By Igor Cardoso (planning director), Genesson Honorato (planner) and Vanessa Bulhões (planner)

If we were to ask all companies with a brand department and a performance department whether they get along, the average answer would almost certainly be "not always." Between dilemmas about attention and budget, these two super important pillars of Marketing, in some way, always end up competing and going in the opposite direction to Integrated Communication.

If this scenario somehow applies to you, don't worry, it's not your fault. But perhaps it's time for your company to recognize that Branding and Performance are two sides of the same coin.

It seems obvious, but in day-to-day operations, many companies only focus on one dimension or another, dedicating little effort to creating that harmonious link between Branding and Performance, called Integrated Communication. When each area pulls in a different direction, it generates a lot of effort and little result. Tactical actions lose sight of the big picture and fail to build long-term results, in addition to wasting time and money.

Okay, but what do we actually need to do to change this reality?

There's no magic formula, but what we've seen in practice is that companies that build a single narrative, from brand vision to the main selling point, generate better results. It's about telling the same story, but in different ways for each objective, at each touchpoint.

Here at Ana Couto, we tell this story through purpose—a strong, authentic truth that conveys the essence of the brand. A well-defined purpose guides the present and the future, and serves as the basis for more assertive communication.

Okay, but how does this work in practice? Simple. Let's give an example of how we do it with one of our clients, Youse.

Youse is an insurance brand created to empower people to dare to live without models, in their own way. Thus, a single narrative builds Branding and Performance: the power of choice. From the moment you purchase insurance in the palm of your hand, paying only for the assistance you choose, to encouraging people to make their own choices in any situation of their daily lives.

In its campaigns, live streams, and short content pieces, the brand talks about the audacity of living without role models. On Valentine's Day, for example, we created the #OuseAmar, a campaign that questioned traditional formats, people's fear of committing to relationships, and encouraged people to choose their own path.

When the objective was more focused on sales, for example, the brand produced the institutional film “Only at Youse“"This showed that only with Youse could the customer choose exactly what they needed, and therefore, would only pay for what they used. It's about having the power of choice in a type of service that already comes with fixed packages and no flexibility in the contract. This argument was proven in research to be the most compelling way to present the service to its target audience.".

Telling the same story, even in different ways, means maximizing investment and optimizing brand message recall, regardless of whether it's a branding or performance effort.

By focusing your energy on a single narrative, you strengthen your brand positioning and make your message clearer to your audience.

Fifteen films were produced, three for broadcast television, nine for social media, and four for YouTube, in accordance with the target persona definitions in the digital ecosystem.

Youse was born with one goal: to offer assistance and services so that people can live life as they want, to dare, to go further. To achieve this, it was identified that the narrative to be created, the brand's purpose, should be "to empower people because life is worth being bold." From this, the brand has been creating messages that share its worldview (Branding) – for example, the manifesto “Why not?”"—even messages that highlight the advantages of their service, like the movie '“Insurance that you customize to your liking.“".

Did you see how a unique narrative makes it possible to create different messages, from Branding to Performance?

Article originally published in Creative Club, on April 10, 2019