Building brand salience in the plant-based market

Why being memorable matters for your brand’s success

By Simon Middleton, ProVeg International, Editorial Specialist

Let’s start with a definition. What is brand salience? Salience simply means the quality of being noticeable: or you could say it just means the prominence of something.

So, in marketing terms, brand salience means the extent to which a brand is thought of or noticed in buying situations. That quality of being noticeable is key to capturing consumer attention and driving purchase decisions. Salience is important in every market sector, but in a highly competitive arena such as the plant-based food market, it is crucial. It can mean the difference between great success and total failure for your business, as well as any individual product or brand in your range.

In this article, I will explore the concept of brand salience, drawing on the insights of leading contemporary brand experts like Australia’s Byron Sharp and the UK’s Mark Ritson, and I’ll look at ways in which plant-based brands can effectively build and maintain the ‘magic dust’ of salience.

The importance of brand salience

Getting to grips with the concept

Brand salience refers to the likelihood that a brand will come to mind in relevant situations, such as when planning a shopping list, thinking about making a large purchase like a TV, PC, or car, and of course when actually moving through the aisles of a supermarket!

According to Byron Sharp, author of How Brands Grow, salience is a primary driver of brand choice and a critical component of brand growth. Unlike brand awareness, which is simply knowing a brand exists, brand salience is about being top-of-mind when a consumer is ready to make a purchase. For plant-based brands, achieving high brand salience means being the first choice for consumers seeking ethical, healthy, and sustainable food options.

Increasing the likelihood of purchase 

Sharp’s research highlights that brand salience significantly increases the probability of purchase. When consumers are presented with numerous choices, the brands they recall first are more likely to be the ones they choose. For plant-based brands, this means investing in strategies to boost salience will directly impact sales and market share.

Building brand salience

Distinctive brand assets

One of the most effective ways to build brand salience is through distinctive brand assets: unique visual or auditory elements, such as logos, colours, slogans, packaging, or even jingles, that make a brand easily recognisable. Byron Sharp emphasises that these assets should be consistently used across all marketing channels to reinforce brand identity. For plant-based brands, creating memorable and distinctive assets is a critical action to stand out in a crowded market.

Consistent exposure across touchpoints

Consistency in your brand, everywhere that your potential customers encounter it, is essential for maintaining and enhancing brand salience. This includes advertising, social media, packaging, in-store displays, and more. Repeated exposure to the same messages, design assets, and so on ensures that the brand stays top-of-mind for consumers. Some brands have gone awry with too radical design updates which have confused customers. Others (Flora comes to mind) have built brand salience by making only subtle updates to their assets over many decades, being careful never to leave their customers behind.

It’s true that some brands make highly successful and very dramatic changes to their assets. Think of the radical change in brand style and identity by Oatly a few years ago. What’s important to remember in cases like this though, is that to be successful such changes must be strategic. Oatly knew exactly why they were making such a big change to their brand – precisely to gain distinctiveness and give them a much stronger chance of establishing brand salience. And it’s certainly worked for Oatly: just don’t expect them to make any radical changes for another decade!

Emotional and functional messaging

Combining emotional and functional messaging (appealing to both heads and hearts) can further boost your brand’s salience. Emotional messaging taps into consumers’ values and beliefs, creating a strong connection, while functional messaging highlights the practical benefits of the product. For plant-based brands, this could mean emphasising both the ethical and environmental benefits of their products, and the taste and nutritional value.

Differing points of view

As you’ll notice throughout this series on branding, there isn’t always agreement amongst experts on every topic. Mark Ritson and Byron Sharp present two differing perspectives on salience for example. Ritson is a proponent of brand differentiation, which emphasises the importance of creating a unique selling proposition (USP) that sets a brand apart from its competitors, which is to say making something or doing something which is actually, demonstrably different from competitors. That’s why washing powder brands are always trying to develop formulas and technologies that wash whiter, brighter and so on. 

Ritson argues that product differentiation is crucial for brands to establish a unique position in the market, offering specific benefits or features that appeal to consumers. He believes that brands need to focus on their unique characteristics and communicate these effectively to their target audience to build salience and a strong, loyal customer base.

As we’ve seen, Byron Sharp, on the other hand, champions the concept of brand distinctiveness over differentiation. Sharp contends that instead of striving to be different, brands should focus on being easily recognisable and memorable. Sharp’s view is grounded in the belief that consumer choices are often habitual and driven by what is most easily recalled at the point of purchase. Therefore, ensuring that a brand stands out visually and cognitively in a crowded marketplace is, in his view, more effective than trying to convince consumers of unique functional differences.

Which of these arguments you choose to lean towards might depend on whether your brand is making a product with a unique functionality or effect. If it does you can emphasise that but you still need to tell your brand story consistently and visibly to gain salience.

But if your products are functionally much the same as one or more of your competitors, don’t despair: put your effort and budget into developing highly distinctive assets (like Oatly, but of course not like Oatly)!

Practical action points for brand leaders

Case studies: real-world examples

Impossible Foods: memorable campaigns

Impossible Foods has successfully built brand salience through distinctive marketing campaigns and strong visual branding. Their bold and creative advertising, combined with a clear and consistent message about sustainability and taste, have made them a leading name in the plant-based sector.

Alpro: consistent brand presence

Alpro maintains a consistent brand presence across multiple touchpoints, from social media to in-store promotions. Their recognisable packaging and consistent messaging about health and sustainability have helped them stay top-of-mind for consumers seeking plant-based dairy alternatives.

Quorn: combining emotional and functional appeals

Quorn balances emotional appeals with functional messaging in their marketing. Their campaigns highlight the ethical benefits of choosing meat-free options while also emphasising the taste and health benefits of their products. This dual approach has reinforced their brand salience in the market over a long period.

By focusing on building and maintaining brand salience, plant-based brands can ensure they remain top-of-mind for consumers, increasing the likelihood of purchase and fostering long-term loyalty. Following these strategies will help brands stand out in a competitive market and achieve sustainable growth.

Stay tuned for my next article, which will delve into how to build strong emotional connections to your brand. And if you missed my first article, find it here. For more support on your alternative protein strategy, get in touch with our ProVeg experts at [email protected].