Less than one fifth (17%) of Australian marketers view building a brand as their most important objective, A new Deloitte study has found.
The whitepaper, which was commissioned by Facebook and polled 300 marketing professionals, found that two-thirds of marketing managers believe digital and social media were the best channels for building a brand and were the only two mediums marketers expect to spend a higher proportion of their media budgets on over the next two years.
Two in five marketing managers said social media was the most effective medium for building customer engagement.
However, it’s the apparent lack of importance being placed on brand that was the most alarming finding. Deloitte Digital partner Kareene Koh said marketers ignore brand building at their peril.
“Failing to recognise the importance of brand comes at a cost to business. Our survey found that businesses whose brands stagnated over the past year also saw their revenues fall by 13% on average over this period. For a business with annual revenue of $1 billion, this represents a potential fall of $130 million in revenue,” Koh said.
“To build and maintain a strong brand, it is important for businesses to understand the basic principles of advertising, particularly in an evolving marketing landscape whereby new technologies are allowing new ways to reach customers.”
Facebook Australia and New Zealand group industry director Naomi Shepherd said it was important for marketers to focus brand building activity where consumers were most engaged.
“One of the biggest behaviour changes of recent times is our love affair with mobile. If brand activity doesn’t keep up with these changing behaviours it risks losing it vitality,” she said.
“It’s about capturing the attention of consumers where they are engaged most, when they are engaged most, and in ways they find the most engaging.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.