In this first step – brand identity – the marketing goal is to make your brand stand out, to make your customers recognize and be aware of the brand. You are not only creating brand identity and awareness here, but also trying to make sure that brand perceptions are “correct” during the key stages of the buying process.
Choosing the right influencer can play a decisive role in ensuring that the target group gets the right perception of the brand. This is crucial in the brand identity phase. After all, as a marketer you want it to be clear who your brand is intended for (choosing to be chosen). According to research agency Nielsen, 78% of people have more confidence in word-of-mouth advertising (by influencers, among others) than paid advertising. So it makes more sense to use influencers to answer the question: who are you as a brand?
For example, look at a brand like Nike and the influencers they work with. Both the mega-influencer Cristiano Ronaldo and the macro and micro-influencers they use fit perfectly with who Nike is as a brand.
Once your brand is sufficiently recognized, you can start with step two: brand meaning . The marcom goal in this second step is to make clear what the brand means and what you stand for. According to Keller, there are two building blocks that are relevant here: performance and imagery .
Also read: Connecting Generation Z to your brand: germany telegram data embrace influencers
Brand performance shows to what extent you as a brand are able to meet the wishes and needs of the customer. Influencers can contribute to this by, for example, doing an unboxing of your product via Instagram stories or reviewing a product extensively via a YouTube vlog. Here, the emphasis can be placed on aspects such as primary product features, ease of use, design and sustainability.
The second building block of brand meaning is imagery, or brand metaphors. And this has everything to do with your image as a brand and how people think about it. Nowadays, the war for attention makes it increasingly difficult to work on your brand image with 'traditional' means. If you also consider that many people ( 40% in the US ) use ad blockers, influencers can fill a gap here.
Storytelling plays an important role in this phase. And who can tell the brand story better than creative and authentic influencers? Here influencer matchmaking is crucial: choose real brand ambassadors who really adore your brand! So in the case of the example with the central government in the intro and #ikdoenietmeermee: choose influencers who really believe in the 1.5 meter society and ensure a good contract!
