by
Tim Singer, VP, Design Director
Whatever you’re doing, it’s (probably) not enough.
As marketers, we’ve officially evolved from an age of crafting one-way messages and clever one-liners promoting monolithic brand identities to an age of building tools for grassroots brand ambassadors. It’s no longer enough to have a big brand promise that you merely push in front of as many eyeballs as you can afford.
Traditional marketing and branding methods do still work to a degree (think about all the hype around those Super Bowl ads), but it’s an incomplete and dated approach if it fails to truly engage the audience beyond that initial (and often costly) impression. “That was really cool, but now what?” Those methods are now just role players in what needs to be a much bigger digitally-centric, peer-driven, personalized social marketing ecosystem. Where are you going to send them? That destination needs to be digital. And with a world of choices and distractions literally at the user’s fingertips, it’s less about what you’re selling, and more about “What’s in it for me?” That’s the challenge of 21st century branding in this digital age.
To be clear, even thinking “digital” means so much more than it did just a few years ago. Building a website and driving traffic by blasting out banner ads or doing SEO and SEM is now just cost-of-business – and really just mirrors the old methods of “push” media. Those tactics fail to address and understand the shifting brand attitudes of users who now want, need and expect to engage with a brand via a custom experience that delivers real value. Otherwise, they can and will leave or simply forget about you in a heartbeat to chase after the next shiny object.
Share the love.
Today, nothing sells or promotes a brand like peer-to-peer endorsement, ease of access, and the simple joy of interaction. Case in point: my kids had a full-fledged brand experience in my kitchen because Converse built an online tool that allows them to customize their sneakers. It was like a game to them. They became so attached to the idea of the final product that they emailed their “designs” to their grandmother, they saved the order in a wish list and they printed out to share their creations with friends at school. They could have taken it even further with all the social platforms at our disposal, but they’re still a bit young to venture into all of that just yet. Still, it’s not difficult to see how this new form of branding is a game-changer, where the end user has a personalized experience, develops a deeper attachment to the brand and then feels compelled — and empowered — to spread the word. And they didn’t even have to leave their home or get out of their PJs!
Ultimately, you need to develop a holistic communications strategy that considers all touchpoints — online and offline — so there is one consistent voice and experience that takes advantage of the right platform for the right audience. And you also need to build and grow that experience from one platform to the next: from their laptop to their smart phone to the store to their mailbox to their inbox to their friends’ FB wall or Pinterest board, and so on.
So where does this transformation begin? There are some fundamental principles to 21st Century Branding that should be honored and heeded.
Expectations are high. Loyalty is low.
Legacy brands (you know: old school brands that are household names) will lose their luster if their digital experience doesn’t reinforce, invigorate and build on the history of their brand. There are no digital laurels to rest on. Over time those brands will become beautiful cars that stay in the garage because they’re not actually enjoyable to “drive.” There may be some nostalgia, but no engagement. Users today expect custom, personalized brand experiences. Anything less is soon dismissed and forgotten.
The experience is the message.
So what does this mean to brands out there clamoring for attention and relevance in the digital landscape? It means that the User Experience is the Brand Experience. In other words, the Experience is the Message. It’s having conversation. It’s about sharing a journey. And if you deliver true value along the way, they’re more than happy to spread the word — so you also need to make it easy for them to be heard by giving them tools that empower them to become brand ambassadors. It’s not about pushing a message carefully crafted by Agency X, it’s about reaching and engaging an audience at their convenience, weaving your brand seamlessly into their lifestyle and providing true value and/or delight.
Turn up their volume, not your own.
Amplify your brand with smarts. Your users have their own voices, they have the platforms and they have their own, distinct audiences. And most importantly, they have an innate desire to share. So help them be heard. Give them the opportunity to naturally become your brand’s best ambassadors. Craft integrated user-centric experiences that deliver real value and delight instead of just creating digital “brochure-ware” to push messages.
Proceed with caution. And be transparent.
Beware of stunts. It’s important to understand that details like quality, customer service, etc. matter more than ever. If you try to “spin” your way in or around the conversation, be aware that all Bullshit Detectors™ are on full alert. McDonald’s had the recent misfortune of trying to be something they are not. Convenient? Sure. Cheap? Absolutely. Farm fresh? Not so much. Yes, their Twitter campaign offers the opportunity to talk and exchange ideas — but they put something out there that the audience could not relate to. As a brand, you should absolutely be aware of and join the conversation. But don’t make the mistake of trying to control the conversation. Twitter writes the new headline — it may be about you, but it’s not your own and you certainly can’t control it. Transparency is the new spin.
One size does not fit all.
Instagram might be the perfect channel for Levis to launch a casting call, but would that make sense for Banana Republic? I don’t think so. Each new social channel carries a brand of its own that needs to be a fit and if you’re not careful, your presence may seem inappropriate or downright intrusive. There’s a fine line between being a welcome presence that is accepted with enthusiasm and a “foreign” or forced presence that is met with skepticism — like when McDonald’s tried creating a twitter trend about farming.
Deja Vu all over again.
In a way, none of this is really new or profound. What’s old is new again – at least in terms of human behavior. We like to be heard. We like to share our opinion. We like to influence others. We love a unique, custom experience. And we love it when we’re given a platform to do all that. What is new is just how empowered the end user is — and feels entitled to that power of choice and expression. The idea of influencing your friends, voicing your opinion, sharing tastes, critiquing, endorsing, etc. merely has a platform now. What were once guerilla or word-of-mouth fringe communication techniques have now taken center stage.