Presenting your brand in a consistent and organized way is one of the best things you can do for your company or organization. Every company wants to uphold the notion that they are a stark differentiator in their industry, and that they have the features that make them unique. This, most definitely, can be true, if done right, and with an eye on the details. Target audiences expect a solidified and structured brand image, and to ensure this, there needs to be full transparency across internal teams that will aid in the delivery of this goal.
The Brand Activation and Enablement Framework echoes this initiative through a structured dissection of what it takes to present your brand with consistency and purpose that will engage your audience and unite teams.
Brand Activation
Every brand is looking for that edge that makes them noticeable and can provide them with the momentum to grow into a recognized organization, and that’s where brand activation enters the scene. Brand activation is the process in which a brand increases awareness and engagement through experiences. It brings a brand to life through purposeful experiences and interactions that excite a target audience and intrigues a new set of consumers. Brand activation, however, can be applied to start-ups and new companies, and even established organizations that are looking to re-energize their legacy. Brand activation is not the same as a refresh for a brand refresh is typically an overhaul of a brand’s style and messaging. Rather, brand activation keeps the same look and feel, and values, but finds new modes to enhance its ethos with pathways that will recapture its audience’s attention.
Brand Activation Builds Connections
The core goal of activation is to create an emotional connection between an audience and an organization by reinforcing its unique positioning, proposition, visuals, and messaging. As straightforward as they may sound, it is up to brand marketing teams to creatively ignite activation initiatives in a way that feels authentic, and different, and will in some way increase retention and conversions.
How then, can this be achieved? Many brands have heavily leaned into experiential marketing tactics that spark new levels of excitement. From exclusive events that allow consumers to sample your product, to sponsorships, campaigns, and more, these modes of marketing often generate buzz and can create brand memorability. Any mode of marketing that strays away from traditional tactics will help your brand gain better traction.
Brand Enablement
Say your brand successfully achieves its goals in visibility, the next step is to maintain that energy, not just between your consumers and your brand, but internally as a team. Brand enablement is all about ensuring that your brand is represented consistently and efficiently across your team, partners, stakeholders, and even your consumers. Enablement reflects internally on what your company is doing across all sectors and silos to stabilize and propel that same level of vitality, and consistency. You want to ensure, for example, your marketing team’s understanding and values of your company are aligned with your sales team and across different channels. Why is consistency so important to a brand? Well, at the root of it, consistency tells others that your organization is organized, cares about the finer details, and is united—in turn promoting trust, reliability, and memorability.
Brand Enablement Maintains Connections
As brand activation strikes the match to build a connection, brand enablement maintains it. Brand trust through consistency in brand interactions is a powerful tool that places teams on the same page when it comes to visual assets, messaging, and values. This level of transparency is important because a part of promoting consistency begins internally when everyone working in the same company knows exactly what their brand purpose is, and how to appropriately portray it, for misaligned brand representation will shatter that consistency.
To promote a strong level of uniformity, a clear style guide and brand guidelines are fundamental. Ensuring all teams have access to these guides for mission statements, visual elements, values, and personality among all communications will streamline any confusion or discrepancies. As cross-department communication should be a priority, ensuring easy accessibility to these forms of assets is key.
Consistency also includes uniformity in other assets such as:
- Logos
- Taglines
- Messaging (brand voice/tonality/key words)
- Typography
- Visual elements (graphic design elements, icons, photography)
- Marketing collateral materials (templates)
The advantages of a strong, effective brand presence have the ability to further your company/organization and accelerate your business growth.