Not really. Strong brands and effective campaigns both serve important purposes for an organization, and they should coexist in a complementary way. But because of a few fundamental differences between the two, a thoughtful brand cannot simply be reverse-engineered from a campaign.
That said, it’s an entirely fair question, and one that many good CMOs and CCOs ask themselves regularly. They’re often on the hook for both the brand and campaigns, feeling significant pressure from their C-suite counterparts, investors and broader stakeholders to move the needle in any way possible.
It’s certainly possible for a successful marketing campaign to strike an emotional and commercial chord, potentially even sparking short-term revenue bumps. But such efforts rarely result in sustained brand transformations. Here’s why.
Different audiences
In fairness, marketing campaigns often apply quality insights into target audiences, and may undertake rigorous evaluation of a brand's market positioning. But they typically target prospective buyers only.
A strong brand requires a strategy, story, and system built to communicate cohesively and comprehensively across a broader range of stakeholders, such as partners, investors and employees.
Back into a brand from a campaign, and chances are, you’ll only speak effectively to one group among many.
Different timelines
Due to pressure for quick results, marketing campaigns frequently focus on short-term results and KPIs. These may be useful for determining short-term ROI, but the impact is limited.
Brands must be built to last far longer than a typical campaign cycle. Their core constructs should anchor the organization for years, not months, guiding products through changes in market conditions and competitive threats.
As strategically sound as a campaign might be, its expiration date arrives too quickly for the needs of a brand.
Different purposes
Campaigns always intend to grow or sustain the awareness of an organization, but their primary directive is selling. Which, of course, is undeniably important to the company’s success.
In contrast, brands are designed to accomplish deeper motivations beyond revenue generation alone. They must build a sense of belief that the organization should be trusted, is capable of fulfilling its promises, and is worthy of aligning oneself with—whether commercially, ideologically, or both.
If a brand is only built to sell, it can only take on a transactional mindset with its stakeholders, limiting its capacity for loyalty and longevity.
A more balanced construct: the bow tie
Brands and campaigns serve different purposes, but the two must operate in a complementary way with each other. When campaigns are designed with brand fundamentals in mind, marketing efforts become far more integrated and powerful.
This dynamic can be described as the "bow-tie effect.”
The right side of the bow tie represents the campaign idea fanning out through various methods and media, delivering an effective value proposition to potential customers.
The left side encompasses the strategic foundation that can be addressed to strengthen the brand, culminating in the brand essence "knot." This includes refining the company's Purpose, Audience, Value, and Essence, leading to a sharper brand strategy, broader company narrative, and potentially refreshed brand identity and expression system.
Organizations must be willing to address both sides of this bow tie, ensuring that the central knot is the strongest possible center of gravity for the brand. This becomes the binding mechanism for the essentials of the brand, acting as the catalytic source for distinctive marketing.
Focusing solely on the right side (campaigns) may lead to constantly reinventing the wheel without a solid foundation for brand storytelling.
Having a well-constructed brand foundation but failing to invest in effective marketing misses the opportunity to activate the brand across all audiences meaningfully.
The Indelible has chosen to focus on the left side of the bow tie, and often authors the ‘knot,” providing a core brand platform for a myriad of activation partners to go do what they do effectively.
Sometimes, we collaborate with agencies who have arrived at their version of the “knot” from one of those seminal campaigns that can inspire an organization for years. It can be very exciting and rewarding when we come together to make this core essence the strongest possible to truly build the brand for the long-term. When this happens, the brand becomes indelible.
We have a disciplined approach to where we focus and what we do, but we wholeheartedly respect the wide range of experienced agencies, producers and partners who market brands across an ever-expanding universe of touchpoints. We hope to help them serve the needs of our common clients by doing what they do best, informed by the most potent platform from which to ideate and activate.
While campaigns can contribute to brand building, truly effective and lasting brand development requires a balanced approach that addresses both the strategic foundation and the tactical execution of marketing efforts.
A bit like a well-tied bow tie.
INDELIBLY YOURS,
Jeff Walker
About the Author
Jeff Walker has architected global brand transformation in award-winning work for Cargill, Marvin, GE, IBM and Wilson, among many others. His passion for the interconnections in strategy, communication and design as a force for change led him to recently help establish the Design Innovation Lab at his alma mater.
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