Unorthodox Methods Of Branding Your Company
In crowded industries branding has become one of the number one means of collecting a loyal customer following. Without a distinctive, recognisable brand there’s little chance that a company would get much attention. But, because of the amount of competition, it takes a lot more than just decent branding to make a company. You need to think outside the box, take risks and put your brand in the spotlight if you want people to recognise you. If you’re not sure what we mean, take a look at some of these unorthodox methods of advertising and branding.
Guerrilla advertising
Guerrilla advertising, if you’re unfamiliar with the term, is the outdoor advertising we see every day. Think billboards, posters and the adverts on the back of buses. While guerrilla advertising is one of the most conventional forms of advertising, it is the creative methods that people use to get their brand out on the streets that are unconventional.
Reebok, for example, used speed camera technology in one of their billboards and challenged pedestrians to run faster than 10 mph. If they managed to do it, the billboard dispensed a free pair of Reebok trainers as a reward.
Reebok – Are You Fast Enough? from Markus Schramm on Vimeo.
For Reebok, this was one of the campaigns that established their brand identity as being a sports company for people that aren’t necessarily professional athletes. They want normal people to challenge themselves and the interactive billboard was a great way to affirm their support of ‘everyday excellence’. Interactive guerrilla adverts are both unorthodox and incredibly effective when it comes to branding and publicity.
Viral campaigns and social media
While most companies are using social media to simply advertise themselves, others are cleverly using it to build their brand identity and interact with the public. Smart and humorous social media management goes a long way in this day and age.
One excellent example of this happening recently can be found on the Twitter page of the American chain restaurant Wendy’s. While many would consider it an incredibly risky thing to do, when one customer accused the restaurant of using frozen beef in their burgers Wendy’s hit back with clever jokes and back-sass and since then the account has gone viral. The current social media manager of Wendy’s, Amy Brown, has enhanced the cheeky but charming Wendy’s brand by sharing tongue-in-cheek banter with customers on Twitter and dishing out clever comebacks to anyone that dares to challenge her. It’s exactly this kind of unorthodox, risky branding that the industry needs more of.
Packaging
The way companies present a product is almost as important as the product itself. Bad packaging can make a product look cheap and boring, but clever, good quality packaging can completely change a customer’s perspective and even influence their opinion of the product itself.
Think of the big, designer clothes companies like Abercrombie and Fitch or Tommy Hilfiger. The shopping bags that people receive upon purchasing an item from these shops can be found on sites like EBay because the designs are so attractive that people want to use these bags as fashion items. Canvas bags especially are in high demand when you design them to be more than just a means of transporting a product from the store to a customer’s home. Unique printed canvas bags for businesses can become a product in themselves and the better you package your products the more people will want to show off the packing. This is a great way to give your brand a fashionable identity without directly selling fashion products.
