Among many interesting results, Nielsen's 2022 annual Global Marketing report showed us that companies increasingly need to build brand awareness to stay relevant.
In recent years, the consumer market has undergone a radical change. People are used to shopping online, where 'shelves are endless'. This makes it harder for brands to stand out from the rest, especially as there is now no preliminary physical contact with the product. Not only that, supply chains were regularly disrupted, forcing consumers to look for alternatives.
Stressful times in B2C and B2B
According to research carried out by Nielsen, “85% of the purchases studied involved brands that the customer had already tried in the past. Additionally, 22% of consumers report feeling worried or nervous about trying a new brand.”
Companies not only need to relieve first-choice stress, but also nurture relationships with new customers. Because, as mentioned earlier, consumers now have more opportunities to try out new services.
Like it or not, this is also true in the Business-to-Business market. These new developments in consumer behavior can also show up in B2B buying patterns. Of course, the effects aren't as dramatic as in B2C. Because, as we all know, companies strive for consistency and stability.
How to Maintain Brand Awareness
Companies that want to build Brand Awareness have to start with research. Not only about themselves and the market, but also about how the content is consumed and what the important topics are. Branding and brand activation have to be done accordingly.
Yet another Nielsen report notes that “more than half of US consumers (52,3%) buy from brands that support causes they care about; likewise, more than 36% expect the brands they buy to support social causes. Trust in brands is also a significant purchase influencer.”
The quote above shows that having a salient, meaningful and ongoing strategy is a great tool for maintaining brand awareness. This also applies to B2B communication, where having partners well known for their social causes can be a selling point in itself.
Another obvious way to stay relevant is to develop valuable content. In the current situation, video is one of the most popular content formats. However, we shouldn't just be content with that. Our production has to evolve with the times, in order to keep up with our audience. We create content for the customer, not for self-interpretation.
