly, how it can be molded to establish a proper fit within its market category – this is one of the first steps to creating a brand persona that can make more accurate indications for consumer preferences, purchasing patterns, and expectations.
The persona should encompass different segments such as tone of voice, terminology, and overall communication style that drive a brand’s marketing initiatives forward.
What is your value proposition?
The value proposition should be the basis of your brand strategy in order to produce an appropriate brand messaging strategy. The brand’s value serves as a guideline when deciding the tone of voice, terminology, and overall communication strategy. With the audience type confirmed, communicating with them should be based on the factors that differentiate your company from competitors.
What is your brand’s tone of voice?
The tone of voice is an attribute of a brand’s persona that helps to establish the shared value connection with a target audience. Whether a brand wants to come off as playful, cool, serious, or innovative, its tone solidifies trust with consumers, a boon for customer longevity. Big Drop’s Senior Director, James Weiss, says:
Digital has offered brands more channels than ever before to apply, and capitalize on their messaging while individually presenting healthy challenges to maintain their tone to suit a broad spectrum of demographics. More to the point – the community ecosystems within social platforms, specifically, have consolidated audiences that call upon brands to deliver their message with a tonality that matches how their users interact with their platform of choice. This really is a pivotal shift in our understanding of what it means for a brand’s messaging guidelines to be consistent for a company to continually follow, yet malleable enough to adapt for external implementations – a new dynamic that may very well mean a change in how guidelines may need to be conceived going forward.”
Who’s Doing it Right
Apple
Apple’s brand message is crystal clear: its products offer cutting-edge technology, minimalistic sophistication, and value. The clientele of the business resembles a fan club and is completely aware of how the items affect their way of life. Its campaigns use short, direct messages that aren’t overly informal. The emphasis is on matching straightforward explanations of features and functionality, showing how all of this affects the user’s day-to-day activities.
Dove
Dove has distinguished itself through its more perceptive, considerate, and intimate approach to the public. The voice is mild and soft but still attracts attention to them. Its theme is that its products are a source of confidence as well as attractiveness. The brand’s campaigns are sensitive enough to work with a brand message that emphasizes the value of having confidence in oneself.
Uber
Uber has a consistent brand strategy that is simple to understand, effective globally, and easy to implement. The brand emphasizes its ease of use and universal appeal, creating a crisp, clean appearance that works well in any setting.
Working With Big Drop
Digital is here and it’s becoming less common to interact with brands in-person. Consumers still need to be wowed into purchasing from brands – they just do it differently than they have before. Consider working with our team at Big Drop to strengthen your ties with your audience and attract new clients as your brand continues to develop. Stay tuned for part two on the importance of SEO in your brand messaging.