Eight Great Ways to Generate Brand AwarenessSOCIAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Eight Great Ways to Generate Brand Awareness

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Eight Great Ways to Generate Brand AwarenessYour marketing and communications programs are

challenged with making your brand noticed on a consistent

basis. You can’t parade the same product, service or

volunteer opportunity in front of your customers and

prospects day after day, month after month. So, how can

you stay relevant?

You need to offer the external audiences something fresh.

Here are eight ways to cut through the noise in order to

capture buyers’ attention and become more top-of-mind

with their decision cycles.

Newsjack.

David Meerman Scott defi nes the term as the “art and

science of injecting your ideas into breaking news.” Scott

references the incident where one player bit another at

the 2014 FIFA World Cup as an example; a number of

brands, including McDonald’s, Listerine and Cinnamon

Toast Crunch, newsjacked the story on Twitter. They all

achieved notable success, with McDonald’s exceeding

77,000 retweets.

Live stream an event.

Because an event is a fi xed moment in time,

your brand has opportunities to generate

news before, during and after it. If the

event is integrated with live streaming

and social media, the opportunity

increases tenfold.

The Coca-Cola Company implemented

the Bond Integrated Marketing Campaign

to co-promote the fi lm “SkyFall” and the

new Coke Zero. The campaign went viral,

capturing over 3 million views within a few days.

Over 400,000 Facebook fans were tracked directly to the

interactive Bond promotion, and sales increased quarter

over quarter.

Place your product in remarkable places.

Product placement creates an opportunity to generate

news, buzz and sales. Digital media affords a new

method in the product placement space called “digital

insertion,” virtual products and logos are inserted into

content during the production phase. The Bentley

featured in NBC’s “Hannibal” TV series was changed to a

Mitsubishi to promote the automobile company’s launch

in Brazil.

Build relationships with

influencers.

One of the best ways to promote a product or service

is to inspire third-party conversations. Give influential

members a sneak peek into the service, offer a demo to

select people or send the product to key influencers.

Nikon generated news about its camera, the D810e,

by sending the camera to select influencers. While

Nikon’s news release reads as a brand-centric product

description, its coverage from influencers reads as real-

world testaments to the product in action.

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Eight Great Ways to Generate Brand Awareness

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Use user-generated content (UGC).

UGC is a great resource for potential stories. When

you don’t have news to share, your customers might.

Medtronic Diabetes regularly asks its customers for

stories, resulting in awareness, news and sales:

1. Nearly 300 customers have shared stories/photos.

2. Over 80 percent of customers have given Medtronic

the rights to use their stories/photos in other media.

3. The “Share Your Story Facebook” app, launched in

2012, is responsible for a two-to-one increase in

return on investment (ROI).

Turn case studies into multi-faceted content machines.

Case studies can be dry and monotonous if they follow

the staid template of problem, solution and results.

You can take a different approach and make

them interesting.

AAA released its report “Measuring

Cognitive Distractions” in a loud and

highly publicized manner. The brand

shared diverse content including

infographics, social media, newsletters

and an interactive press conference.

AAA generated 5,526 news clips and airtime

on 492 news stations.

Adopt a counter intuitive approach.

Nothing generates news like a bit of controversy.

Patagonia, a clothing retailer, defi es conventional

business logic. The brand leads by example with its

environmentally friendly clothing and its Common

Threads Initiative with eBay that “asks customers to

buy less, buy better quality, and reuse, repair, resell,

and recycle.” The initiative sparked news when it fi rst

launched, but the brand ensures continued publicity by

asking customers to share stories about their gear and

highlighting environmental efforts.

Be an advocate.

You can generate news by becoming an advocate

for another organization or initiative. Whenever that

organization or initiative is in the news, you’re likely to be

pointed out, too.

Dell works with the American Red Cross to operate the

American Red Cross Digital Operations Center, a “social

listening command center” that helps people connect in

real-time during a disaster. When a story about families

or friends being united with the Digital Operations Team

appears in the news, the American Red Cross and Dell

are mentioned.

How Visible Can HelpVisible Technologies is the industry leader in advanced

social intelligence and engagement for innovative

enterprises and agencies around the globe. The

combination of Visible’s patented platform— Visible

Intelligence—and Insights Services methodology

provides real-time consumer insights that impact

business decisions and drive tangible results and ROI.

In 2014, Visible joined the Vocus and Cision software

product line, which provides leading software and

services for the public relations industry. Learn more

about Visible at www.visibletechnologies.com.

For help with creating or improving your social

engagement strategies, schedule a demo, contact us, or

call us at 888-852-0320.

These eight methods can increase your brand

awareness on a consistent basis. You just need a

little ingenuity and a willingness to try something

new. Don’t be afraid to be bold with external news

or an event. Take a stand on an issue. Ask your

community for stories. You’ll generate more

awareness than you ever thought possible.

Don’t forget that social listening and intelligence are

key success factors to fi nd insights and engage with

your audience. Make sure to leverage your social

platform to uncover these important insights!

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