5 Reasons Why Brands Love Instagram Stories
By Letizia ZappaMay 16
Marketing
Published August 9th 2016
New Guide: Thoughts On Crafting a Brand Identity
Executives at the agency Wieden+Kennedy must have been pleased to find out that, amidst the multi-million dollar advertisements featured at the 2010 Super Bowl, it was actually their Old Spice YouTube video that captured the public’s imagination.
The video forever changed the face of advertising.
Countless advertisers, researchers and thought-leaders would scrutinize the ad, trying to identify why it was so successful and more importantly, how they could harness its effect.
On that, Jess Monsey, an Account Director at Wieden+Kennedy, offered:
A big question for us at the time was the name and whether the brand could be relevant to young men moving forward.
Old Spice was mired by its traditional brand – it struggled to connect with younger audiences.
That point feels fundamental throughout the advertisement’s strategy: the content is quick and funny, the ad was delivered through YouTube and social media.
Yet before they could arrive at that strategy, Wieden+Kennedy needed to understand Old Spice’s brand, consumers, and goals, as well as how to connect with their target audiences. For that, they would have to do some research.
Using social media research to understand audiences
Information and understanding underlines Wieden+Kennedy’s success with Old Spice.
Before businesses can design brand-changing campaigns, they must have an excellent sense of their identity.
Social media intelligence offers businesses a unique way to learn about their reputation, identify market opportunities, and develop strategies to build a stronger brand.
One of the first steps in understanding a brand is identifying its current audience.
For example, an analysis of interests surrounding Tommy Hilfiger, Dior and Burberry reveals how each audience differs.
While Tommy Hilfiger’s audience largely leans toward sports, Dior’s audience appears to be more interested in music. Meanwhile, Burberry’s audience maintains a fairly balanced set of interests.
Data from Thoughts On/ Crafting a Brand Identity
By identifying followers’ interests, brands can determine the culture of their consumers.
Of course, demographic research can only go so far. Businesses will also want to understand how people talk about their brand, their products, and their competitors.
Uncovering an opportunity
Once a brand understands its current identity, it should search for opportunities in its market and decide whether there is a viable way of pivoting its brand to address those gaps.
That opportunity may be a new product line, a new marketing campaign, or expansion into a new territory – social media intelligence can help inform any of these moves.
By analyzing the frequency of conversations around topics by region, businesses can better understand which ones are important to each region.
For example, an analysis of alcohol types throughout the UK reveals some clear trends: liquor is more often discussed in the north, central UK leans toward beers, and southern UK and North Yorkshire discuss wine the most.
That insight helps businesses understand the relative interest or demand for each region.
Coupled with data on the competitive landscape or the regional supply, businesses can then begin to evaluate which areas might offer the highest returns.
Crafting a memorable, lasting brand
A business’s brand or identity is never static.
Cultures, interests, and consumers constantly change. Eventually, people will forget about Old Spice’s advertising campaign.
Businesses should continuously track conversation surrounding their brands and have an ongoing understanding of how they’re perceived within the market.
Lasting brands should be able to do three things: understand their identity, pivot their marketing strategy to meet new opportunities, and foster quality customer experiences.
Our guide to Crafting a Brand Identity reveals a number of ways in which businesses can effectively evaluate their reputation, identify opportunities, and develop strategies to build a stronger brand.
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