The Lobels campaign of the limited Edition by the end of the year had reached thirty two thousand ( 32k ) views . The creative video does not have any voice except a rolling collector ’ s edition tin and festive season sound – capturing the attention span and broadband reach of the bulk of target audience in just nine seconds .
Having been highly impressed by such exploits , I threw a quick test on whether the company had some framework of managing consistency of its brand or not ? Basic questions were asked through its Facebook platform : a ) I understand lobels scooped the best prize in one of the categories at the just ended Marketing Association of Zimbabwe ( MAZ ) is it correct ? b ) Your Limited Edition promotion is very unique how many customers have you reached so far ?
The message was sent and read but almost three weeks on , I was still waiting for the response . These small things , when the brand fails to be consistently engaging through its platforms dent its reputation .
In November 2016 , I had another experience while searching for Internet connection services for one of our businesses in Mutare and Gweru . I visited the TelOne website through a google search . I was impressed soon after getting to their website , there was a pop-up chat requesting to know how best the team could assist .
After outlining the specifications of the services required , the response was , “ Our sale team will call you in 10min ,” I went for a week and threatened to use services of the competitor . That ’ s when I received a call . These are the experiences , which influence the customer purchase decisions , and going forward , strong brands have to be competitive across all platforms of communication .
‘‘ Marketing should ensure consistency of brand content regardless of the media channels . Such an approach leads to a strong and profound communication thrust which feeds to high customer engagement and the highly anticipated and yearned for brand value . Brand value is an asset that equips the company with unique and distinct edge over competing offerings .’’
Brand building is about managing customer experience – whether through products , packaging , advertising , social media , emails or sales . Each time the customer or prospective customer interacts with the brand , that experience defines the ‘ who ’ in the brand and how uniquely different it is from competitors .
This requires that the imagery and messaging be consistently managed to feed into the recall and purchase decision process . The notion that your brand is what the customers say about you in your absence is the true value of the brand , hence the need to consistently manage the brand to influence a positive position in the mind and soul of the customer .
Brand consistency is critical in that it keeps track of the brand across the clutter of communication channels . This is critical in maintaining its strengths , which in the long run translates into customer acceptance and ultimately the much sort after sales .
Brand consistency is equally vital to the business because it builds recognition which the customers use to evaluate their purchase decisions . This ultimately feeds into a trustworthy relationship with the customer . When a brand is trusted , it builds a league of loyal customers , which inevitably and sustainably feeds into profitable existence . The local brands in future , should invest in brand management software and platforms , which have proven to strengthen brand consistency and internal management of the brand .
This requires the marketers to create a competitive and robust process that manages content for the multiple channels for the brand and engagement parameters with the customers .
In addition , the marketing effort needs an investment into an online brand management platform which automates the bulk of the marketing process , including automated responses to customer enquiries till a marketing team member is available to address the inquires , rather than going dead silent like our colleagues at Lobels and TelOne .
When I sent a chat message at the Coca Cola platform asking how the limited Edition promotion was going , I got an automated response informing me that a member of the marketing team would attend to the question in 48hours depending on the traffic of inquires . Within the set timeframe , I was answered and this impression remains embedded in me wherever I go !
Tabani Moyo is a Chartered Marketer and a Communications Expert based in Harare , Zimbabwe . You commune with him on this or related matters via email at : Moyojz @ gmail . com .
42 MAL 18 / 17 ISSUE