Great Expectations: Brand Building and ROI
Brand building and the return on the investment it takes to build a brand are, to a great degree, difficult things to measure. They can be a bit elusive and hard to define. The measurement involves participation in and understanding of a process that takes place over time, utilizing and considering numerous variables and methods to create a sense of familiarity, awareness and trust in a product or brand name. *Note the phrase “over time.”
There are some seemingly lucky dogs that hit on an overnight success, but those instances are rare, and most often only have the appearance of overnight success. The behind the scenes relentless messaging, marketing, PR, promotion and brand building work that takes place is usually not visible to the naked eye. And it really shouldn’t be.
Patience is key here. Focusing too heavily on tangible and quick ROI, dollar for dollar is futile. Investing in a promotional campaign that sends traffic to your site, starts people talking on the internet and elsewhere about your brand, increasing your Google ranking, getting your brand more attention from other media and other venues, though it may not seem like a strong dollar for dollar return, one has to consider what awareness is worth. When does the dollar return come from a promotional investment? Maybe not for months or even longer. What will greater brand awareness lead to? Customer trust and loyalty, new business, and more sales, but it most likely will not be right away. To expect to pay a dollar for promotional work and the next day get two dollars back is unrealistic, but that oftentimes is the expectation when a client asks about ROI.
Data is useful, no doubt about that, but data can be deceiving. If a promotional campaign does not immediately and directly produce sales, but does drive traffic and produce positive awareness, is that considered to be a poor return on investment? I would argue that ROI doesn’t necessarily have to translate directly to dollars out vs. dollars back in. The return may not come in ways that can easily be counted. The return can come in ways that are impossible to measure. It can come from a positive consumer feeling about and recognition of a brand, trust in a product, understanding of and connection to what the brand stands for and what a company is all about. All of that has to come before many consumers will be willing to spend one penny to buy. How do you measure and value the various elements of ROI?
Nick Hall
wrote on December 1, 2009 at 8:01 am
Interesting article, and presents a question that has come up on occasion.
I believe the key to the value equation has a lot to do with understanding what a loyal customer is worth to the client. That at least starts to put some shape to investment vs ROI that the client can understand.
You discuss various aspects for measuring a strong brand; namely positive feelings, liking what it stands for, trust, etc. I would argue that nowadays (unlike the past) a strong brand has to have all of these attributes, rather than just one or two. Social media has been a large part of the drive for brands that are full spectrum, I think.
Great topic though. Surprised more people haven’t commented.
Cheers
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on December 1, 2009 at 8:32 am
Nick,
Absolutely…Return on investment nowadays should be measured not only in eventual dollar return, but in those hard-to-put-your-finger-on things like feelings, impressions, philosophies and trust. Those concepts can be monitored by keeping your finger on the pulse of what is being said online, although it would be hard to quantify it all on a spreadsheet. It’s difficult to explain those soft concepts to those who are only motivated purely by hard data. Again, for me, it often boils down to a right brain intuitive vs. a left brain data debate.
Thanks for stopping by and adding your input.
- Cheryl
Tad Dobbs
wrote on December 3, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Cheryl,
Great post, and very true. ROI is a very tricky subject when it comes to branding, and I think you’ve made some excellent points for ways to measure success without getting bogged down in metrics and dollar amounts. I’ve always tried to equate a brand to a personality. Just as you can’t make everyone happy all the time, your brand can’t appeal to everyone all the time. Also, every brand goes through similar stages to our personal relationships. You don’t measure your friendships by a tangible ROI, so the same should hold true to your brand.
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on December 3, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Tad,
This post came as the result from a recent conversation with a client of mine for whom I did some promotional work. There were only a few direct sales as a result of my promotional campaign (so far), however the it did generate some significant new traffic to the company’s site, and started some buzz on the Internet. But because dollars didn’t show up as direct and immediate result (note *immediate*), my client felt disappointed. I tried to explain that this was more an exercise in initiating a brand building campaign rather than a direct sales campaign, but alas, I couldn’t seem to make him understand that brand building is a longer term commitment than making a few sales. Without that understanding, I fear his new brand will never get to the level that he hopes it will. Thanks for adding your perspective.
- Cheryl
Ian Greenleigh
wrote on December 6, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Brand building is always long term and less measurable by common metrics, but no less important! Brand building is about trust–and that’s something that’s hard to assign ROI to. But make no mistake about it, with trust comes ROI. Good post, thanks.
Cheryl Andonian aka Momblebee
wrote on December 6, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Ian,
Thanks for stopping by and adding your comments.
Cheryl