Doug Stevenson, CEO and Co-Founder, Quintesse, on Fleshing out Brands
Many modern brands differentiate themselves from competitors by their commitments to sustainability, diversity, more humane practices, or another important cause. For example, P&G’s Tide has made a commitment to sustainability. The brand’s #TurnToCold initiative encourages customers to wash with cold water to save an average of 90% of the energy of every load of laundry. This campaign helps the brand build positive brand affinity with shoppers who also care about important issues like global warming, sustainability, climate change, etc.
This type of educational branding campaign is most successfully executed online using contextual advertising strategies. Contextual targeting helps capture the attention of the right consumers when they are in the right mindset to be educated about what makes the brand different, while audience-based targeting is more focused on driving a higher number of impressions.
These educational campaigns can be targeted contextually to endemic keywords like sustainability. However, blue-chip brands committed to sustainability are also focusing on more advanced content optimization strategies to drive positive brand affinity such as targeting content related to nature and environmental issues.