Focus on Authentic Brand Messaging and the Sales will Come

I attended Kicker’s Calgary Video Summit, #YYCVideo, this morning.  It was an impressive line up of video communicators from Cenovus, Westjet, Google and Woodruff Sweitzer, and the excellent @Pastayoyo.  I get video, if a picture tells a thousand words, then how many words can a video tell?  When was the last time a brochure made you cry?  If the most important level of communication is engagement then video has to be part of your messaging.  Before you ask, I am planning to put some video on my website, www.bmwconsults.com, in the near future, I know I need to eat my own dog food.

If you recall last Christmas Westjet did a wonderful second annual Holiday video where they got people to talk to a video of a Santa and share what was on their Christmas list, when they landed in Calgary, four hours later, the gifts arrived through the luggage chutes.  If for any reason you are not part of the 36,000,000 people who have seen the video on line, then have a look http://youtu.be/zIEIvi2MuEk. 

What I discovered this morning is that this video’s main objective was not to increase sales, but to live the brand.  Fundamental to the Westjet brand is the role of the employees and that they care, they are real people, and they also like to have fun.

The five minute long video has created an emotional connection with a huge potential customer base and this is the most powerful way to build a brand.  The most powerful message I heard this morning was that during this time, year on year Westjet web traffic increased by 100% and sales increased by 77%.  If you needed any more proof that building your brand can increase sales, here it is.  And by focusing on the brand you are being authentic.  It aligns with focusing on the people and planet and the profits will come.

And it is April Fool’s day in a couple of weeks, what will Westjet do this year?