Feature: Branding The Future
The value of the brand looks set to continue growing in importance in the media industry. As the learning process in brand marketing continues Stuart Corke, Head of Strategic Planning at News International, feels many lessons are just as valuable for media planners.
According to Interbrand the future of brands is dependent on their ability to achieve three things:
ˇ Clarity in what the brand is and what the brand stands for. ˇ Consistency in how the brand presents itself in the eyes of its consumers. ˇ The ability to build strong relationships with consumers, as the strength of relationship will be the ultimate driver of long-term brand value.
If this is the challenge facing brand marketers then this is the challenge for media planners. Swap the word consumer for advertiser and the message is just as prevalent for the advertising sales operations of media brand owners.
In today’s fragmented media environment, clients want media strategies that meet the needs of both effective targeting and effective communication. Brand equity is becoming more and more important as a measure of value, and to maximise this, marketers are looking to invest in media properties that are closely associated with specific consumer brand attributes, with the positive association this can ultimately bring.
This trend has been substantiated by Ocean Consulting, who surveyed 39 senior staff in UK media agencies on their view of the changing shape of the media industry. Eight out of ten of these major decision makers see brand strength becoming more important in media decision making over the next 2 years.
This requires sales teams to articulate persuasively the very specific brand characteristics that distinguish their product from the competition and to develop further solution-led communication opportunities. Many progressive media owners have the resources available to make the case. They do this by building a bridge, rather than a barrier, between media brands and advertisers. The recent launch of mediaDNA project is a step in the right direction. It provides data to sharpen media’s role in achieving clarity and consistency of communication, ensuring the connections between brand and consumer are as powerful as possible. This type of new understanding, with its transparency, can guide recommendations in sponsorship, it can help build cross-media deals, or establish a cohesive brand experience across a diverse range of media brands.
It is possible for media owners to play a role at all stages of the planning process and create the very language through which insight can flow. Its up to media owners to bring this insight to the attention of agency planners, but it is also the responsibility of the planners to ensure the media owner’s expertise is used earlier in the cycle.
Communication, after all, is a two way street.
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