The Power of Seasonal Branding
In our previous post, we discussed both the power and peril of making seasonal changes to your branding. Whether we consciously acknowledge it or not, and even if one lives in a region of the country without seasonal changes in the weather, the passing of the seasons can invoke a deep emotional response. Many of our most cherished memories either revolve around special holidays or we can often vividly remember the season, if not the actual date, when a wonderful and cherished memory occurred.
The passing seasons and special holidays play such an important role in our lives that businesses who seek to create a heightened emotional bond with their customers, including both existing and prospective customers and their target market, add seasonal changes to their marketing and branding, including their digital branding, to establish an emotional bond with those parties. You can probably think of numerous examples, from your local coffee shop to the home page of your favorite online retailer, of your favorite brands implementing seasonal branding changes. Establishing these emotional bonds isn’t limited to the largest corporations – small businesses can easily implement seasonal changes to their branding and work to form their own emotional bonds with their customers, prospective customers and target market.
Extend, Don’t Replace
The most important factor to remember when implementing a change to your branding, even a temporary one, is that you’re not really changing your branding. Why? Because if you change your branding, you’re entering into very dangerous territory – in fact, you’re likely harming your brand and the brand recognition and loyalty you’ve already fostered with your customers and target market. If you are interested in rebranding, that should be your primary focus and should be its own initiative, but if you’re happy with your existing brand, any seasonal changes you make should be an extension of your existing brand. For instance, seasonal branding should never involve replacing or even altering your current logo, but it can be refreshing and beneficial to amplify and highlight your strongest branding elements with new, temporary elements that don’t replace or distract from your core branding.
Seasonal Products and Services
The easiest way to implement seasonal changes within your business is to introduce seasonal products and services that can be incorporated into your branding. Retailers who sell clothing, food and beverage products and home improvement products can easily implement a seasonal branding and marketing plan that incorporates these products – in fact, if your business is part of one of these industries, you probably don’t need any advice or assistance from us, as you already know how to successfully implement seasonal branding changes! However, if your business is not part of an industry that traditionally offers seasonal products or services, consider adding seasonal products or services to your lineup that naturally compliment your core business If that isn’t possible, consider adding a new seasonal twist to one of your existing products or services. Finally, if the previous options simply aren’t feasible for your business, a seasonal marketing or advertising campaign can be a great way to highlight your seasonal branding and to connect with your customers and target market.