Three Ways Brands Can Combat Information Overload and Skepticism
When conventional advertising can’t cut through the clutter, marketers must get out of their comfort zones.
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Brand builders face a hostile advertising context. Confronted with media clutter and overwhelming information overload, audiences have adopted a skeptical mindset and often view advertising as confusing and irrelevant. At best, it’s noise to be tolerated or avoided; at worst, it’s a series of annoying interruptions from profit-driven and sometimes hypocritical sources. Further, in a polarized world, people tend to firmly hold their positions and are less receptive to attempts to change their perceptions and opinions.
Brands are more central to marketing strategy than ever, and advertising remains key to increasing awareness and demand. Given how hard it is to break through the noise and shape — or change — consumers’ attitudes and inclinations, how should brand-building adapt to make its programs effective?
Marketers should consider three routes: find game-changing taglines that enable and control the conversation; create appealing content that distracts from counterarguments; and build brands by engaging with customers instead of talking at them. While each can require marketers to move away from their comfort zones and make a risky commitment to the untested and unfamiliar, not doing so can be an ineffective use of resources. The advice that follows aims to help marketers find the right path and deliver communications with energy, confidence, and execution that stands out.
1. Develop a Tagline That Enables and Controls the Conversation
The tagline can be a game changer, making the benefit or brand characteristic that represents a business’s point of advantage visible and relevant. The big idea is to change the goal from communicating facts and descriptions of benefits in an effort to win the “my brand is better than your brand” argument, to framing the discussion so that the organization wins the “my brand is more relevant than your brand” battle. If the framing is effective, the brand will win by being the most, or the only, relevant brand. As George Lakoff explains in his book Don’t Think of an Elephant, what matters is what the argument is about, not who wins the argument.
Think of the taglines “Because you’re worth it” (L’Oreal Paris), “You’re in good hands with Allstate,” or “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand” (M&M’s) — all brand drivers that, for decades, have framed the discussion around a brand value proposition. All have benefited from the cumulative exposure of a tagline that nailed the brand’s unique appeal and framed the discussion around that appeal.
When a series of ads is held together with a tagline, each brand communication builds on the last.
A tagline can not only frame the discussion but also make an ad’s takeaway message a cognitive anchor that helps the ad stick in the audience’s memory. When a series of ads is held together with a tagline, each brand communication builds on the last, reinforcing the message and adding depth and breadth. The audience already has a reference point and is spared the cognitive work of processing and interpreting a completely new message.
BMW’s U.S. and U.K. tagline, “The ultimate driving machine,” reflects the appeal of German engineering in those markets. It frames the BMW brand around the fun of driving through the countryside, the thrill of racing cars, and the quality of German technology and workmanship. Critical to its cumulative impact, the tagline provides a cognitive anchor that is activated and solidified with each campaign. Without the tagline, the ads would, for many, have been simply entertainment and processed as noise.
A weak, bad, or ill-fitting tagline or other cognitive anchor can do a brand more harm than good.
While a tagline is usually the most effective tool for controlling the conversation, there are alternative cognitive anchors. Examples include powerful, evocative visual symbols, such as Allstate’s cupped hands (representing care, protection, and trust) and Tiffany’s blue-box packaging (signifying a special gift), and immediately recognizable iconic products, like Burberry’s trench coat (signaling sophistication, style, and practicality) or Ray-Ban’s Aviator sunglasses (emblematic of the cool and adventurous). These visual cues also aid memory and can frame a brand discussion by elevating attributes that differentiate the brand.
For taglines to be effective, brands must commit to them for years or decades; the longer the tagline can stay relevant, the more exposure it will have. Taglines must be well-thought-out and researched to ensure that they will resonate with the right segments and have the right message. A weak, bad, or ill-fitting tagline or other cognitive anchor can do a brand more harm than good.
2. Distract With Intriguing Content
When marketers are charged with communicating brand benefits, they tend to create advertising that describes those benefits and explains why they have value. But most people do not read or see such ads, and, even if they do, they tend to counterargue and/or soon forget the message. These two barriers can vanish when content draws people in by being entertaining, informative, or emotional.
Such content can take many forms. It can, for example, involve a vivid brand experience. GoPro cameras record extreme stunts, for example, and BMW puts you in the driver’s seat in an exotic setting. Or ad content might be inspired by an analogy, such as when UBS (“Banking is our craft”) shows how a designer or athlete refines their craft. Using humor, stories, or social programs is another way to make communication intriguing and distracting. Hellmann’s and Barclays illustrate this approach.
For over a century, Hellmann’s brand message has been that its mayonnaise turns leftovers into tasty meals. The message got a new life in 2018, when the Make Taste, Not Waste program was inaugurated with a humorous campaign that included a 2022 Super Bowl ad in which a former football player named Jerod Mayo tackled people who were about to throw away food, including a lovable grandmother. The humor presents a likeable brand with a sense of humor and a heritage of rescuing food. The program got results. In addition to increasing brand visibility, image, and awareness of the food waste habits of over 200 million people, Hellmann’s increased its sales by 10% in 2020 and 11% in 2021.
In 2012, Barclays Bank was arguably the least-trusted brand in the least-trusted industry in the U.K. after the 2008 financial meltdown. Significant advertising efforts to recover the trust that is essential to a bank brand did not yield results. Needing a major restart, in 2014, Barclays created the Digital Eagles program, in which current and retired bank employees helped older people and other populations learn to use digital technologies. An ad campaign featured examples of these individuals helping real people, with stories that highlighted emotion and an upbeat outcome. The program was credited with increasing a key measure of trust by 42%, to a level that was nine points higher than those of the bank’s competitors. Incremental sales totaled three times the advertising cost, and Barclays received over 3,400 positive mentions in the press.
3. Engage With Customers Rather Than Talking at Them
To break through today’s messy and sometimes hostile media environment, marketers must develop communications that invite the audience to participate rather than be subjected to a lecture. That means taking another look at vehicles such as events, sponsorships, and brand communities that may not have seemed appropriate in the past.
Finding or creating ways to connect and engage audiences can be challenging, especially for those who have little experience in doing so. Some of that work might not engage enough of the customer base. Some projects may require a commitment of many years to pay off. Consider the following options as places to start.
Events. At an event, a brand can be embedded as an active participant, whether on a local community level or a global scale, and provide an experience that the audience attaches to the brand. Schneider Electric, which digitizes energy management, created sizzle with its annual Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Awards. Partners, customers, and suppliers can nominate products, applications, or activities that, using Schneider products, help make progress toward a more sustainable world. In 2024, there were more than 450 entrants and seven winners from as many countries. The awards are presented at a well-publicized event where winners participate in one-on-one VIP dinners, roundtable discussions, and more. The event not only provides validation and inspiration to the entrants and those who considered entering but also to a wider audience interested in sustainable solutions. Schneider has created a signature program that internally and externally supports its leadership position in that space and generates stories that connect and bring heart and energy to the brand.
To break through today’s messy and sometimes hostile media environment, marketers must develop communications that invite the audience to participate.
Sponsorships. Sponsoring a team or event can give a brand visibility and positive associations. For example, since 2007, FedEx has sponsored the FedEx Cup, which culminates in the PGA Tour’s season-ending championship. This sponsorship gives FedEx enormous brand visibility, providing a desirable experience for its B2B customers, a charitable partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, exposure through marketing campaigns, opportunities for employee involvement, and customer benefits through loyalty programs. In some cases, companies may need to engage in multiple sponsorships for a broader reach. While the right sponsorship can help forge a strong connection with followers, it won’t necessarily resonate with the entire target audience; golf, for example, does not have universal appeal.
Brand communities. A brand community is a group of people who share an interest in a significant activity, goal, or subject that’s closely related to a brand, and who accept the brand as an active sponsor. For its members and many of the people it touches, a community can provide visibility, self-expression, social benefits, and relevant information, all connected to the brand. Salesforce’s Trailblazer community, for example, hosts webinars, workshops, and courses on applying the company’s software products and gives users a forum to share knowledge, seek help, raise issues, and discuss common challenges. Subgroups provide a place for members to connect with people with special interests, such as health care or nonprofits.
Brands are also increasingly engaging with customers by providing hands-on, vivid brand experiences, such as Apple, Panasonic, and Nike have done through their retail stores. Others have come up with light-hearted, time-limited promotions, such as the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino. These efforts bring to life a signature story that, with credibility and emotion, represents the brand’s unique qualities.
