The year is 2014 and the way brand character is now defined is quite different from 5 years ago. Brand value on an emotive and creative level has always been about brand character, or as some often call it, brand persona.
In days gone by, the shaping of brand character was hugely dependent on many one way conversations. The visibility of a brand’s logo, its design, its choice of colour and the font usage was as visual as the “brand” got. Needless to say, today it’s just not the case. That’s right, gone are the good old days of building brand character. Some may look at these good old days as simple, even juvenile. With YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram, the number of visual channels has exploded.
[dt_sc_pullquote type=”pullquote3″ icon=”yes” align=”center”]The building blocks of creating a solid brand character today have significantly changed over the last few years.[/dt_sc_pullquote]
Increasingly the tone and voice are as important if not more important than the one way conversations that we often found brands in. We can all say goodbye to believing that single or traditional channels can be responsible in building a brand character.
Be careful, I am not saying that building brand awareness and launching a brand persona with the use of TV, radio or print is bad, but to only do this, would be a waste of effort and lack of efficiency. Social Media integration provides a 3D approach to brand character. This multi-channel approach is necessary to create awareness, buzz, style and therefore, brand character. But Social media isn’t the only integration that is required for a brand to reach its full potential of its persona. The development of a brand character involves a holistic approach, where external branding and internal branding meet and co-existent happily. That’s from customer service answering the phone to the handling of complaints.
The various social media channels(mentioned previously) and internal branding initiatives provide the forums for brands to articulate their true voice and tone. If a brand is portrayed as approachable and fun-loving in the a “one way” conversation, say on TV campaign or radio, then that brand needs to demonstrate it in terms of its overall strategy – in the brand tone, brand creative and brand voice.