By Adam Wagner
The Holy Grail…
Everyone wants it, very few achieve it and it feels like a myth.
I gave it this name very intentionally.
Every week I have conversations with brands that are trying to figure out how to use brand marketing to scale their business. Everyone knows that brand is important, but very few know how it should be a part of their marketing strategy.
I see this with both startups and billion-dollar companies, they are both trying to solve two sides of the same equation. What makes this beautiful is that it is the same answer no matter where you are in your business journey! The budgets and goals look very different, but the approach to brand is the same.
I have three primary directives on brand that all companies should take into consideration:
- BRAND IS NECESSARY
- BRAND MORE THAN PAYS FOR ITSELF
- GET CREATIVE ON TRACKING PERFORMANCE
Being an agency owner is a very fascinating position to be in. I get to talk to founders, marketers, CMOs, etc. of companies of all sizes. Literally, startups to multinational companies.
Brands that are earlier in the journey often have not invested in Brand yet and are uncertain how to make the switch. Multinational companies are stuck in the past and don’t know how to transition brand to the modern consumer.
Literally, I saw a media brief for a 50%+ linear TV buy this week and I just shook my head. Why??
On the other end of the spectrum, I see brands that only use Meta and PPC, then wonder why they are struggling to scale beyond $50M+ in revenue. I do love TV, but OTT provides SO much more benefit and targeting! Linear totally has a place and is a great platform for big brands, but I haven’t seen the case for 50%+ on linear. That media buy typically comes from media agencies that don’t understand digital and performance.
I digress… Big brands want their marketing to perform too.
The beauty is that what works is true at all sizes of your business. The challenge is that we as humans get in the way. New is scary. I get it.
At Raindrop, It’s not new to us.
Marketing boils down to very simple principles that apply at every stage of your business.
- The more time you can get with someone the better
- The more educated someone is the more likely they are to buy
- Brand helps you stand out and connect
This is why we love Brandformance. It just works. Build brand and hit people with USPs. You will win at all brand stages and sizes.
The Holy Grail happens when brands go all in on Brandformance.
Dr. Squatch is one of the best examples in the last decade. They built a brand platform that their target audience loves and they combined that with USP focused creative that drove conversion. They grew so much that they more than doubled the total addressable market of their category!
For a non-Raindrop example, Old Spice also did this around 2010 when they were revitalizing their brand. Weiden + Kennedy did some amazing work for them that completely revitalized the brand and brought new life to Old Spice. They took a fading brand and brought it to new life with brand and USPs.
Hey in-house marketer, you’ve got this!! I know making it through the corporate gauntlet is hard. Let us help you and let’s do some great work together to drive your brand forward! 💧
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This article is a part of The Q2 2024 Founders’ Report. The Founders’ Report is a quarterly digest of the top conversations, insights and learnings that Jacques and Adam are having with our clients and top marketers. Sign up here.