In today’s competitive FMCG market, brands need to fight much harder than ever before to break through the noise, create memorable connections, and drive growth. At our latest webinar, Kelly Mackenzie of White Bear, Tia Best at DVJ Insights, and Mark O’Rourke of Rock Soup Media discussed strategies on how to make your brand stand out. Here are four key takeaways, based on their insights and real-world examples showing how these practical and powerful strategies work in practice.

​1. Harnessing Emotion through Storytelling​

Emotional storytelling isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s a must to create campaigns that people will actually remember. People are ​22 times more likely to remember stories over facts because stories make them feel something. Take, for example, Burger King’s "Bundels of Joy" campaign, that celebrates new mums’ first meal after giving birth or Nike’s “Winning isn’t comfortable” ad, capturing that universal feeling of “the day after” when your body is sore after pushing yourself working out – linking back to the very essence of “Just do it”. Those campaigns didn’t just show off product features; they tapped into shared experiences and human truths, making their brands unforgettable. And when people feel good about a brand, they’re more likely to think positively about its products and services in the future.

2. Building Brand Distinctiveness

Standing out doesn’t just mean having a bold logo. Distinctive brand assets in the form of colours, shapes, patterns, and even packaging build recognition and trust over time. 95% of your audience is out of market all of the time, which means only 5% are actually ready to buy a product or service. So having a memorable look ensures your brand will stick with them until they are ready to buy. Doritos, which cleverly leaned into the triangular shape of its crisps by featuring the triangle throughout its Super Bowl ad followed that idea. The approach was immediately recognisable, even without logos plastered everywhere. A simple, ownable visual element that customers can spot in a second is often the best way to build long-term recognition and loyalty.

3. The Value of Creative Testing

Testing ads before launch is not just about catching mistakes; it’s about making sure the campaign has real staying power. With audiences often giving ads only two seconds on social media, you’ve got to capture attention fast to avoid being skipped. Testing lets you see how the ad holds up in the real world, so you can tweak or refine it if needed. It’s important to take into consideration when brand cues come into play, how they work and fit in within the narrative. In today’s landscape, attention spans may be shorter, but if an ad connects emotionally from the start, viewers are more likely to stick around.

4. Crafting a Strategic Media Placement Plan

A strong media placement plan is just as important as the creative itself. DASH Water’s “Wonky Fruit” campaign is a great example: one wonky billboard and bench caused a big buzz, cleverly drawing attention to the “imperfect” fruit they use. The result: for less than £10,000, the campaign managed to achieve massive visibility and even drove a 43% spike in sales - a huge result for such a minimal spend. That is the power of well-placed media: a strategic, smartly coordinated media plan can make a modest budget have a serious impact, especially when every touchpoint reinforces the brand message consistently.