Now Millennials moving up the generation line are influencers on the path to purchase and consumption and require more than Above-The-Line campaigns to foster loyalty and interest in a brand. It is about the breadth of consumer experience, authenticity and the real value that brands add to daily life amongst other attributes.

Brand clout with Brand Travel

To help brands leverage this global trend in consumer response, Paddington Station PR has created an innovative stand-alone product called Brand Travel.

Client service director and brand strategist for Paddington Station PR, Paul Reynell, explains, “Our aim is to help brands rise to this new consumer shift and assist them to avoid investing in campaigns that eat up their budgets and yet do not deliver the anticipated results.”

“Those working in our environment are passionate about brands and therefore notice brand behaviour and campaigns out there every day,” adds Reynell, “and more and more, we are noticing how brands are missing the market with regards to the Millennials – who could by now easily make up 50% of their market share or more.”

Many brands also seem to be investing in prevailing misconceptions about Millennials. For example, brands take the attribute ‘Social’ to mean ‘Social Media’ and that as long as a brand has a digital presence, or CSI angle they are sorted. This is not the case at all. Key take-out is to recognise that technology has not only changed the way consumers behave, but the way they think too.

Robust and targeted strategies

“Brand Travel serves primarily a dual purpose. Firstly, it implements a process of evaluation and checks to see if a brand is communicating correctly with its desired consumer segment to gain market share and if not, what needs to be adjusted or implemented to make the strategy more robust. This process is supported by research, cutting-edge tools and a panel. Secondly, we identify innovations and opportunities to enable the brand to speak to the heart of the Millennials. Call it Blue Ocean Strategy if you wish,” says Reynell. 

The agency has a firm belief that it’s not only about the content but about the strategy and tools included within the strategy to not only reach consumer segments but rather to also drive engagement and trial within these segments.

“Another key component in the development of Brand Travel was to ensure it was accessible and scalable for all types of businesses – from start-ups to the multi-nationals with various product lines. No business is the same and obviously, we recognise that, so Brand Travel is modulated accordingly as required, even at SMME level.”

Why from a PR agency?

Since PR became a critical discipline for brands to add to their mix over a decade ago, many PR agencies locally and globally have developed and released stand-alone products. In this complex environment created by shifting consumer behaviour, the evolution of these stand-alone products is one of the many reasons that agencies are producing amazing work – and indeed, having a very positive impact on consumer engagement.

Furthermore, it is also critical to remember that brand communication and building digital reputations is already a complex process as many of the consumer touch-points these days fall within the PR scope.

The conception of Brand Travel has been a year in the making and the agency, in collaboration with experts from various brand disciplines, identified four primary attributes that all come together to meet the ‘age of the consumer shift’. With the more than the century-old Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA) Funnel Model becoming obsolete and being replaced with The Consumer Engagement Engine, PR plays a primary and critical role in the path of purchase as it is responsible for the majority of the brand dialogue behaviours.

“We feel as a PR agency it is vital to know how to drive a successful strategy by understanding the consumer segmentation as it has evolved and continues to do so,” explains Reynell. “How we engage and communicate with Millennials and Generation X differs – so an agency should understand these profiles in order to engage successfully.”

“We think the timing is now perfect. 2016 is the year in-which we have seen many brands question their strategies and communication in the face of post-demographic consumerism,” concludes Reynell.

For more information, visit www.paddingtonstationpr.co.za.