Repetition Isn’t Lazy Marketing. It’s Strategic Messaging.

Why saying the same thing again (and again) builds better brands

If you’re sick of saying the same thing over and over in your marketing… good.

Because if you’re sick of rolling it out, there’s a chance your audience is only just starting to notice it.

There’s an old-school marketing maxim called the Rule of 7. It says a customer needs to see or hear your message at least seven times before it even starts to influence their behaviour. Not before they become a customer, but 7 times seeing your brand before they will be influenced at all. That could be to click, follow, 'like' or subscribe.

*And* that rule? It was was around longgggggg before TikTok and the explosion of awareness level video content, shorter attention spans and the infinite doom scroll (yeah, we know you do it). These days, you can probably triple that number. So whether its the Rule of 7 or 27 - there are so many touchpoints required before you're going to influence your target customer's behaviour.

How? Repeated, consistent and relevant brand messaging is required to get people's attention. In a world of constant noise, simple and repetitive messaging is your best marketing bud. 

Let’s be even clearer: repetition isn’t lazy. It’s smart. It builds awareness, recall and trust - the three ingredients that fuel conversions.

Yet so many brands fall into the trap of trying to reinvent their messaging every time they launch a new campaign, product or service. They reach for fresh angles and new benefits, hoping one will magically land or a new target market will be reached. But in doing so, they're diluting their brand and confusing their audience (or worse, pissing their audience off). 

Here’s the smarter play: pick one or two key themes or messages and hammer them home across every channel. Make them unmistakably yours. Repetition, when rooted in strategy, is what separates memorable brands from forgettable ones.

A note on campaigns versus key brand messaging and brand marketing

Campaigns aren't to be confused with key brand messaging or always on brand marketing. We're all about piercing the attention span of our target market with engaging content, activations, fun campaigns, brand collaborations, fun copy, campaign imagery and the use of graphics. What should be a consistent thread through this is core key brand messages. 

OK, OK. Less marketing theory, more examples.

The Aussie brands that prove repetition works

🌭 Saturday snag runs and we’ll beat it by 10%? That’d be Bunnings - synonymous with value and community.

🐨 Koala furniture = high quality flat pack furniture that is good for the planet. From their brand name to their unboxing experience, they’re true to brand on their fuss-free and eco stance.

🚗 NRMA’s key message of help and support - when and where you need it - has not changed in decades. Why? It’s emotive and it works.

✈️ What’s our national airline? We know who you’re thinking. Actually, QANTAS has been privately owned for 20 years, but it relentlessly pursues messaging through iconic ads, taglines, imagery, copy etc that position it as “The Spirit of Australia” - they have not pivoted from that singular message because it creates such trust and loyalty.

These brands aren’t chasing trends. They’re repeating what works.

OK, but what should your brand messaging be?

Strategic brand messaging starts with making things as simple as possible.

We’re not talking about slogans or elevator pitches. We’re talking about nailing what makes your brand commercially or emotionally relevant to your customer and rolling that out whenever humanly possible.

Start by asking yourself as the brand manager or brand strategist. 

• What problem are we solving and how do we solve it differently?

• What do our customers value most. Speed? Price? Expertise? Style?

• What proof do we have to back up our claims?

• What do we want to be known for? (And is that aligned with how we currently show up?)

• What objections or hesitations are we constantly overcoming in the sales process?

These are the juicy bits we unpack in our Brand Strategy Questionnaire. And yes, your answers there should absolutely inform your core brand messaging.

TLDR? Repetition builds trust. And trust builds sales.

Need help working out what your message actually is. You know where to find us. Grab the Brandshake DIY Brand Strategy Questionnaire, our Express Brand Strategy or our traditional agency services.