Lead Forensics

3 Reasons Why Promising Brands Fail

04 January 2019

Worried about the possibility of your brand flatlining? Here are three reasons why you might find yourself grappling with such a threat. 

Your product or service needs work

We know time is of the essence, and yes, holding out for perfection can result in missed opportunities. But it’s well worth waiting until your product or service is fit for purpose. Does it offer a solution to a problem? Will it add something to people’s lives? Is it an improvement on what’s already out there? Do you know your target audience inside and out? Is the customer journey a seamless one?

Though unveiling something that’s not quite the finished article can be a great way of involving potential customers in its development, there has to be a key hook that entices them to trial your proposition and retain an interest. Ultimately, launching a half-baked product or service will only succeed in eroding trust and inviting negative brand perceptions.

Your content lacks sparkle

Great content is the lifeblood of a healthy brand. It inspires, educates and entertains. It poses important questions and offers enlightening answers. It’s forged in the needs and wants of its target audience.

Cut corners and your brand will suffer. Consumers have never been savvier; confronted with unprecedented choice and inundated with brand messaging, they’re sifting through the noise for quality, purpose and value. Your marketing content therefore represents an opportunity to demonstrate your worth in all three areas – but make sure you’re deploying your communications in ways that will engage potential customers. Short-form video, podcasts and native content are all effective avenues for getting your content noticed.

Your media strategy is unbalanced

We’ve all encountered a brand that blanket bombs particular media channels with cheap, uninspiring and hard sell content. We’ve probably also missed out on brands that simply do not invest enough money in generating awareness of their great proposition.

The perfect equilibrium for a successful media strategy depends on your sector and the behaviours of your target audience. However, generally speaking, a campaign that combines the brand building reach of broadcast mediums (such as TV, radio and outdoor) with activation channels (including paid search, online display, DOOH and social media) effectively fosters the emotional connections, purchasing motivations and personalisation required by brands navigating this digitised landscape.

How you choose to apportion your budget is down to you and your agency, though again, typically speaking, a ratio of 60% brand building and 40% activation is regarded as the optimal balance. The beauty of modern media planning is that you can test, learn and build on your strategy with unprecedented speed and flexibility!

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