A Planner, a Marketer and a Creative Talk Connected Brand Experiences

“Wait, don’t you mean integrated brand experiences?”, says the marketer.

“Yes and no, I mean it is just a canggih (translation: sophisticated) way of saying your big idea has legs”, responds the creative.

And of course, not to be left out, the planner says, “To me, it is all bought, owned and earned touchpoints designed to deliver a total experience cohesively to change how people behave, feel and think about a brand.”

The room goes silent as everyone attempts to digest what was just said. Oftentimes as communication professionals, we do have a tendency to overcomplicate things with big words and long sentences. Especially when it comes to things like a “connected brand experience”. 

A fly on the wall might be thinking what is that? Or what can I do with it? Or what does that mean to me? Not much, if you’re the fly. 

But if you’re a marketer or business owner, it should mean the world. And at the same time, not mean a verdant jungle maze you need to chop, slice and dice through to gain understanding.

Let’s break it down into 3 tiny pieces. We’ll start with the word “Connected”.

We already know what this means in a real life application sense, but what does it mean when you apply it to your brand and marketing calendar. I like to think that it all starts with glue. You need something to hold everything together. So that when you start communicating, it all sounds like it is part of a grander scheme. This specific kind of glue is the proposition.

Next is the “Brand”. 

Your proposition is likely derived from what your brand’s values are, as that’s always the base. These are: the voice it speaks with, the way it looks, and lastly, the way it feels. Because if either your proposition and brand look and speak differently, one will never really truly know what your brand stands for. 

Imagine a print ad from Chivas Regal with the headline: “Just drink it”. It goes against everything the brand has stood for. Defeating its own name by reducing its meaning to an action without thoughtfulness. Ignoring the craft of blending malts and creating a bottle that is, well, regal. The disconnect is real. Not just for the brand but for the reader as well. 

It goes without saying, the brand and the proposition are almost one and the same. In terms of intent, what it is trying to do, and delivery, how it is being said. One must match the other or be left out in the cold to wonder “Who or what am I really?”

Lastly, everyone’s favourite buzzword “Experiences”.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Because what good is an ad campaign if you don’t feel, touch, see, hear or taste the brand. Ideally your advertising dollars are well spent on several pieces of communication that don’t just drive a single-minded proposition, but allow you to experience it in different ways across different mediums.

Can you feel the visceral blood pumping action of a BMW sports car via Virtual Reality? How about feeling the reduced shock of a Volvo reengineered airbag through haptics? What about smelling a freshly brewed coffee on every newspaper page you turn? 

These are just some examples of how a brand can enrich its communication, not just stopping at a clever headline replicated on social media, print, TV and digital. 

A connected brand experience takes your campaign line and makes it real for the consumer. In every sense of the word, they experience your brand and product. Giving them an understanding of what your product does in a manner that is relevant to them, done through the mediums they use to connect to the world. 

It is a pretty big blank canvas, but when done right, a connected brand experience resonates deep with its intended audience and then some. Here’s hoping yours does too.

See you in the next one.

About this series: 5 Lion Experts’ Bytes is a series where Lion & Lion experts share tips and insights on different aspects of the ever-evolving marketing landscape, from social media, creative, strategy to digital marketing. 

Get in touch with us if you would like us to help you craft a brand experience. We can help you there.