Brand Content: Understanding the Essence of Branding

A brand content strategy aims to create content directly related to a brand, with the objective of enhancing its value.

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Understanding brand content and its significance

What is brand content?

Brand content refers to a marketing strategy that involves generating and disseminating content that showcases a company or brand, with the purpose of engaging prospects and customers. Unlike content marketing, which is often confused with brand content, it explicitly highlights various aspects of the brand: its story, values, key messages, news, and evoked emotions, among others.

This approach relies on branding, which encompasses all elements that enable the public to identify and remember a brand (name, logo, slogan, visual identity, etc.). Additionally, it involves producing diverse content, all with the same goal: establishing a trusted relationship with prospects and customers. Ultimately, the aim is to turn the brand into its own media platform.

Why is the concept of a “brand” essential?

Brand content is based on a simple idea: once a brand is clearly recognised by the public, it can become its own selling point. Numerous examples exist of brands that are so recognisable that they no longer need to capture consumers’ attention. For instance, people “buy” Apple, Nike, or Starbucks. This recognition is made possible by a strong “brand image” that facilitates commercial success.

When a company’s conveyed image becomes its primary mode of communication, the ultimate goal of brand marketing (of which brand content is a lever) is achieved. In some cases, the brand image even manages to detach itself completely from the associated products or services!

Brand content vs content marketing

Brand Content

A brand-centric approach
Focused on selling the brand, conveying values, and creating a sense of belonging
Emphasises storytelling
Short-term campaigns
Content directly related to the brand
Interactive, editorial, or corporate content (such as images, videos, infographics, case studies, press releases, etc.)
Aims to build brand awareness, increase visibility, and drive sales
Aims to create brand loyalty and build a community
Broad targeting
The brand is clearly identifiable as the content sender

Content Marketing

A customer-centric approach
Focused on selling a product or service and its benefits to the end consumer
Storytelling may be absent or secondary
Long-term strategy
Provides useful and relevant content unrelated to the brand
Objective and informative content (such as articles, white papers, webinars, etc.)
Aims to generate leads, conversions, and sales
Aims to encourage action, such as subscription or purchase
Precise targeting
The content sender may be discreet or even initially invisible
77 % of consumers make purchases based solely on the brand name.
90 % of purchase decisions are influenced by the subconscious, highlighting the importance of positive emotions surrounding the brand.
45 % of the brand image is shaped by what the company says and how it says it.

What is the purpose of brand content?

Brand content designed for audiences

Branding and advertising are often confused. Branding indeed focuses on highlighting the brand, but it’s not inherently promotional. It doesn’t directly talk about the product or service. On the other hand, advertising does precisely that by conveying arguments in favour of a product or service.

Content produced within the framework of brand content should be entertaining in the sense that it aims to provide value, evoke emotions, and educate consumers about the brand and its vision. These contents must accurately align with the interests of different audiences, which requires well-developed personas (typical customer profiles).

The 6 Key Principles
of Brand Content

Tell a story

Brand content is closely linked to the concept of storytelling. It’s important to tell the story of the brand by choosing a narrative arc that engages the audience and allows them to identify with it. Audience identification with the brand is the key to the success of a branding campaign.

Evoke emotions

Emotion is the lever that triggers decision-making. It’s because the audience is “touched” by a message that they are likely to take action. This emotion can be positive or negative, but for the company, it requires using the right language and working with values that resonate with them.

Reflect values

With brand content, the discourse is centred around the brand and is largely embodied by its values. A real estate developer doesn’t just construct residences; they “build a better world.” An energy provider “cares for well-being.” Here, values matter more than the product or service.

Think cross-channel

Brand content campaigns can take various forms and be distributed across all platforms. The brand has the opportunity to diversify its communication by creating videos or podcasts, issuing press releases, conducting street animations, organising sports or cultural events, and more.

Collaborative work

Today’s consumers enjoy being involved. They willingly share their opinions, participate in surveys, and create their own content on social media. This collaborative approach, which connects a brand with its customers, is at the core of brand content: it is the consumers who contribute to amplifying a brand’s presence.

Building strong bonds

For brand content to deliver results, it needs to resonate with the audience. The brand must establish strong bonds with its audience by telling a compelling story, conveying meaningful values, and evoking genuine emotions. The goal is to create a tightly-knit community of prospects who will convert and eventually become brand advocates.

Brand content: building trust and engagement

Instead of selling products or services directly, brand content focuses on selling the brand’s image. But for what purpose? After all, the primary goal of a company is to generate conversions and increase revenue, rather than merely building a community of prospects who don’t make purchases.

However, consumers no longer rely solely on the promises conveyed through advertising. Before making a purchase, they want to connect with the brand and establish trust.

Brand content plays a crucial role in this new relationship dynamic, helping brands shape their image, move away from overly commercial approaches that consumers reject, and establish a foundation of trust to encourage engagement and ultimately boost sales.

The benefits of brand content

  • Content with high viral potential

    In the age of social media, brands no longer have full control over the dissemination of their content. It’s the consumers who decide whether to share and promote it within their communities. Fortunately, brand content has significant viral potential. This means that the content is likely to be shared by a large number of users, thereby increasing brand visibility.

  • Messages that drive engagement

    “Engagement” has become the holy grail of marketing. Engaging content motivates consumers to take action and interact, creating a meaningful exchange between the brand and its audience. This is precisely where brand content excels: delivering messages that inspire audiences to engage with and endorse the brand.

  • A natural acquisition tool

    Similar to inbound marketing and closely related to content marketing, brand content avoids being intrusive. Instead, it’s designed to meet consumer expectations, build relationships, and foster a sense of community. As a result, customers who choose to purchase a brand’s products or services do so naturally and willingly.

  • An essential cornerstone of trust

    Trust lies at the heart of business relationships. However, trust cannot be established without a clear and genuine positioning, free from promotional clichés. Brand content allows for the clarification of the brand’s positioning (through conveyed values, chosen symbols, established partnerships, etc.), thereby creating an indispensable foundation of trust upon which a long-term brand-consumer relationship can be built.

64 % of consumers indicate that they are willing to make a purchase after watching a branding video on social media.
69 % of marketers believe that brand content is more effective than press relation campaigns.
64 % of consumers affirm that values form the basis of a trustworthy relationship with a brand.

Content that speaks for the brand

Times have changed, and so have consumers. Advertising is becoming less effective, even in the digital realm, with 34% of French internet users employing adblockers while browsing the web. Brand content is a powerful tool to counter this waning enthusiasm for traditional advertising by offering users content that focuses not on products or services, but on the brand itself as an independent entity. A well-crafted brand content strategy can help establish the brand in consumers’ minds and solidify its position in the market. It’s no longer just about capturing the attention of a target audience with a single product or service; instead, it has the potential to draw attention to all products or services associated with the brand. So, how does one go about implementing such a strategy?

Developing a brand content strategy: step-by-step

  • Define objectives

    Establish clear objectives for your brand content strategy, whether it’s building awareness, increasing visibility, driving traffic, boosting conversion rates, fostering customer loyalty, or encouraging engagement. Having well-defined objectives is essential for guiding your efforts.

  • Identify target audiences

    Tailor your content to specific target audiences, segmenting them based on geographical location, age groups, and socio-economic categories, as well as their unique challenges, needs, expectations, and interests.

  • Position your brand

    Define the positioning of your brand, which reflects your unique value proposition. Clearly articulate what you offer to your target audience and the values you embody.

  • Evaluate the competition

    To differentiate yourself in the market, start by evaluating your direct competitors. Identify their value propositions and gain an understanding of how each organisation communicates with its audience.

  • Solidify your brand image

    Refine your branding to guide your communication: everything that helps people recognise and remember your brand (logo, colours, fonts, tone of voice).

  • Create compelling content

    Brand content relies on creating engaging and valuable content. Choose the right formats that resonate with your target audience and have the potential to generate high engagement.

  • Promote your content

    Content serves no purpose if it’s not seen. Promote it across your owned media, earned media, and paid media channels to maximise its reach and impact.

  • Establish a calendar

    A well-executed strategy requires consistency. Set up a schedule for publishing your brand content to ensure regular and timely delivery.

  • Choose the right channels

    Select the most appropriate distribution channels based on your target audience, whether it’s in the B2B or B2C space. Adapt your content to suit the unique characteristics of each selected platform.

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