Brand association

Having accumulated a bit of a backlog on my The Economist podcasts, I listened to about four or five of them in a row, on the way to work this morning. In between the podcasts, deep in thoughts about the previous discussion, a brief advertising message, a tag line kept recurring. Something about Conrad Hotels & Resorts...

In my current job I rarely travel for business, especially not outside the country of my current residence (Australia), which is probably the reason why when I woke up this morning, I didn't have a brand recall of Conrad Hotels & Resorts.

But why would I even think of business travel…? But that is exactly what I did. In between podcasts, I caught myself imagining what Conrad Hotels & Resorts look like. I imagined neat and stylish receptions, quick and polite service, businessmen in suits, looking the part.

Why? The answer is very simple: brand association. The marketer chose the environment, and my mind did the rest: it associated Conrad Hotels & Resort with all, that The Economist stand for

Advertising via brand association: it works.

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