There’s data that shows that the mix of brand vs activation budget should be 60:40. Brand building helps to create a mental perception that positively inclines you towards the brand. Digital creates myriad opportunities to tell your story – heck, a little money can see you starring in your own movie! A little more cash and effort can ensure that your story is amplified in all the right channels, in the right language. Once I like your brand good old BANT qualification should kick in and you can move to the activation mode.
What is happening today is that many are jumping straight to activation mode, and the channels and messaging used for that are being force-fitted to serving the cause of brand building. That is not efficient. For example inserts are great for activation, but receiving inserts from brands you’ve never heard of are not effective. This would only work for a commodity or impulse purchase with low involvement.
On the other hand online videos do a decent job for both brand building and activation though the content would vary for each purpose. It’s good to map your spend across brand vs activation and see how efficient it is.
At Paul Writer Impact Network, we manage the entire portfolio of digital storytelling from short video creation to AI-enabled distribution for small and large brands. So if you want advice on balancing your media portfolio ping me.
Great perspective on which one to do first.