Tag: Brand Awareness

Singapore – Nearly half of retailers in Singapore (43%) face challenges with brand awareness during the initial stages of the consumer journey, according to a survey conducted by Twilio. 

The survey revealed that overcoming ad and email fatigue is the most significant challenge for 32% of retailers trying to build brand awareness. Other major obstacles include a limited understanding of consumer behaviour (29%), and difficulties in measuring the effectiveness of marketing efforts (28%).

Additionally, a significant number of Singapore retailers also face challenges in brand conversion (24%) and retention (22%). To address these issues, 45% of retailers leverage customer data to personalise experiences, 22% expand the number of channels used to connect with customers, and 18% increase the frequency of communications.

Fortunately, the survey found that many Singaporean businesses are on the right track, with 45% of retailers recognising the power of leveraging customer data to understand their customers’ needs.

The survey also highlighted Singapore consumers’ preferences for brand engagement. Notably, over 6 in 10 or 63% of consumers prefer interacting with brands through digital channels, including websites, mobile apps, email marketing, and e-commerce or social commerce sites. However, a quarter of consumers remain most responsive to brand interactions at brick-and-mortar shops.

Aligned with Singapore consumers’ preference for digital channels, Twilio’s survey found that local retailers are prioritising engagement strategies to strengthen their connections on these platforms. Over the next 12 months, Singaporean retailers plan to explore new customer engagement methods, including influencer marketing (29%), gamification (22%), and live streaming (18%).

Nicholas Kontopoulos, vice president of marketing for Asia Pacific & Japan at Twilio, said, “In an increasingly noisy and competitive landscape, retail businesses are challenged to retain their customers’ attention and ensure that they are considered at all stages of the consumer journey. Retailers must look beyond run-of-the-mill methods and consider how they can elevate their marketing efforts to create a more engaging brand experience and reach customers on their preferred channels. This can go hand-in-hand with using AI and zero- and first-party data to create more precise and personalised communications.”

“In order to increase top-of-mind awareness and enhance brand visibility at various stages of the customer journey, retailers are looking into ways to increase touchpoints with their customers. However, the brands that will truly stand out and cut through the noise will be those that understand the value of creating hyper-personalised customer interactions, especially as individualisation becomes more important to today’s customers,” Kontopoulos added. 

Singapore – Consumer awareness, recall, and consideration are all strongly influenced by core attention metrics, with increasein the majority of outcomes also occur quickly, with most seeing a lift prior to 10% of an ad having been watched. This is according to the latest report from attention measurement and optimisation platform Playground xyz.

The report notes that on average, it takes 1.4 seconds of consumer attention to drive a 10% lift in brand awareness at the top of the engagement funnel. For mid-funnel results, however, a longer attention threshold is required: 1.6 seconds for consideration and 3.9 seconds for prompted recall. The level of lift achieved also differs significantly per outcome. 

In addition, the takeaway for brands here is that attention plays an integral role in moving consumers toward a purchase – but not all attentive seconds are created equally. The Optimal Attention threshold can help define how much attention is needed, depending on the target outcome and whether a campaign is targeting upper, mid, or lower-funnel results. 

The report also stated that the thresholds for Optimal Attention were notably different depending on what creative was used – versus the platform that content appeared on (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube), which had less impact on performance. Ultimately, the way attention is paid to a specific creative – rather than the ad environment – is what determines the lift in specific brand outcomes. 

Unlike traditional methods, neuroimaging doesn’t rely on conscious responses – it measures the brain’s activity as consumers encounter advertising. And in the study, brain activity data supports the pivotal role of brand creative. Results from over 150 lab sessions indicate that creative content significantly influences memory encoding; which, in turn, impacts critical marketing goals such as brand loyalty and sales.

Lastly, larger brands with a baseline awareness above 75% are almost 1.5 times more likely to get lift with an Optimal Attention threshold of below 2 seconds. They’re also almost twice as likely to have an Optimal Attention threshold below 1 second. This is probably the consequence of pre-existing brand recognition and the use of distinctive assets (e.g. strong visuals, unique colors or audio jingles). Both of these require less attention to “jog” the mind of the consumer, triggering strong responses.

Rob Hall, founder and CEO at Playground xyz said, “Our new dataset is the best evidence we have, to date, that explicitly shows that different brand outcomes and creative executions ‘convert’ attention differently. Brands can be empowered to craft more impactful campaigns by understanding how exactly attention affects customers at different stages of the marketing funnel. This, along with greater investment in strong creative development, can powerfully influence specific consumer behaviors, and help amplify measurable results.”

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Vietnam-based sustainability company EQUO has raised US$1.3m in a seed funding round, which will be used to increase EQUO’s brand awareness and exposure globally, expand the product line, and develop technical capabilities to drive the business.

The funding was led by NextGen Ventures, as well as with participation from Techstars and East Ventures. 

Founded in 2020, EQUO provides 100% plastic-free and compostable solutions made of materials like coffee, coconut, and sugarcane to replace single-use plastics. The company aims to disrupt the industry by offering solutions that are easy and convenient to use, without asking consumers to change their lifestyles or behaviour.

Marina Tran-Vu, EQUO’s founder and CEO, noted that the company will be offering products made from alternative materials – but doing it in a fun and approachable way that gets consumers, businesses and big corporations to pay attention.

“Our vision is to replace all single-use plastic on the planet. This isn’t just about the visible plastic we see in our environment, but also about the downstream effects of microplastics. We are excited about the new products we are delivering this year to show the world all the things we can do WITHOUT single-use plastic and paper,” said Tran-Vu.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Digital-first agency Lion & Lion has been appointed to launch global metal detector manufacturer Minelab Electronics to the Indonesian market. Lion & Lion said the partnership, which officially started in September, will focus on raising audience awareness of Minelab’s products and drive visits to the brand’s website for further inquiry.

Minelab is a global company that delivers metal detecting technologies for treasure hunting, gold prospecting, and countermine operations. Promoting a premium product to an entry-level niche market in Indonesia, the agency shared that its winning strategy built upon Minelab’s tagline of “With Minelab, you’ll find performance is everything.”

Using a holistic brand and communications approach, the agency worked with the brand to create a go-to-market strategy that targeted consumers in a niche market. The full campaign will make use of data and analytics to curate strategic content placement in media and creative asset production. 

According to Jerry Soeria, creative director at Lion & Lion Indonesia, the initial launch is designed to build the brand’s presence and prepare a benchmark for future campaigns. 

“As the brand is new here, we are focusing our efforts on driving awareness of the brand and its ranges’ key product benefits so we can position Minelab as a premium, yet accessible brand for new users that offers superior quality products,” said Soeria. 

The agency’s Managing Director John Campbell-Bruce said that with the current positive perception and brand awareness of Minelab, the agency now moved to identify opportunities for Minelab to reach out to hobby treasure hunters in entry-level markets. 

“This is due to the growing trend of amateur adventurers seeking to make treasure hunting a new source of income and who are looking for a product that can make their dream a reality,” he said. 

Campbell-Bruce added, “With our insights on the local market and our agency’s experience in engaging new users through data-led awareness and targeted lead generation campaigns, we are confident Minelab will experience strong growth in Indonesia and beyond in the coming year.”

Jim Kwo, Minelab Electronics’ GM for APAC, also commented, “Lion & Lion impressed us with a quick mastery of our product line, marketing goals, and insights into the local markets. Their team is highly responsive and we are looking forward to establishing a major presence in the Indonesian market.” 

In June this year, the Indonesia team at Lion & Lion has also announced acquiring an extended remit for skincare parent brand L’Oréal to similarly launch one of its brands, La Roche Posay, to the Indonesian market. 

In the age of always-on e-commerce and notoriously short attention spans, it can be tempting to downplay your branding in favor of acquisition-focused digital advertising. Branding, however, is an important aspect of all marketing campaigns, regardless of the objective.

Think of branding as your foundation. Taking the time to build a strong brand, investing time and money into your brand strategy, will ultimately result in more successful performance over time. While sales activations and offer-led initiatives will provide short-term sales uplift, brand building will result in long-term growth and stability.

Your brand represents the reason your business exists – your ‘why’, what you do, and why you’re different. It is about everything that makes you a better choice than your competitors and when done well, can portray all of that in a shade of Cadbury purple or a Nike ‘swoosh’.

While there are many arguments for developing a strong branding strategy, here are the top four reasons why branding is such an important element in reaching your performance objectives:

Brings new customers

Strategic brand awareness campaigns introduce your business to new potential customers. It’s often said that an audience needs to see your brand at least 7 times before they will consider purchasing. This number is reduced if you have a strong, unique brand positioning. If your brand is memorable, you won’t necessarily need as many impressions to be effective.

When you have both a strong brand identity and are consistently marketing, you will improve your reach and consideration. Brand awareness helps to bond new customers to your brand.

Builds trust

Customers are more likely to purchase from brands that they know and trust. A strong brand identity helps to build a connection with your target audience as they will recognize, know, and understand your product and point of differentiation via brand messaging.

A trusted brand also leads to brand loyalty and repeat purchases. Customers will rebook or rebuy your product with little to no forethought. These sales are far easier and more cost-effective to achieve than first-time sales. If they like your product and your brand, customers are also more likely to recommend you to their family and friends, exponentially improving your ROI.

Establishes target audience

Starting with a clear brand identity will help to position your offering and to target the customers you want to attract. Brand strategy will help to develop a deep understanding of your ideal customer’s demographics, attitudes, and behaviors, helping to tailor your products and messaging. It is expensive to market to everyone, and so having a strong understanding of who your brand is ‘for’ will help to specify your campaign targeting, therefore reducing advertising waste and making your dollar work harder.

Builds resilience

Research has shown that brands with high brand equity are more likely to be insulated in times of economic uncertainty, with a faster recovery when the market returns. A strong, clear positioning, along with loyal customers and consistent messaging helps a business to weather bad times while preparing them to accelerate during the good times.

Working on your brand identity and awareness cements your spot in your customer’s mind and will help to protect your business and ensure it can bounce back more quickly in times of turbulence.

Brand awareness is a core indicator of marketing success. It is your base and marketing ‘foundation’, upon which actionable sales promotions should sit. Every piece of communication should look, feel and sound like your brand, reinforcing who you are and why you are the best choice.

An effective brand strategy will increase your overall return on investment. While it can be more difficult to measure brand awareness compared to lead generation or revenue targets, campaigns that allow for both are more likely to have improved performance outcomes and ultimately reach their objectives.

Brand awareness is a slower path than the sugar-hit of a sales-focused goal, however, it is vital for long-term stability. A strong brand foundation will improve the results of your promotional and lead-focused activity, across all channels.

This article was written by Charlotte Ward, director of Agnes Media.
Agnes Media is a measurement-first marketing agency that regularly recommends their clients incorporate a combination of both brand and performance activity to maximize efficiencies using a holistic approach.

Singapore – Leisure and lifestyle operator One Faber Group has renewed digital marketing Hashmeta’s contract as the operator’s marketing agency for record.

Aside from continuing their social and digital marketing duties for a second year, Hashmeta will help in creating brand awareness strategies for One Faber Group’s key attractions such as Singapore Cable Car and food and beverage (F&B) offerings such as Dusk Restaurant & Bar and Arbora Hilltop Garden & Bistro.

“We’re honored to continue our partnership with One Faber Group. 2020 has been challenging for the tourism industry but the synergy between our teams has helped tremendously in achieving great results in the past year. Naturally, we’re excited to build on this relationship and embark on the next chapter with One Faber Group,” said Monica Zhuang, creative director of Hashmeta.

This is not the first time Hashmeta won a contract renewal, having been appointed by Singapore-based cement/concrete supplier Pan-United as its official agency for social media marketing and website optimization in July 2020.