Research content marketing focusing on the Brand Pyramid

The internet is a godsend when it comes to educating one self and it came very helpful this week when out of nowhere I found myself reading an article by Pawel Grabowski in which he makes compelling arguments one after another when showcasing ways of combining business research with content marketing. And since content marketing is a very fashionable topic these days I figured too have a shot at it, focusing on a concept dear to my hearth. The Brand Pyramid.

Make sure you also read Pawel’s article in which he dwells in two other types of business researches. Don’t hesitate to contact us for helping you create the content your brand needs.

What is Brand Pyramid and how to implement it in your content marketing strategy

Brand Pyramid was originally created in the 1990s by the marketing research firm Millward Brown.

Millward Brown was born in 1973 in Britain, lovechild of Gordon Brown and Maurice Millward. It ended up becoming the second largest marketing research organization. Behind the firm is 40 years of continuous innovation and one of the most important concepts that stands at the base of any brand today, The Brand Pyramid.

The Brand Pyramid encompasses decades of research prior to its creation. Since the 1990’s It has undergone a series of variations adopted by organizations worldwide.

The original model has five stages:

Presence: The brand is recognized by the customer but there are no attachments.
Relevance: The brand is being evaluated and compared to other similar brands by the customer.
Performance: The customer is setting certain expectations that need fulfilling.
Advantage: The brand is setting itself apart from competitors and it creates an emotional connection to the customer.
Bonding: There is a bonding between the customer and the brand. The customer is loyal to the brand and may actively promote the brand to his circles.

While the original model might have been more than sufficient back in the day, a somewhat different structure is necessary in today’s world of content marketing.

Content Marketing

And although at its base it stays true to its origins the stages have been altered to fit in the market and are as following:

Product Attributes: Everything from functionality to features that characterize the product or idea behind your brand. This also contains the elements that differentiate you from other brands that offer similar products.
Functional Benefits: Benefits your customers experience when they interact and use your brand. Make a list of everything your brand offers. Excellent customer support, tech support, post-sale support, tutorials, guides, benefits of the product itself like speed, ease of use or features are just a few examples of functional benefits.
Emotional Benefits: These provide the customer with a positive feeling when purchasing or using your products. Take for example a large fast food franchise that donates 10% of proceedings to a charity of their choosing. The customer feels good when buying their lunch from one of the fast foods owned by that corporation knowing 10% will go towards noble causes.
Brand Image: The impression that is created inside a customers mind of a brands total personality. Qualities and shortcomings all come together to create the image of a brand.
Brand Idea: The essence of a brand. The concept it wants its customers to think every time they have an encounter with the brand. Take 5 brands you know and use. And then think of what you associate with them. Usually that’s the brand idea/concept.

Complicated as it may seem in writing all these characteristics are easily associated by your brain when thinking of a brand.

Define your brand in order to be able to create a successful content marketing strategy

You have the tools. All there’s left for a solid strategy is to be able to define your brands personality and apply all that knowledge. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter in order to receive other information on how content marketing can help your brand’s performance.

Once you have a layout you can compare yourself with other brands from your niche and start putting more accent on what you excel at. You can better focus on the strengths of your brand and start creating a campaign that will increase your output.

Also, don’t forget to optimize your content for search engines to achieve the best outcome.

 

AlexandruCoroiu