Winter. Love it, hate it, tolerate it, the season brings out a lot of emotions in people. If you’re lucky enough to live in Southern California, then you have a bit of a different definition of what winter is compared to those of us who live in New England.
Winter up here can be cold, snowy, and emotionally draining for many people. The most important thing on people’s minds during the season: staying warm.
Now, this may not seem like an opportunity to retune your brand strategy. Why would you bother getting people to care about your brand when they’re busy caring about staying warm?
Well, winter can actually be the perfect time of year to engage your consumer base and make them care about your brand more than before. How? By knowing what they care about.
Why would you bother getting people to care about your brand when they’re busy caring about staying warm?
Take, for example, this advertisement by Subaru. This plays with the notion that the onset of the colder months is inherently bad, by suggesting that it can be a good thing with a durable Subaru car.
By doing this, Subaru is making consumers care about their brand and its offerings. They are framing winter as a good season, and not a season of cold and misery. But one that can be enjoyed through the use of its products.
Another example is the beer company Corona. In their advertising campaign, ‘Find Your Beach’, the company implemented a CTA across four seasons, but one that rang particularly true during winter.
By making the beach not a place, but an idea that can be obtained by drinking Corona beer, the company made their consumers care about their brand.
It doesn’t matter the season, the key to keeping your consumers engaged with your brand is simple: make sure they care.
They evoked images of summertime and joy that can only be found during the warmer weather months, during the winter. And it showed, with the campaign being implemented in 2010 and their overall sales from 2009 – 2013 increasing.
Much like Subaru, Corona made consumers care about their brand during a time when most only wanted to stay warm.
It doesn’t matter the season, the key to keeping your consumers engaged with your brand is simple: make sure they care.
— Ryan Kelley, Brand Strategy Account Coordinator
To learn the fundamentals of branding and how to make your consumers care, Bostonians can join us on January 30th for a free workshop!
