Connected Brands

Consumers are making decisions based on messages in a multi-channel environment. Brands are engaging the consumers in different contexts with messaging targeted at different types of audience. Social Media provides greater flexibility for Brands to target by defining who they are targeting and going with a context based content delivery rather than a targeted message meant for a certain profile.

Connecting with Brand Content

The brand connect with the audience is made by customizing Brand Content for each of the segments and Buyer Personas. A good starting point is to develop a Buyer Persona for each type of audience. The target audience can be segmented based on the demographics and the profile of the audience. To develop a Buyer Persona, it is important to arrive at a common motivation and gain insights into what the audiences are seeing and hearing. It is important to understand a pattern among similar people to arrive at common characteristics and understand the need that is being addressed.

Buyer Personas are not the same as Profiles and usually require a description with a brief introduction, feel for their aspiration, problem to solution scenario, list of objectives, obstacles,orientation, reasons why they will buy, direct your content strategy depending on the persona.

An interesting case study for Brand Content is McDonald’s Facebook Timeline which traces back to the opening of first McDonald’s restaurant, to the opening of ten thousandth restaurant to the sale of Millionth burger to newer products and ranges for calorie conscious consumers, coffee lovers, new campaigns and overage of London Olympics Games. The content is interactive and targeted at different audiences.

The online campaign graphics are appealing and adapted to digital rendering with larger font sizes, richer colors and exaggerated product shots to communicate the core features of the product. The fine print may not be present in customer facing collateral. Mnemonics that are more connected to Social Media such as the like and share button are given more prominence.

Consumers are choosing to interact with brands in multiple channels and it’s not only the targeted messaging that influences the buyer decision. Brand Content does not necessarily mean a single message that will position the brand but also the delivery and the format. The format can be interactive as seen in a number of Facebook posts and can also be in the form of offers that can be availed at a specific location.

Brand content can further be customized with the single customer view depending on where the customer is in the buyer journey.

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