Turning Awareness to Connection
When it comes to branding, standing out is only half the battle. The real challenge is turning that awareness and attention into genuine brand connection — that is, making people not only recognize your brand, but believe in it.
CyberTheory discussed this challenge with Kelly Herm, Senior Campaign Manager, to talk about how organizations can move beyond simple visibility to building lasting emotional connections with their audiences — and how brand advocacy and storytelling help make that happen.
Read the full conversation to see what Kelly recommends:
CyberTheory: Many companies focus heavily on building awareness, but few go beyond it. How do you move from just being noticed to being genuinely cared about?
Kelly Herm: Awareness is really just your entry ticket. True affinity and connection happen when people feel like your brand understands them, and stands for something beyond the transaction at hand.
It’s all about emotional connection, creating a positive feeling when someone experiences your brand. That connection might come through authentic brand storytelling, demonstrating shared values, or even in many small gestures that show you care about what matters to your customers. When people see themselves and their beliefs reflected in your brand, that’s when affinity really starts to take hold.
For example, how often do you visit a website and then get bombarded with bings, pops, pop-up messages and other junk that diverts you from what you actually wanted to do, which is find out more? That UX might buy short-term engagement but is not a great brand preference builder. Visit Apple’s homepage and see what I mean.
CyberTheory: We know that employee advocacy is a strong part of building brand affinity. What role does it play?
Kelly Herm: A huge one. People trust people far more than logos. When employees share their pride in where they work, when they talk honestly about their experiences and the mission, it humanizes the brand.
That’s really what brand advocacy looks like in action. People share your story because they believe in it, not because they’re told to. And that kind of advocacy can’t be faked — it has to be earned from the inside out.
Sharing employee stories through short videos, social posts, or quick interviews is such an effective way to build connection. It turns awareness into belief — and belief into genuine brand preference.
CyberTheory: Encouraging employees to post about their company can be tricky. How can organizations make that feel authentic while still maintaining some guardrails?
Kelly Herm: You’re right — it has to feel natural, not forced. A grassroots approach usually works best, where employees are empowered but given a little structure.
Offer some simple guidelines — examples of great posts, tips on tone and length, a few approved hashtags, maybe even a “social-in-a-box” kit with everything they need. The easier and more genuine it feels, the more people will actually want to take part in forming your particular brand story.
CyberTheory: Speaking of brand stories, storytelling is heard often in marketing today. How often does it really happen?
Kelly Herm: Real storytelling doesn’t actually happen that often. There’s a lot of content about products, services, and features. And benefits, we hope. But the best stories don’t focus so much on the company or its offerings – they’re about the customer. When storytelling reflects the audience’s challenges, aspirations and wins, they stop seeing your brand as a faceless organization and start seeing it as a partner that really understands and can deliver something useful.
This is where working with a brand storytelling agency can make a huge difference. Sometimes you just need that outside perspective to help you step back and rediscover the emotional core of your brand — what you stand for and why people should care. A good agency will help you uncover those truths and tell stories that genuinely resonate.
One step CyberTheory takes in branding projects is testing, especially with our CISO Advisory Board. We want to know exactly how this core cybersecurity buyer group will react if they see the proposed branding in the market. And react they do, in fact, they pull no punches in their honest feedback. But it’s the most efficient way to validate the branding before more investments are made.
In the end, it’s not about rattling off stats or company milestones. It’s about real people and real moments, showing how you helped solve a problem or made someone’s day easier.
CyberTheory: How do you evoke emotion through that storytelling — any specific creative advice?
Kelly Herm: It’s a layered approach. We use language, visuals, tone, music, all of it matters. Compelling music paired with strong visuals can be incredibly powerful in AV content, for example.
Interview real people and let their emotions come through naturally. Keep the language conversational and relatable. When it all comes together, viewers walk away thinking, “That’s a company I want to be aligned with.” That’s when authentic brand storytelling really shines. It’s when marketing stops feeling like marketing and starts feeling like a normal, person-to-person connection.
One tip that can immediately uplevel your branding is to aim for simplicity, vs. sounding techy or overly complex. You might have the world’s most complex solution, but the branding itself should be really easy to understand at a glance. Ask yourself: would this work on a billboard if people see it for 3 seconds driving by? Again, the more tech and B2B companies get, the more they trend toward simpler consumer styles in their branding. Apple, Salesforce, and Google are great examples.
Yet that’s one of the core challenges of branding; getting from reams of explanation to the right 7 words on a billboard.
CyberTheory: What other techniques can be used to make a brand more relatable and likable?
Kelly Herm: Community is where brand affinity really thrives. Whether it’s online or in person, creating spaces where customers can connect with each other around your brand and around issues that are important to them can build a favorable impression that lasts. Once you’ve built that environment — and given people tools and support — they start advocating for you naturally. That’s genuine and organic brand advocacy at its best.
You also get an absolute goldmine of marketing intelligence when customers and prospects share real inputs, which can support better decisions for marketing strategy, product roadmaps, campaigns, content and beyond. So community spaces are worth the investment. Just like the user groups in the old days, they still churn out brand champions and brand influencers at an impressive pace, scaled for the digital era.
CyberTheory: What’s the big takeaway? What do you think matters most in building a powerful and relatable brand?
Kelly Herm: Strong brands connect to human needs and values. Technology and tactics will always evolve, but the brands that last are the ones people feel good inviting into their lives. Today’s audiences want to buy from companies that give back, that stand for something, and make a positive impact. It all comes down to empathy, consistency, and authentic brand storytelling that feels human and real.
That consistency part is important too. You can’t just do one campaign and call it done. You have to keep showing up with a good brand personality all the time, so your audience keeps that connection.
That’s how you build a brand people truly care about. Whether through internal brand advocacy programs or partnerships with a brand storytelling agency, it all comes back to the same idea: stay human, stay authentic, and keep the story real.
CyberTheory: For those wanting help with branding, can you summarize what CyberTheory offers?
Kelly Herm: Sure. We start wherever a client is and look at where they want to go. CyberTheory uses multiple research steps to identify clear, unique signals. We analyze ISMG subscriber data, look at keyword and AI activity, and interview SMEs from the client as well as their partners, customers, and others. Then we apply strategy and creative to develop branding options that align with the research.
These are then tested through CyberTheory’s CISO Advisory Board, or other buyer personas when needed. When this validation succeeds, a brand guide is delivered, ready to apply as needed.
CyberTheory: Thank you Kelly!
For More Information
If you’d like to explore a branding project with CyberTheory, contact us today for a free consultation. We can review your needs and goals and provide a proposal suited to your specific situation.
As CyberTheory’s Senior Campaign Manager, Kelly oversees the strategy and execution of multi-channel marketing campaigns, including lead generation, e-nurture programs, research-driven content, and ABM initiatives. She brings strong experience in branding, events, and demand generation, and approaches each project with strategic focus and attention to detail. Kelly holds a degree in Communications from California State University, Fullerton.