In copytesting and in most in-market ad tracking, the focus is on the performance of individual ad executions. And while the individual execution is important, a broader examination of how successful advertising works to build brand linkage across an entire campaign provides strong indications of how to leverage your way into better brand linkage.

The Multi-Level Solution

1. The Individual Commercial or Ad
   Many researchers, and others, have developed advice or counsel to help advertisers build brand linkage for individual, stand-alone executions. However, even the best-constructed individual commercial has a far more difficult task if it is not part of a campaign.


2. The Overall Pool of Commercials
   You improve the odds considerably if you've got several commercials that have brand-linked elements that span the entire pool. When consumers see these easily recognizable elements, they immediately think, 'This must be another one of those Brand X commercials.' We call this the BLE, or brand linkage equity, of a campaign. The creation of strong BLE's requires a significant investment in time and money, along with the discipline to maintain consistency. However, when you work to build your campaign's BLE, you are creating an asset that you'll be able to rely on for years to come. No longer will each new creative execution be starting from zero; instead, each time you introduce a new execution, your target audience will immediately know that your brand is the sponsor.


3. The Multimedia Campaign
   Creating BLE across your TV campaign will still only get you partway there. The larger dynamic involves how the entire multimedia campaign is crafted. We've identified a number of strategies that will help to build your BLE across media, and we've identified some often-utilized strategies that don't usually work very well.

For more information view the Communicus white paper:
'Improving Brand Linkage and Advertising ROI'