Brand concept vs Brand campaign
Which is right for you?
We’re the first to admit that creative agency vernacular can sometimes be a bit confusing. Partly that’s because not all agencies use the same language to talk about their offerings, and partly it’s because the distinctions between these offerings aren’t always clear, particularly to anyone who doesn’t live and breathe this stuff every single day. And even sometimes to those who do.
With that in mind, we thought it might be helpful to explore a question that comes up fairly often in discussion with clients: What’s the difference between a brand concept and a brand campaign? While there are certainly some similarities between a brand concept and a brand campaign, there are also many key differences, and these distinctions are critical to understand if you’re launching a new brand, or considering a refresh of your existing creative. They’re also arguably more relevant now than ever, given the increasingly fractionalized media landscape, with its myriad consumer touch points. Brands that lack a solid conceptual framework run a much higher risk of losing coherence (and therefore, relevancy and authenticity) across these touch points.
First define. Then decide.
Let’s start with some definitions. At Origin, we define a brand concept as the enduring big idea that anchors and informs all brand communications over time. It’s inspired by the brand articulation (you do have a Brand Articulation, don’t you??) and expresses your brand’s POV while also forging an emotional connection with its core audience. This is generally represented through a number of creative elements or filters that are designed to stand the test of time (we’ll get into these in a bit).
A brand campaign, on the other hand, is a long-term creative approach designed to build awareness, recognition, and emotional connection with the brand. It is inspired by the brand concept, and while it may diverge from the brand concept in a number of ways, it should always complement, rather than contradict.
Another important distinction between a brand concept and a brand campaign relates to their shelf life. While there are no hard-and-fast rules regarding the lifespan of either, a well-executed brand concept will typically be around for at least seven or eight years, if not much longer. Consider Nike’s infamous Just Do It tagline, which was launched as part of a television ad campaign in 1988, and has since evolved into a foundational pillar of the brand’s philosophy.
A brand campaign, on the other hand, is likely to be shorter-lived. Just how short depends on numerous factors, but typically, a brand campaign is active for a season, a product cycle, or some other defined period of time that aligns with the brand’s offerings and strategy. We’ll again use Nike as an example, this time focusing on their Find Your Greatness campaign that ran in conjunction with the 2012 Olympics. What’s interesting about comparing this campaign to their overarching concept of Just Do It is that you can see how both ideas are distinct, and yet also aligned. The philosophy of Just Do It isn’t overtly articulated in Find Your Greatness, and yet the connection is obvious to even the casual observer. Put simply, it just feels like Nike.
What’s included
Because a brand concept and a brand campaign serve two fundamentally different purposes, it’s unlikely that you’d ever be choosing between them. But it’s still important to understand what deliverables are included in each. While there is always the option of creating a bespoke set of deliverables to meet a brand’s unique needs, the following is representative of our typical brand concept and brand campaign process.
Brand concept
- Creative strategy to help express the brand’s POV and how it comes to life. This is based on the existing brand articulation, as well as a creative discovery that’s specific to the brand concepting process.
- Brand creative elements, typically including:
- Tagline
- Brand headlines
- Brand manifesto
- Creative look and feel. This is informed by both the creative strategy and the existing visual identity, and will be expressed through a collection of mock-ups intended to demonstrate how the brand will come to life through a particular concept.
Typically, we deliver two distinct brand concepts options at V1 for our clients to choose from.
Brand campaign
- As with a brand concept, our brand campaigns are also rooted in creative strategy that results from existing brand materials, as well as a comprehensive discovery process.
- Creative elements, typically including:
- Campaign tagline
- Campaign headlines
- Campaign manifesto
- Other campaign language, such as body copy, CTAs, etc
- Creative look and feel, again informed by established brand materials, creative strategy, target audience, etc, though the relatively short shelf life of a brand campaign provides opportunity to explore different creative approaches.
- Creative exploration throughout the funnel. Depending on the strategy and the specific needs of the client, we will demonstrate how the campaign comes to life through high, mid, and low-full creative mock-ups.
As with our brand concept deliverables, we typically show two distinct campaign directions in our V1 presentations.
While it may seem as if many of the deliverables are similar between brand concepts and brand campaigns (taglines, creative look and feel, etc), it’s important to remember that in each case, these specific elements are attached to strategic thinking that aligns with their relative objectives.
Still have questions? Please don’t hesitate to reach out; we love talking about this stuff.
