In order to move away from normality, you have to make a concious effort to make your brand remarkable. You can’t afford to shout your message at customers. You have to cautiously attract their attention, and cultivate fans

Communicating your brands message has come a long way from the traditional media, with the rise of digital. In the old days of traditional advertising, things were simple. TV, print and radio were the key media for advertisers to convey the big idea to large groups of people in a controlled manner. In today’s brandscape, digital is turning the advertising industry on its head. The Internet has turned what used to be a controlled, one-way message into a real-time dialogue with millions. Companies need to move far beyond the traditional to engage the voices of consumers with brands.

Over 10,000 advertising messages, bombard consumers everyday. It is sometimes hard to cut through the clutter and drive their attention towards your brand. There is too much stuff out there! Too many products; too many service providers; too many options. Consumers have less time to make choices. As a consequence, normal brands get lost in this clutter.

Hotcow’s research has highlighted that 71% of people demand more effort from a brand to stand out and grab their attention. Unless it is big, bold and interesting, it gets ignored. People are particularly resistant to ‘normal’. They don't tell others about something boring. Can you imagine going to your friend and saying “Hey, guess what? Today I saw a poster of a girl holding a beer and it said - the best beer on the planet”. The likely reaction would be raised eyebrows and confusion.

With digital and mobile technologies at the top of the game, the number of ways in which people can interact with or experience brands is rapidly not only changing, but also increasing. Additionally, mass collaboration, co-creation, and crowdsourcing are challenging the norm and shifting the new marketing game into a work that requires an ever-increasing level of complexity. So how are you influencing consumers to consider and buy your brand?

Let’s consider Apple as an example. In the early 90‘s, personal computers were big, ugly, boring boxes. Steve Jobs had a choice of either following the norm or focusing on the functionality design. He wanted to create stylish and useful products. The bottom line? He created products that are cool, innovative, fun and well designed. He changed the way we buy and consume music. He focused on running ahead and making things remarkable; and he succeeded.

Now, let’s switch to  the music industry. Michael Jackson changed the way music video production was executed forever. ‘Thriller’ was the first music video that shifted towards a full storytelling short film and set a new benchmark for blockbusters that transformed the way music business promoted and marketed music releases.

In the marketing industry, being remarkable means challenging convention and wowing consumers with things out of the ordinary; it is using unexpected locations and multiple platforms of communication; it is creating a dialogue with people and encouraging consumers’ creative expression. Normality has its place but remarkable products and remarkable campaigns get talked about. As Seth Godin wisely stated in the Purple Cow, “If the only way to cut through is to be remarkable, and the only way to avoid criticism is to be boring and safe, well, that’s quite a choice isn’t it?” 

Here at Hotcow, we believe in Brand-in-hand brilliance™. That is all about combining the right experiential methodologies to put your brand in front of consumers in ways that persuade them to buy. We focus on things that set you apart from the herd. In the experiential world, a creative genius comes from truly understanding the live environment and the consumer decision journey.

The marketing landscape is changing as consumers are evolving. Consumers are now ever harder to please. If your communication isn’t getting you excited, you can be certain that everyone else are not getting excited. The key to creating ‘wow’ factor is having the ability to invent new ways for people to interact with your brand, employing a great creative genius and ensuring that your brand promise is kept at every point of consumer interaction.

No brand wants to be seen as boring. If the whole essence of the marketing model today is to offer consumers great levels of convenience and added value, challenger brands need to look, re-look and consider what their audience hear, see and perceive. Use your creativity and imagination. Instead of pushing out your products, innovate and entice people into buying. Hotcow knows how to make your brand remarkable and create distinctive, approachable, word-of-mouth worthy gold mines. 

Let’s make 2013 the time for big and bold creative campaigns. Come and explore our scene!

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