Brand touchpoints can be defined as the interactions and exposures that a consumer can have with a brand. Brand touchpoints are very broadly defined and include both deliberate communications from a firm/brand and communications and interactions that the consumer will have with the brand as part of their everyday life. They are often used in customer journey mapping.
Examples of brand touchpoints
Brand communications
Brand communications, those that are deliberately generated from the firm/brand in order to increased brand touch points to the end consumers.
Advertising
Brand touch points will include exposure to all forms of advertising – TV advertising, radio advertising, newspaper/magazine advertising, online advertising, outdoor/transit advertising and so on.
List of Possible Advertising Brand Touchpoints
- TV ads
- Online ads
- Search ad
- Print ads
- Radio ads
- Outdoor ads
- Transit ads
- In-store ads
- Google search ads
- Social media ads
Other forms of promotion
Brand touchpoints also include other forms of promotion, such as: point-of-sale material in retailers, direct marketing (mail, email, mobile text messages), exposure to the brand from sponsorships and events, and so on.
List of Possible Direct Marketing Brand Touchpoints
- Salesperson advice
- Direct mail
- SMS/text
- Call center contact
- Flyer/handout
- Chat online
- Filled in a form
- Scanned a QR code
- Brochure
- Newsletter
- Catalogue
- Business card
List of Possible Event and PR Brand Touchpoints
- Attended event
- Seminar, speech
- Sponsorship
- Trade show
- Media and blogger stories
- A celebrity brand
- Famous CEO
Brand/firm sales and service staff
Some brands, particularly if service based, will sell and distribute their products/services directly through their own staff. They may have their own outlets and/or a sales force and/or a call center. These customer contact staff are all forms of brand touch points.
List of Possible Staff Brand Touchpoints
- Browsed in-store
- Interacted with products
- Salesperson contact
- Showrooming
- Viewed packaging in-store
- Staff uniforms
- Staff behavior and presentation
- Queues and waiting times
Servicescape
For companies with their own retail or service outlets where customers visit, then the facilities of the store/outlet/brand would be considered another example of a brand touchpoint. These facilities may provide multiple brand touchpoints – such as, exterior signage, internal facilities, general atmosphere, interaction with staff, and so on.
List of Possible Servicescape Brand Touchpoints
- Overall look and presentation of the stores
- Perceived quality level
- Array of merchandise
- Quality brands in-store
- Geographic location
- External signage
- Cleanliness and comfort of the stores
- Trialled the product
- Inspected the product
- Staff and presentation
- Music, aroma, other than sensory cues
- In-store displays
Non-brand communications
Non-brand communications are the brand touch points generated from others, such as bloggers, retailers, media, and even individual consumers.
Observation and Brand Visibility
Seeing the product/brand being utilized by other people, such as family and friends, work colleagues and even strangers. Highly public products include cars, mobile phones, clothing, watches and jewelry, food and drink choices, cigarettes, branding on shopping bags, and so on.
List of Possible Visibility Brand Touchpoints
- Family buy the product
- Friends buy the product
- See people with the product
- See product in stores
- Celebrity endorses it
- Branding on shopping bags
- Everyone knows this brand
- Vending machines
- Co-branding with other brands
- See their delivery vehicles
- External signage
- Saw in a movie/TV
- Saw in a game
Word-of-mouth – online
In addition to personal word-of-mouth above, online word-of-mouth (primarily through social network sites) is highly likely to generate a significant number of brand touchpoints for major brands. In addition to many people talking about the brand, major brands also construct their own social media sites, especially Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Word-of-mouth – personal
From time to time, particularly for more highly involved product purchases, consumers will discuss particular product categories and particular brands. These are all brand touchpoints – that is, the consumer is being exposed or is interacting with the brand in some way.
List of Possible Word-of-Mouth (WOM) Brand Touchpoints
- Social media post
- A blogger post
- Comparison site
- Read an online review
- Recommended to me
- Spoke to family/friends
- Family buy the product
- Friends buy the product
- Reviewed media stories
- Reviewed media comments
- Opinion leader recommendation
Online or other media research
Once a consumer is activated to purchase a particular product and has entered the buying decision process, then they are highly likely to undertake some form of product research.
This may include reading product reviews, product ratings and other consumer assessments on comparison sites, forums and on blogging sites. Some consumers will still buy specialist magazines, or read specialist sections in newspapers to complete this research.
List of Possible Personal Research Brand Touchpoints
- Reviews social media posts and comments
- YouTube videos
- Product images online
- Review and comparison sites
- Visited their website
- Read their blog
- Read online reviews and articles
- Downloaded and used app
- Took a free sample
- Trialed the product
- Inspected the product
- Browsed competing products
- Interacted with products
- Spoke to a salesperson
- Read packaging
Prior ownership
Some consumers may have owned or consumed different products under the same brand set. For example, a young consumer could be exposed to the Kellogg’s brand through various cereals as a child. These would all be considered brand touchpoints for the Kellogg’s brand. As another example, somebody using an iPod is exposed to the Apple brand, which equals another brand touchpoint.
Retail presence
Consumers are likely to experience many brands across retailers. Some of these brands will be highly prominent in the store, with significant store placement, displays and supporting point-of-sale material.
Product placement
Some brands are quite prominent and will appear in TV shows and in movies and perhaps even in music videos. Again these are considered brand touchpoints as they expose the consumer to the brand, often with some form of implied celebrity endorsement.
Retail salespeople
For products sold through independent retailers, there will be multiple brand touchpoint situations including the interaction with the salesperson. In some situations, the salesperson will be seen as an expert in the product category and therefore his/her perception of the brand as communicated to the consumer becomes another brand touchpoint.
Related Topics
Brand touchpoint examples for Apple
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