Is Brand Awareness More Powerful Than Quick Wins?

What do the above logo’s have in common?

Visually, almost nothing. However what they do have in common as they are seen as the standard, the staple in their industry and in their product lane.

But how? Why?

For example, Smith’s weren’t the first brand to make potato chips, and if I showed you another potato chip brand like the ones below, why would we assume that they aren’t as good quality or that they must have been made after the “original”? We assume that they are sub-par and will not be as good. And let’s face it, often that is the case.

Why is this?

There are a few parts to this including brand positioning and consumer reinforcement, however I am going to focus on brand quality, and brand awareness as I believe these two areas will have the greatest effect on your business today:

Brand quality

Everything from how professionally the logo and colour palette is, through to the investment and effort in all of the imagery and label print and design is simply more professional. If design isn’t your field, you may not understand why, but you will still intuitively understand which is visually more appealing and superior.

Brand awareness

As one example, the A-League soccer here in Australia signed a deal with paid television in it’s inception. The NRL Rugby League however has always been on free to air television. The A-League may have made more money initially from the paid television deal than if they had chosen free to air television, however the NRL is now a staple for everyday Australians and based on the numbers, the A-League is not.

(The NRL has more than double the support of the A-League all around Australia plus the NRL has made 6.2x the revenue. Of course there are many factors but it is interesting, and my point is that these decisions have a big long term impact). I grew up watching the Knights as much as (then called) Newcastle United, however I have never followed The A-League Jets for even one full season, although I have frequently been able to follow and support The Knights.

Now in the context of a food product company for example, a temptation may be choosing not to wholesale, as initially the company would make less money per product. However overtime potentially the company is able to grow further than it would have, making it a staple in Australian kitchens. Where if they chose to never wholesale, this may never happen. (Keep in mind, in today's world of eCommerce and online shopping, this comment is speaking in paste tense of businesses that are currently staples today, however this still remains true today in many cases).

These decisions all come down to your goals for your company, and it's important to give your business the opportunity to reach those goals through decisions made today.

And of course, we can’t ignore paid advertisement. Choosing to advertise without the sole purpose of immediate return, but rather to speak to the top of the sales funnel, which is people that aren’t even interested or in need of your product or service (yet). This is an immediate sacrifice that means that when that larger number of people do become in need, they are already aware of you and your business before anyone else. Your brand has become the benchmark, and the standard. However the brands strategy and mindset needs to not be out of desperation or quick results, but in the direction of building into a brand that rises above the competition.

Where to from here?

Now you may or may not have plans to take your business as big as Vegemite, however the same principals apply. Nail your branding and everything surrounding it. Get this work done by a respected professional. If it’s time for a rebrand, make this a priority in your annual budget. Then, choose brand awareness either alongside or even dare I say instead of quick wins. Quick wins speak to the individual in need (still important) however brand awareness speaks to the masses of people that will one day at some point or another become in need of what you offer.