How To Build Transparency with Promotion

The Relationship Between Transparency and Promotion

The Transparency of your brand is the extent to which people feel your brand is open and honest. When running Promotions, you can increase your Transparency driver if you approach it the right way. 

To increase your Transparency via Promotion, consider the different types of promotions your brand could run. The most common types of promotions are value discounts – whether to a product or to a service. During value discount promotions, brands are given a communication platform – like a point of sale display unit in store or better prominence on an e-retailer sight. Dress this display up with claims language to drive a product-led story that lets people in, whether the focus is on how it’s made or where its ingredients/parts are sourced. This makes people feel your brand is open with what it is and does. 
 
Promotional campaigns are another example where Transparency can be positively impacted. For example, you can run a promotion that explains in detail where proceeds from the promotion will go. The more open and honest your brand is, surrounding the nature of the promotion – what the promotion is about, why it is running, who it’s for – will get this driver on the rise.  

So, when driving your brand’s Transparency via Promotion, consider these things:

1. How can I increase people’s understanding of my product and its production process? Consider revealing more details about what goes into the production process behind your goods and services, the materials used, the people you source from and even the broader supply chain. Approach your story like an open book.

2. What kinds of promotional campaigns could I run to make my brand feel more honest? Brands sometimes reveal that proceeds of promotions go to people and/or organizations in need. Finding a socially responsible cause can show that your brand cares more than just about profit, justify its discount, and make people feel it is a transparent brand doing good. 

What should you do next?

• Consider how you can bake Transparency into the core purpose of your brand. Transparency should not be a focus for a single campaign, but rather integrated into the everyday of your brand, across the entire organization.  
• Determine what promotional campaigns you can run consistently that showcase your brand’s Transparency. Be careful, however, because when Transparency efforts run as one-off campaigns there is a risk that it may be seen as superficial and opportunistic rather than authentic. The transparency your brand exhibits should be honest, and something you do continuously rather than periodically.  

How to determine if it’s working.

• You’ll know your efforts are working over the promotional period if you not only see a lift in your Transparency driver, but you observe some positive conversations around the openness of your promotion online.  

• Be on the lookout for whether people notice your brand’s move to become more open and honest. When you run promotions, your brand is given a proverbial microphone, so speaking into it authentically, truly, and consistently over time will be your best opportunity to drive Transparency through Promotion. 
  
  
  Guidance from:
  Michael Coden | Head of Marketing, ProQuo AI
  
  Michael has spent 10 years developing and building brands across the US, Europe and Australasia for global companies.