External Communication: Brand Preference and Personalization

Develop an effective communication strategy to drive brand preference.

Communication leaders struggle to create an effective brand connection

Only one out of four stakeholders can see the difference between the competing brands. This suggests that the effort organizations put into differentiating their brand from competitors is mostly a toss-up. Communication leaders are constantly striving to better understand audiences and curate personalized content for them. While they believe that more personalization will enable them to engage the target audience effectively, our research finds that it doesn’t necessarily produce the desired results. The key to driving brand preference is brand connection, and the best way to support that connection is to demonstrate personal benefits.

Only one out of four stakeholders can see the difference between the brands competing in a given segment
Primarily, Gartner research helped us to be on the right track. It helped us focus on the right capabilities, digitize our system and enhance individual development.

Anders Schroll

Vice President, Corporate Communication & Public Affairs, H. Lundbeck A/S

Build an effective brand communication strategy

Consumers value personalized experiences designed to help their purchases, but so far, very few brands have been able to provide them. Organizations that focus their personalized messaging around helping their target audiences can expect 16% more impact on commercial outcomes than those that don’t. The solution is to first identify and prioritize what categories of personalized content will be most useful for consumers, and then build a portfolio of tools that can be used to deliver specific types of help.

Our research shows organizations that focus their personalized messaging around helping their target audiences can expect 16% more impact on commercial outcomes than those that don't.

Insights you can use

Organizations that successfully orient their brand positioning and messaging around personal benefits drive significantly higher levels of preference than those that don’t. Winning corporate brands provides audiences with personal benefits that make them feel better about themselves. Get the insights and tools to start building or enhance your corporate communications strategy.

Help Your Corporate Brand Stand Out From the Competition

Despite devoting a plethora of time and effort developing an effective corporate brand, organizations still struggle to stand out from the competition.Learn how to position your corporate brands to create personal connections for stakeholders.

Three Ways to Drive Desired Stakeholder Behaviors

Communications leaders struggle to prove their impact on business outcomes. Dive into our research to know how you can steer stakeholder behavior.

Webinar: Navigating New Audience Expectations

Learn how to craft messaging in case of contentious and polarizing issues.

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Testimonial

Tackling change communications at the manager level

Simon Hardaker is Head of Internal Communications & Engagement at AWE Management Ltd. Here he talks about how he has used Gartner’s skills assessment tools to develop his team’s capabilities, and how he has empowered managers throughout the company to become effective communicators during times of change.

Gartner topic experts

Gartner’s communications experts combine industry experience with research expertise. Meet a few of our leaders.

Hillary Plank
Director, Advisory

Dean Vitte
Director, Advisory

Sarah Brennan
Senior Specialist, Advisory

Joni Renick
Senior Director, Advisory

Dorian Cundick
VP, Advisory

Ensure your brand promises align with your organization’s strengths. Create meaningful and effective messaging to build a brand connection.

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