Will Harrison – Regardless of VOCID – the feeling of being

Regardless of VOCID – the feeling of being on the road may refer to the weekend, as well as during or after closing time. And when we thought more about it, we thought now was the time to think about how the new brand campaign can be true to our values and the distinctive visual identity of AA – the brand colors we’re so familiar with – that simply embody this feeling of freedom to drive and get back on the road. I’m lucky to have a brand like AA; we’ve already discussed free roadside assistance for NHS employees and emergency services support, and participated in “Applause for our caregivers” and another very early stage COVID campaign. This is a nostalgic brand, because it has been at the heart of British motorists’ lives for so long, and thanks to the advertising that we all saw as an adult, it is interesting to build for the future. Of course, from our point of view, the AA brand is designed to help people get back on the road and feel safe, both now and in the changing transport future, for example, with electric cars. This is the key to my vision of COVID cliché advertising – I think it’s about being a brand that understands and responds to its audience, not just reacting on behalf of the brand. So, for example, trust came from choosing a puppet dog made by Latvian puppeteers, and from the look and feel of the dog, we really wanted to improve the leadership qualities of AA brand through everything we do and trust. And I think it was really clear in such things as the campaign “Leave our Swiss” and the real importance of the brand or organization doing something. The most important thing that I tried to convey to AA was the relevance and kinship at the moment. As managers and brand leaders, we must have an understanding of these things, and we must understand our brand in this new social dimension. I think the biggest challenge was to communicate and make it easier and more effective for people to understand all the great things we do, especially at a time when there are so many companies and so few media channels. I read an interesting book by Chris Malone and Susan Fiske called “The Human Brand”. The most important thing for me was to avoid COVID cliches from an advertising point of view, to come up with an extremely positive message and smile on people’s faces. And these two things are equally important – it’s a classic link between rationality and emotion, but it’s really important that actions lead and then follow marketing and communication. Doing these two things at the same time is a big challenge for companies, and of course for me, because I’ve taken on this role as well as COVID. Although the basic functions of a car still have their roots in its early days – roadside assistance and emergency services, meetings in hotels, bars and restaurants, route planning and driving courses – it has also spread to many other areas such as financial services and insurance for non-drivers. So for us it is really a natural space in the sense that when, for example, VIDOC crashed, as I said before, we were already thinking about how we can help drivers.

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Steven has over 12 years of internet experience, from design, to programming to internet marketing. It's his background in branding and marketing that led him to the path of protecting his clients reputation online, a specialized field that he has received years of training. When he is not researching the latest online marketing trends, you can find Austin meeting with clients and working to deliver businesses the results they need.