Why Brand Exposure Campaigns are Underrated

It’s a campaign we can’t measure the ROI of exactly, we can’t tie to a single lead, and d’ya know what, we’d absolutely do again tomorrow (in fact we will be doing it again this Saturday).

 Here’s why…

First things first, it was SO fun!

We’re not going to pretend there was some twelve-step strategic framework behind every decision here. A big part of why we do campaigns like this is simple: they’re fun. It helps the Chiefs, it helps us, the crowd enjoy it, people share pics on social media and the TV cameras zoom in. 

Marketing doesn’t have to be a spreadsheet and a sigh. When you bring a bit of energy and play to a brand, people feel it. And a brand that looks like it’s enjoying itself is a brand people want to be around.

But “fun” isn’t the whole story. As a content strategy agency, there’s always bigger reasons for doing things.

Why we do brand exposure campaigns

A lot of business owners we talk to are obsessed with lead generation campaigns, the kind where you can draw a straight line from “spent $500” to “got 12 leads.” And of course, those have their place, but they’re only half the picture.

Brand exposure is the other half, and it’s the half that compounds more over time. 

When someone takes a photo with one of those player faces, they’re not signing a contract to buy. They’re not filling in a form. But something quieter and more powerful is happening: our name is going into their head. 

They’re now, in some small way, subconsciously aware that Likeable Lab exists. They’ve associated us with a fun moment at a game they loved.

This is the bit that good content strategy is built on. We like playing the long game, not just chasing the next click.

The subconscious is the magic

Here’s the thing about how brands actually win. Most buying decisions don’t start with “let me Google a digital marketing agency.” They start with a feeling. A vague sense of “oh, those guys, I’ve seen them around, they seem good.”

That feeling doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It’s built, drip by drip, through repeated exposure. The game on the weekend, the photo on someone’s Instagram story, the friend who sees that story, which adds up to hundreds of tiny touchpoints, all quietly stacking up. So when one of those people eventually needs marketing help down the track, we’re not a cold name. We’re familiar. And familiar (generally) wins.

That’s the power of a brand. It does the heavy lifting before a single sales conversation ever happens. We’ve banged on about this before and it’s the same reason we believe in helping rather than selling with everything we put out.

It all adds up

Every photo, every share, every “who’s Likeable Lab?” conversation in the stands adds to the brand. Not in a way you can perfectly measure on a weekly report, but in a way that makes everything else we do work harder. Our ads get cheaper to run when people already recognise us. Our organic content lands better when the name’s familiar. Referrals come easier when we’re already top of mind.

It’s the same logic behind why we’re such big believers in blogging consistently – little by little, you build a presence people trust. Brand exposure campaigns just do it out loud, in person, with giant heads.