The above illustration has nothing to do with the subject matter of this article, which is about the various ways of inexpensively accelerating your branding and marketing through the creative harnessing of the Halo Effect. If you've just joined us, the Halo Effect has to do with growing a great reputation by association with a well-established and well-regarded brand. In essence, this form of coattail-riding is the leveraging of the marketing, branding, public relations and advertising investment of the company, product or brand with which you choose to become associated.
If you choose a well-known, highly-regarded company, character (an endorser or spokesperson) or a humanitarian or charitable cause to become visibly affiliated with, you are essentially getting a significant free ride on board the giant vessel that someone else has already paid for. It is an ethical, intelligent means of dramatically bootstrapping (or if you prefer, "slingshotting") your company and its products or services into the marketplace.
Before we review some techniques, ideas and examples, remember this: As my mother (bless her heart) once told me -- "You're judged by the company you keep, so be careful who you hang around with." She was right. Of course she ruined this moment of brilliant philosophical insight by following it with "And you're not going to wear those jeans to school."
Here are some things worth thinking about, and worth taking action upon:
1) Piggybacking - Becoming an add-on to an existing product, with the permission of the manufacturer. Sometimes this is done merely by backpacking your product onto theirs without their focused participation in your advertising or marketing [but where they generally grab a healthy share of your product revenues for the ride], and sometimes there is a creative interplay and a cooperative advertising campaign more focused on promoting the union of your products in fiscal matrimony.
2) Tacit endorsement - Becoming part of a bundle of items which are offered as additions or as part of a high-end swag bag of goodies being given away by certain companies to their elitist customers.
3) Product placement - Having your brand displayed (but not directly advertised) in a show, video, seminar, store or movie. You get a small, brief spotlighting in front of a potentially giant audience. Familiarity, recognition and some automatic subconscious acceptance result.
4) Promotional merchandising or giveaways - If you find the right cause, you may have their army of fundraisers give free samples of your product (which they continually announce by name) to donors, contributors or supporters. You will look like a benefactor and supporter instead of an advertiser.
5) Reverse Association - This approach involves your taking an established brand, and recommending that if someone (a sophisticated connoisseur were to care enough to purchase that brand or product (ostensibly "the best"), that they would not want it carried in, mounted upon, etc., anything less than your product. Example? "If you care enough to purchase a new Nikon Series XYZ624, would you want it mounted on anything less than a _________ tripod?" Note that a relationship is inferred, and that quality [class equivalency] is also inferred.
6) Type Grouping - If you sell a certain type of item (especially a conspicuous consumption 'visibility" product, show a picture of it on the same night table, plush automobile seat, medicine cabinet, as a grouping of other 'exclusive, high-caliber' items. Type Grouping has the advantage of being incredibly inexpensive, highly visual and long-lived. It may also be adapted in many ways from display ads, to slide inserts to investor literature.
7) Charitable 'Tithing' - While this is the slowest and the most subtle way to get where you'd like to be in terms of marketing, if you can say that "Out of every dollar you spent on our product, ____% goes to _________ charity", you will be building a wonderful corporate citizenship campaign as well as getting some extra attention and occasional free press or radio. With the proper permissions, and some good taste, some of the better-known symbols of these charities (usually children's and/or health-related) can be blended into or superimposed upon some of your visual media promotion.
Celebrity endorsements can be very expensive and very risky, unless you avoid the spokesperson route (which always seems a bit contrived), and instead get a list a list of celebs (with their permission) who use and endorse your product or service. This also helps you in avoiding an O.J. Simpson-type fiasco.
Now get out there and do it. This is more than a passive, academic listing of suggestions -- it is a call to action.
Douglas E. Castle for The Mad Marketing Tactics Blog.
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