In the lead up to the Super Bowl, the championship game of the NFL, the topic of brand awareness becomes more popular. The reason it’s largely discussed? Companies spend over $5 million for a 30 second ad shown during the big game. It is one of the most watched sporting events in the USA, with 111.3 million people tuning in to watch the game in 2017, with an ever increasing international viewership.
An ad shown during the Super Bowl is not only viewed by a large audience, it also reaches a wide demographic. Proving the value of running a brand awareness advertisement during this highly sort after time slot.
Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl advertisement in 1980.
But how are these results measured? How can you really tell the impact a TV advertisement is making? Not only during the Super Bowl, but during normal TV air time.
Attributing results from TV advertisements
Marketers have long been able to measure the results they receive from their digital campaigns, however attributing results to TV can be a little more difficult. To measure the results effectively, you would need to assess certain analytics data based on your company goals. For example:
- Google search queries
- Visits to your website
- App downloads
- Conversions completed on your website or app
- Call tracking
The results of the above can be attributed to your TV advertisements if you have the ability to track these in real time. This can be done using online tools such as Realytics or Google Attribution 360.
Brand awareness in everyday life
Think about how many times a day you’re exposed to brand awareness campaigns without even realising it. It could be an airport billboard or even an advertisement on a bus shelter. Now think about how this is applied to your everyday purchasing decisions. Pretend you’re at an airport and you want a cup of coffee. How do you choose? Being in an unfamiliar location, you will generally want to go with a cafe or food store where you know what to expect. There’s a high chance you’ve chosen a well known franchise such as Starbucks or McDonalds. The reasoning for this? Brand awareness – the act of recognising or recalling a brand, essential for decision-making when purchasing.
An interesting statistic in Griffith University’s findings has found the number of franchise brands has actually decreased from 1,160 in 2014 to 1,120 in 2016. However, even though the number of brands has declined, the number of franchise units operating has increased within these brands. Could this be due to success of their brand awareness campaigns?
Top of mind awareness
Top of mind awareness acts in a similar way to the purchasing decision you’ve just made at the airport. It’s referred to as the first brand you’ve thought of when you’re thinking about a particular product, category or industry. What’s the first brand you think of when someone mentions a phone or laptop? If Interbrands Top 10 Global Brands chart is anything to go by, it’s most likely going to be Apple.
Brand awareness for small businesses
Brand awareness campaigns aren’t just effective for larger businesses. They can be just as powerful for small businesses with the right strategy.
- Choose a relevant platform
Understand your market and what platforms they view content on. For example, Facebook, Google or even TV. - Messaging
Being creative and personalising your messaging is a major determining factor of your campaigns success. Remember the “Share a Coke” campaign? - Identifiable visuals
Images or video content should be identifiable with your brand, ensuring you business will be top of mind in your industry. Even a specific colour can be tied back to your business. For example, Coca-Cola will always correlate with red. - Location targeting
Technology has progressed in such a way that you can now target your brand awareness campaigns to specific geographical locations. Whether this is a digital advertisement on social media, or an advertisement on TV. If your small business is based in rural NSW, you will want to target people within a radius of your location.
No matter what your business is, the power of brand awareness can be essential to your success. Whether you have the budget to purchase an advertisement during the Super Bowl or a small campaign on Facebook, the importance is to start brainstorming ideas today.
Side note:
If you want to watch the Super Bowl in Australia it will be streamed live on ESPN for Foxtel customers, or Channel 7 for free-to-air TV this February 5th 2018 at 10.30am AEDT.
