BUILDING "BRAND RELEVANCE"

Check out "Building Loyalty in Business Markets" from Harvard Business Review (www.hbr.org ). It is a 2005 article but I like this article because it reminds us that the key to engaging business target audiences is to have what I term "brand relevance", that is, each business or target cluster needs to see what's in it for themselves that will make a big difference in their lives or for their business.
 
Does this apply to consumer marketing? I think it provides good guidance at the very least because people are also "clustering" and what matters to each cluster can vary, so marketers need to have a sense of brand relevance for each customer cluster.
 
One thing I don't think changes is having an overarching Big Idea. I still think breakthrough, engaging brand advertising is the result of doing the up front strategic work required to understand each target audience and the competitive environment, and, as a result, create a brand brief that has the insights necessary to create a Big Idea that is engaging and relevant. It can then be tailored to each cluster.
 
Ideas still rule.

Brian Torsney