The one thing your brand should focus on

Here's an article I wrote for Superbrands that was published last week on their blog. 

As somebody working in marketing it is very likely that you are drowning in everyday problems. And if you’re like most other companies, it’s also very likely that the solutions you’re working on deal with yesterday’s problems rather than capturing the opportunities of tomorrow. 

Things hardly get easier as solutions are plentiful. You don’t have to look further than down this page to be bombarded with the latest fixes that will make your brand better. But how do you know what’s the right remedy for your brand’s competitiveness? 

For simplicity’s sake there’s one thing your brand can focus on: 

Creating momentum.

Momentum is what psychologists call the smallest unit of time perceivable by humans. It lasts about 0.06 seconds. In physics, momentum is the product of two physical entities – mass and speed – and means ”directed thrust”.

Momentum can also occur in marketing communications, at the point of contact between people and a brand. For example, the time it takes for a person to look at an ad is 1.7 seconds. 

Contrary to what  most people think, the point is not to turn the 1.7 seconds into 2.7 seconds with your brand. It’s about turning the 1.7 seconds to  something much stronger: a lasting experience. From this respect, the 1.7 seconds is not that different from love at first sight. 

Creating a lasting experience from what used to be low brand involvement has become harder, however. Brands of today are increasingly being judged by what they do, not what they say. Brands therefore have to appeal not only to senses but create new the ways for people to both think and act.

When thinking about innovative solutions for your brand, think about what made the Trojan horse successful. As you might remember from history class, the Greeks tried to enter Troy for over a decade with massive brute force but without accomplishing anything. The effective solution became a wooden horse that the Trojans instantly let inside. The rest is history. 

In a world where conventional brand building fails, momentum is the force a superbrand needs, and the best tool for creating it is unconventional creativity – powered by powerful insights about how to turn something inside people’s heads, rather than just turning heads. Make this happen, create your own Trojan horse.

Thanks to Louisa at Superbrands for inviting me to be a guest blogger. 

Comments

[Armando Alves]

You might be interested on the new position of my former agency, Draftfcb, with 6.5 seconds that matter:

Over 1,000 interviews gave us an average engagement time between consumers and brand messaging of 6.5 seconds. It’s a brief window of opportunity and we may not get a second chance. We have to make our message count.

http://www.draftfcb.com/about.aspx

Altouhgh i'm a bit critical when mixing an overly numerical insight regarding communictaion. 6.5 seconds don't matter. People do.

[Leon]

Thanks Armando, it's definitely the same line of reasoning, and although you can argue that communications today is about long relationships rather than seconds of interaction, I do believe that most consumer drop out quickly if they aren't inspired.