Where Brand Influence And Engagement Intersect

Chris WrenMarch 8, 20182 min

Marketing is not about breaking through, it is about being invited in. This shift in dynamic extends across the communications spectrum as marketers seek to build influence and engagement. It represents a fundamental shift from quantity to quality that is a strategic and tactical change in perspective. Yesterday, we put measures like audience delivery or gross impressions at the top of our list (and they are still very important). But today, conversations and relationships dominate campaign goals.

Joe Tripodi, the former CMO of Coca-Cola once remarked that while ad impressions are great and a staple of any good campaign, brand expressions are a more powerful result of a well-run advertising campaign.

In the relationship marketing era substance triumphs over flash, and an idea Jim Collins referred to as “the genuis of the and” thrives, where seemingly unrelated concepts converge to create powerful opportunities: Business growth and environmental impact; global reach and local message; brand love and brand value; and inspirational ideas and operational realities. The crux being that when you can satisfy the wants and needs of a community as well as your business, you have the greatest chance of creating an advertising campaign that has a lasting impact.

Not only do you have to optimize the intersection of owned content and earned media for true communication effectiveness, you also must invest in conversational tools that encourage person-to-person communication. Influence increases when a brand is relevant to the consumer’s lifestyle. Just as we like people who are like us, we like brands that understand us, and seem to “get” us.

Robert Wheatly at Emergent gives us this to think about:

How do you know if your thinking is right on score? Ask yourself this question: “Am I actively looking for ways that my brand can act and operate to improve my best customer’s lifestyle and enable/facilitate their personal interests?”

Find that intersection, and you’ll find “the genuis of the and.”

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