Emc易倍体育

By Lindsay Rapacchi, Research & Insight Director, Emc易倍体育 UK听

Rumour has it that the events of the last 24 months saw the death of brand marketing, cut down in its prime at the hands of e-commerce and performance marketing.听

Eyewitness testimony from Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern (an esteemed New York business school) suggests that:

鈥淭he summer of 2020 saw the Brand Age鈥檚 end鈥� the losers in this transition are the media companies that provided platforms for the big and bold brand-building advertising of the brand age.鈥�

But something about the case just doesn鈥檛 feel right, something鈥檚 off. For the UK, at least, I can鈥檛 help but think that the death of brand marketing is a red herring. In fact, I鈥檇 go so far as to say that the events of the last couple of years have made building and maintaining a strong brand with 鈥�bold brand-building advertising鈥� more important than ever and here鈥檚 why鈥�.听

1.鈥疊ecause rational choice is knocking at the door听

A significant increase in e-commerce means we now have more information readily available to us right at the crucial point of purchase. As easy as it is to buy with the touch of a button, it鈥檚 equally as easy to access the latest reviews and compare the specific attributes of one product over another. For me, that鈥檚 a problem. The ability to quickly analyse the benefits of one brand over another, results in a very rational purchase decision. A situation that could spell danger for any brand that鈥檚 simply not the best on paper or whose price doesn鈥檛 match their offering.听

How do you avoid this trap? With marketing campaigns that seek to build and maintain a strong brand; creating a set of mental structures that predispose consumers to choose your brand over others - regardless of what the more rational,鈥痠nformed decision may be.听

2.鈥疊ecause mental availability isn鈥檛 a given听

I鈥檓 a firm believer that mental availability plays a vital role in product choice. Brands that quickly come to mind are more familiar and less likely to get red-flagged and over-analysed during the purchase journey. However, that mental availability is, I think, more difficult to come by these days. Over the last 24 months we鈥檝e been through prolonged periods with limited access to shops, meaning we also spent significantly less time viewing products and building mental availability.听Couple that with the fact that many of us have been forced to swap brands (perhaps due to price or lack of availability), which in turn means some brands no longer occupy a space in our daily lives. As if this wasn鈥檛 enough, the rise in e-commerce and the nature of the way we shop online means we naturally see less of some products. Where I once waltzed down an aisle with every cleaning product known to man in my vista, now that I shop online, I see just one or two, opting instead just to select from my pre-existing favourites list.听

How does a brand overcome this? The answer of course is to fill this void, to rebuild mental availability with advertising that can offer consumers a frequent visual reminder of a brand as they go about their daily lives (OOH anyone?).听

3. Because there鈥檚 more to life than e-commerce听

While I have suggested that the rise in e-commerce is a key factor in the increasing need for strong brand work, I am concerned that we鈥檙e all in danger of succumbing to an availability bias. In other words, that we鈥檙e placing too much emphasis on the subject because of the recency and volume of information we receive. If the number of e-commerce related reports, webinar invites and articles that I receive is anything to go by, I suspect it鈥檚 probably the only thing I should be concerning myself with. However, I鈥檓 not too convinced that this is actually the case and I worry that if we focus too much on it, we risk missing out on a bigger prize.听

According to the latest Kantar data, a whopping 83% of UK adults made an online purchase in the last six months, so without doubt it鈥檚 something we need to consider. However, while great swathes of the population may be buying products online, for some sectors it鈥檚 bricks and mortar that still take the鈥痓ulk鈥痮f actual spend. For example, take the retail sector. According to the鈥疌entre for Retail Research, online retail spend increased by a whopping 9% between 2019-2021. That鈥檚 huge considering that the average annual increase over the last 10 years had never topped more than 2%. However, despite that increase, in 2021 online sales still only accounted for 29% of all retail sales - the lion鈥檚 share (71%) still continued to flow through good old-fashioned bricks and mortar.听

So, whilst we certainly shouldn鈥檛 be ignoring e-commerce and the continued use of cleverly targeted digital performance ads, let鈥檚 not forget that this isn鈥檛 the only store in town. By building a strong brand through broadcast media, we can ensure we鈥檙e priming as many potential market buyers as possible, regardless of whether the final purchase ends up on- or off-line.鈥�听

And of course, let鈥檚 not ignore the opportunity to activate all those in-store shoppers too, perhaps with those nice-looking digital screens that sit right outside the shop!听

Here we鈥檝e looked at just three reasons why brand building is still an essential marketing activity for 2022 and beyond. However, rest assured, there are many more, all of which you鈥檒l be able to explore in our brand-new research piece, Prime Suspect. Uncover more about the investigation here.