Brand Strategies for an Impulse-Driven World.
Digital has transcended being merely a channel; it’s behavior. For consumers of all ages, digital interaction is a normal fact of life. This phenomenon can be referred to as the Impulse Generation, a term not implying that consumers are merely impulsive, but rather highlighting their ability to act freely on impulses, without friction.
This scenario is a dual-edged sword as consumers are also constantly bombarded by external impulses from the ever-changing world. Marketers must keep pace and act accordingly. Doing so begins with the foundation of every company's marketing: brand.
Branding for the Impulse: The Science & the Art
The brand remains the marketer's most critical asset. However, planning and deploying a brand that can span the Impulse Generation requires a blend of traditional discipline and forward-thinking creativity to create presence and active growth.
The science: brand foundation
In today’s fast-paced, impulse-driven world, a clear brand foundation provides a necessary center of gravity to anchor myriad marketing efforts across a vast digital ecosystem. The key foundational elements of a brand still matter:
Mission, vision, and value(s)
Category and model
Product / service architecture
Positioning and competitive differentiation
Attributes and personality
These core elements should sum up an irrefutable truth about the brand's identity, target audience, and its significance to them.
Yet, brands cannot afford to be monolithic in the new digital norm.
The art: volume & tone
If defining a brand foundation is the science of branding, the art in an impulse-driven world lies in the skillful deployment of marketing efforts that forge resonant connections while capturing value. These connections can be leveraged in the future to inspire loyalty and advocacy, sparking additional connections.
Branding should fuel virtuous cycles of value: spark, capture, leverage.
To create these cycles, brands must be present where their customers and prospects are, behaving in ways that feel familiar in micro moments, and consistent in the macro view. Only with principled volume and tone control can a brand achieve tactical objectives while continuously building at the institutional level.
Verbally, this means creating a flexible messaging framework that supports different entry points to a brand experience. A prospect might initially be intrigued by a certain aspect of a brand’s promise, but their perspective may evolve along their journey. Messaging in an impulse-driven environment cannot be static, nor can it become wholly fragmented.
Visually, the principle is similar. Brands require disciplined and focused approaches to color, type, imagery, gesture, and composition. This transcends a style guide; it's about creating a visual system of expression that supports marketing efforts across audiences and platforms while contributing to a compelling mental image.
Discipline is needed to establish and honor a consistent, resonant through line. Creativity is required to understand where and how to pivot for specific market segments without undermining the brand.
A brand must have a solid core, but also principled volume and tone control, enabling it to respond visually and verbally to the Impulse Generation. It takes discipline to remain true to the foundational core of a brand, and innovative thinking to bring it to life in the market for the Impulse Generation.