Picture this: Your brand just got a major glow-up and it is ready to shine for the whole world to see. However, there’s a catch — the agency you hired for the glow-up lacks the Jonathan van Ness pizazz to showcase your brand's true potential. As a result, instead of stepping onto the metaphorical runway, your brand ends up sitting on a shelf, waiting to be discovered.
This situation is all too common. The saying "Build it, and they will come," popularized by the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, sounds appealing, but it applies better to that fictional scenario than to real-life brands. Simply building a brand isn't enough. And conversely, even the best demand generation engine is ineffective without the appropriate brand foundation helping it run. What truly matters is navigating the intersection of brand building and demand-gen. Partnering with an agency that excels in both areas is essential for ensuring that your brand not only gains the attention it deserves but also achieves long-term growth and tangible business results.
Building a strong, foundational brand strategy always begins with thorough research to get smart about the brand's current position in the market. Discovery research at the onset of a client relationship equips the strategy team with the context to shape a brand’s identity and market positioning. This process involves delving deep into understanding the brand, its target audience and the market in which it operates. With this comprehensive research, strategists can begin to craft brand identity, positioning and value propositions that resonate with the target audience and differentiate it in the marketplace.
While this is a crucial step, solely focusing on brand building may only result in increased awareness. Combining brand-building initiatives with robust demand-gen efforts provides a brand with greater opportunities to drive action and guide the target audience through the sales funnel. With demand-gen expertise as well, a brand can focus on driving conversions, leads and sales through a variety of performance-driven tactics, which are designed to yield measurable results more quickly. In contrast, a strategy that relies exclusively on demand-gen may achieve short-term gains without establishing long-term brand value.
Takeaway: It is crucial to have an agency partner who can not only bring your brand to life but can also ensure it is delivered through the right go-to-market strategy.
Understanding a brand’s target audience or audiences means taking a deep dive into their mindset, values, motivations, barriers, psychographics and demographics — all of which help create compelling, emotive narratives that will resonate with potential customers at every touch point. That coupled with demand expertise helps zero in on the tactical elements of the consumer journey, ensuring the right message is delivered to the right person at the right time.
Takeaway: The one-two punch of brand and demand means a seamless customer journey that ultimately increases a brand’s chances of converting a lead to a sale.
Building a brand and generating initial demand is just the first step in a longer process that involves ongoing evaluation of marketing efforts through data. From a brand-building perspective, conducting brand tracker research provides a snapshot of long-term metrics such as brand sentiment, loyalty, equity, etc., all of which provide valuable insights into how the target audience perceives the brand. In contrast, evaluating demand and lead generation emphasizes real-time tracking, which involves regularly reviewing metrics to assess ROI.
Takeaway: Partnering with an agency that has a comprehensive understanding of both long-term and short-term data can help a brand more effectively gauge the performance of its marketing efforts and make informed decisions regarding tactical and strategic optimizations.
From our perspective, it’s crucial to have an agency partner who can deliver this one-two punch approach. This begins with a brand-first strategy that establishes a strong foundation for recognition, followed by a demand-driven strategy that prompts action and generates business results.
Are you interested in partnering with a results-oriented team that understands both branding and demand? If so, please reach out to newbiz@mythic.us to schedule a call, and together we can address your business challenges.
