Be there when it matters
Is your brand top of mind for consumers? Kane Stanford explains the importance of brand salience…
‘Brand salience’ not a term I'd heard much of in my early marketing life, but the more I worked in bigger corporates the more it came to be talked about as the all-important measure. There are lots of definitions, but most float around the concept of how easily your brand comes to mind during a buying situation.
'Awareness when it matters' has always been my punchier version.
Attention seeking, getting the name out there, and building awareness are all ingrained in most marketers' DNA, but 'awareness when it matters' is where the marketing function starts to earn its keep.
My favourite part of marketing has always been the 'when the money comes out of the wallet' and understanding what leads buyers to that situation is imperative.
Professor Jenni Romaniuk, of Ehrenberg-Bass Institute fame, has done a power of great work on what she coined 'Category Entry Points' (CEPs) which are essentially the triggers that cause a buyer to enter into a specific category.
It's a much smarter way of targeting your potential buyers than the old-school age/gender/income demographics.
Most consumers just don't fit nicely into such restrictive boxes: I'm 48 and I drink fancy rums like my 78-year-old dad and fruity RTDs like my 18-year-old daughter. People are not demographics.
It's interesting to look at some liquor examples to see CEPs in action and how they shape brand positioning.
“‘Awareness when it matters’ is where the marketing function starts to earn its keep.”
RTDs really lead the charge
Canadian Club feels like the best and longest-serving example of a focused CEP approach. Ask yourself: "When is Canadian Club for?" or "What is the buying situation Canadian Club is focused on?" and you should find the answer. It's for when you want a beer, but don't want beer.
It doesn't matter how old you are, your gender or your income, Canadian Club have figured out that for enough people this is a legitimate buying occasion and they've gone all in. They've done it for years and it's worked a treat for them.
Most brands are too cowardly to really call out their competitors, and this isn't quite that, but it's close. It's focused, it's provocative and it's what every agency wants… a brave client.
Their new campaign "Liar Liar pants on fire" continues their commitment to this bit.
Staying with RTDs, Independent Liquor did this in a more trade-focused way back in the day (very on brand for IL!) in the 2000s by investing heavily in buying space in store beer chillers and putting Woodstock and Cody's pallets right at the front, essentially turning them into Bourbon and Beer Chillers. A great example of targeting a buying occasion, or category entry point.
Retailers do it too
Super Liquor focuses on times where a shopper is looking to celebrate. They run The Super Spirits Awards spotlighting great spirits available in New Zealand, they promote fun things like International Burger Day and they do a stack of giveaways… all very celebratory. None of this is by accident, and to tie a neat bow around it their slogan is 'Cheers to That!' A great example of focusing on the CEP of celebration.
Liquorland concentrates on shoppers looking to elevate everyday situations. They rename these as occasions like "Game Day", "Time for a toast", or "Last minute dinner guests" and show that Liquorland has the solution for making these situations special. "What's the occasion?" and "That's an occasion" are the effective call and response taglines.
So how do you get brand salience?
It comes down to knowing your potential customers, understanding what situations might bring them into the category, and then pointing your brand awareness campaigns towards those.
The better you know what brings them in, the more you can focus on it and the better you can own it.
Finishing my column? Now that's an occasion!
Kane Stanford has worked for 13+ years in liquor marketing in New Zealand at Independent Liquor, Bacardi and Besos Margarita. Now in FMCG, he is also Head Strategy Judge at the 2 Degrees Auckland Chamber Business Awards. Kane has nominated himself for several marketing awards, but never won.
