Season 01 - Episode 05

The visibility challenge

Anyone involved in brand management will agree with this statement “We must get creative in getting attention of the right audience”. As I am sure you will agree dear readers, it is easier said than done.

Established brands, no matter the industry, depend on three key levers to get the attention of their target audience. The assumption here is that the people we wish to address are clearly identified. These levers are:

Compelling content: Creating content that is valuable, relevant, and engaging to your target audience is crucial. This could be in the form of blog posts, videos, social media updates, podcasts, or interactive experiences. Quality content not only grabs attention but also builds trust and credibility with your audience.

Personalization: Tailoring your messaging and offerings to meet the specific needs and preferences of your target audience can significantly increase engagement. Personalization can be based on demographics, past behaviors, interests, or other data points. Whether it's personalized email campaigns, product recommendations, or targeted advertising, this approach helps cut through the noise and resonate more deeply with individuals.

Authenticity and Storytelling: Consumers today are drawn to authentic brands with compelling stories. Brands that can convey their values, mission, and brand story in an authentic and relatable way tend to capture attention more effectively. Authenticity builds trust and emotional connections with the audience, fostering loyalty and advocacy.

In theory, the correct use of these three levers should do the trick, but here is the two key challenges that a start-up brand like Magana must face:

Finding and defining the right audience: From experience, it seems that whatever audience is initially defined by the brand, the reality often says otherwise. As your brand and products become available on the market, there will be a lot of trial and error before gaining the ability to find the perfect fit. It is – after all – an ever-changing, ever-moving target.

Ability to fund sustained visibility over an extended period: There is a whole industry that relies on giving brands the chance to be visible to their target audiences. Those who can afford it, pay handsomely for that visibility. It is called advertising. Repetition and consistency are as important as the advertising content itself, and the combination of all three can quickly be expensive.

The question then becomes this “How could we, as a start-up brand with limited means, find our voice and make it heard?”. I really wish I knew.

Way back when, there was a level of independence within the media world: Indeed, the commercial teams selling visibility to advertisers, were able to slightly influence the editorial content of the said media. The editorial teams on the other hand were not always comfortable with that type of “obligation” and would prefert using what they felt was relevant to their readership/viewership rather than duplicate press kits or do write-ups on brands and products they did not consider relevant to their readership. This did indeed give a fair chance for smaller and newer players to get some visibility as long as they had something real and different to offer. It still is somewhat true today, but a lot less than before. It is for this very reason that you – dear media consumer – are often exposed to the very same brands/products across all magazines, blogs, social media pages, etc….

At Magana, we are still figuring things out, and it is my humble feeling that this exercise will be ongoing forever, keeping us on our toes.

Thank you for reading so far! If you, dear reader, have some input or advice on how we could tackle all these challenges, we will be happy to consider all recommendations and advice!