by Karen Duvall

Created on: June 14, 2009

A company's brand is the heart of its marketing strategy. An effective advertising strategy is all about establishing why a customer should choose one product or service over another.

Advertising is used to get a product's name out into the market, but it's the story attached to that product that is the real marketing tool. Though today's popular "buzz" marketing, or word of mouth advertising, succeeds in brand awareness, it does little to emphasize a reason behind why the product is so great.

Creating the strategy

A good advertising strategy will capture people's attention while delivering the sales message. Pretty pictures and dramatic film clips in commercials may make a good first impression, but it's not enough. The brand needs to set the product apart and it can only do so by expressing how special it is.

The strategy used to promote a brand is a kind of brand in and of itself. For example, if green marketing is the promotion strategy of choice, it reveals a certain image of a company's values. If a company excels at digital promotion, it conveys technological savvy and forward thinking.

The internet has changed the face of advertising and marketing by adding speed and tools for instant consumer feedback. Promotional strategies are evolving along with new technologies as companies embrace communication vehicles like twitter.com, blogs, vlogs and podcasts to tell their products' stories.

The Corporate Identity

If someone mentions the golden arches, it takes barely a second to recognize the reference. When someone sees the mermaid with a star crown on her head, we can almost smell the coffee. These are all corporate branding symbols that have stood the test of time and brand the product for instant consumer recognition.

Repeating these images in regular advertisements is what cements the brand in consumers' minds. An ad needs to be seen several times for it to trigger recall, so consistently using a logo is vital for an effective branding and advertising strategy.

Tag lines and slogans

The catchy one-liner that identifies a product or business should also express how it's better than anything else of its kind on the market. Who can forget the famous mayonnaise slogan: "Bring out the Best Foods, and bring out the best." Now guess the product with its distinctive "Snap! Crackle! Pop!" "Finger lickin' good" invokes an image of The Colonel. These are all taglines and slogans that have become so popular they're now household words.

Establish the goals for a product or service, and promotional plans will become more clear. Identify a brand visually and conceptually to create ads that attract the attention necessary for success.

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