Brand advertising is at the heart of the success of any business. As a business owner, it’s all too easy to make the mistake of thinking of your brand as a logo and color scheme along with a tagline. To the consumer (remember them? They’re the people who keep you in business), your brand is synonymous with your company. People build a relationship that can be very personal to your brand, not your company itself. The best brands build an emotional connection with consumers, leading to customer loyalty.

Successful brand advertising is all about building this connection with the consumer, more importantly establishing your business or your product as something that is a known quantity to them, something comforting they can trust. You already know how good your product or service is; but that alone will not guarantee your success. You need to raise the profile of your brand to grab the attention of consumers and start building a relationship with them based on trust.

While some mediums lend themselves more easily to brand advertising than others, a comprehensive branding or rebranding campaign will typically take place across several different mediums. Print and television are often the mediums of choice for brand advertising, including publication ads, billboards and other types of advertising, as well as “captive audience” formats such as subway and bus ads.

Television is also a visual medium and as such can have a huge brand impact on consumers when used effectively, but regardless of the chosen medium, simplicity is the best way to advertise your brand. A combination of print and television brand advertising is often a good media mix for a brand advertising campaign. Your other marketing efforts can build on your brand later, but when you need to establish a presence for your brand, keep it simple for the most impact.

Radio ads and online advertising can also be added to your brand’s advertising campaign; While they typically aren’t a suitable substitute for more traditional print and TV placements, they can be a valuable part of your branding efforts. Online advertising in particular is growing in popularity, with a growing number of companies choosing to go where consumers are, which in many cases is online. Online brand advertising incorporating banner ads, blogs, and even videos is becoming more common and seems to be having an effect on the consumer; which means these online brand advertising venues should be ignored at your own peril as a business.