We as marketers know, (if you
don’t, you should) that branding is a critical component in achieving success.
We’re using the traditional approach of listening and providing the customer
with a solution for his needs, but are constantly evolving and focusing a lot more on branding.
Branding is much more than just adding
a recognizable logo, having a catchy slogan or standing out from the
competition. Nowadays, this phenomenon is about creating a long-lasting
relationship with someone who knows little or nothing about you, and
transforming them into a loyal customer who trusts and loves your company.
The strength of a brand -also known as brand equity - will affect this. And because the
internet is such an important part of our everyday lives, branding on the web
is much more important. Our mission has become a lot easier due to the fact
that the internet allows customers to have an increased level of brand awareness
and makes them quicker to act than traditional mass-media. This doesn’t mean
that the same marketing principles don’t apply anymore. On the contrary; a customer
passes through the same stages – awareness, familiarity, trust, commitment- but
a lot faster because of the internets advantage of being highly interactive, engaging
and able to personalize communication.
Creating an online brand
The resources and efforts required
for a good branding campaign are quite high. That’s why there are guidelines
that should be followed for a better end-result. The most important ones are:
- Emphasize the quality and mission of the company. You will want to implement an image or reputation that stands out and is respected.
- Research your customer and engage him through the use of signage, advertising and online personality.
- Find the right balance between advertising-marketing and customer relationships.
- Continuously manage and control available information about your products or company.
It is becoming clear that people
are making choices and develop attitudes towards certain brands based on the
material they find online. This issue can be handled in several ways. The first
would be to create and spread your own relevant content, or by letting the
users come up with the information - reviews, discussions or blog posts - and handle that content accordingly with the
use of marketing tools such as search engine optimization.
As a conclusion, it is fair to say
that branding is a highly complex process if it’s done right, but it is vital
for any type of business because the targeted consumers are always changing and
develop new needs that need to be addressed. 
Branding is indeed a critical and one of the most important factors which determines the level of success in any business. So as marketer, it is very importantto apply due delegent to brand Awareness Campaigns or branding. You made a strong point that branding is far beyond just the attractive logo, or great slogan.the quality of customer services, customer relationship, the capicity and willingness to meet costumer's specific need in a specific time, the quality of products or services are all parts of branding, and they play major roles in determine brand equity or strength.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the insight.
Theo
I appreciate your feedback,Theo. I'd just like to say that the awareness campaigns are a little bit different. You need to have the branding process completed before you can start to get exposure for your company.
DeleteHunor.
love the point about how branding is more about the logo and slogan, could not be more accurate. branding is the first impression to your possible consumers. I also agree with your point about the constant change of needs by consumers. Needs change with the daily lives of consumers, businesses have to keep up with the times in order to achieve business goals.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right, Sam. Branding is just facilitating a first impression. And after this first impression, companies need to stay in control, therefore they go through a re-branding process. A good example is Adidas, or more recently the Sony-Ericsson phone company.
DeleteExcellent insight. Does anyone know what the 4 elements of a brand are?
ReplyDelete1) Brand uniqueness (how your product or service is different than any other similar product or service)
Delete2) Brand Awareness and what takes place in the target audience's minds about your product/service.
3) How effective and clear to the audience is the message being passed by a company.
4) promise value: as in what your product or service delivers to customers.(keeping your promises and delivering them on to customers).
Great Post! Online branding is a cost effective way to advance your brand. Being online will allow a brand to strengthen their relationship with their target markets anywhere in the world.
DeleteWeb branding is defiantly a key element to the success of any company or corporation. Creating high quality web branding translates into increased web traffic, increased revenue, and will impact the rank of your company website via search engine search results.
ReplyDeleteI really like the point you made regarding the importance of creating long lasting relationships with customers through web branding. Consumers use to be satisfied by businesses due to high quality products/services being sold at low pricing points. Consumer's today are looking for more than just a good quality product at a low price. You are right when you say consumers want companies that they can trust, and they also want to be involved and have interactive relationship with the companies
here is an interesting link about the importance of web branding....http://schipul.com/articles/why-your-web-site-needs-consistent-branding/
Great read Hunor, cheers.
Brad
Indeed the customer relationships are most important because just like Sam wrote earlier, branding helps give the first impression. And usually the first impression is the one that counts and lasts in time.
DeleteRegarding the link, it was informative and thorough. I didn't go into so much detail in my post because the textbook covers part of it.
Thank you.
Hunor
Brand do bring a lot of benefit for product, especially some famous goods ranking in the top of catogory. However, unlike tangiable subject, virtual online brand may need a new pack of law and supervision system to protect it developing healthily and justly.
ReplyDeleteWeb branding is one of the most important aspects within branding as a whole. Before the web was as big as it is today, a person would need to buy the product or know someone who has bought it to develop an aversion or love for a brand. Now, if web branding isn't done right, a customer can go online and in ten minutes they can hate or love a brand. It's extremely important to get branding right on the web.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting and informative read. I liked the fact that you pointed out that branding is more than just a logo but it is about building a lasting relationship with the consumer. Nice job, Hunor.
Dusan
Branding can sell your product by just the brand name itself. For example Nike can buy cheap blank t shirts for 1$ a shirt and put the Nike logo on it and sell it for 20$ plus because people will pay that dollar to purchase the Nike product. Good Job
ReplyDeleteI don't completely agree with that. You can do an excellent job with branding, but if your product doesn't live up to the expectations you promise, the consequences can be significant.
DeleteBut yeah, in-trend products such as Nike, Adidas,etc., are sold mainly because of the branding.
You both are right, Brand power has the ability to influence the purchase of products but only to a certain point. I also think the price point of the product and the functionality of the product undergoing a purchasing decision by a consumer plays a significant role in the consumers opinion on the brand. For example If i wanted to purchase a good quality vaccum cleaner with good reviews and a strong brand identity i would most likely purchase a Dyson. My expectations would be alot higher purchasing a Dyson than a hoover vacuum because of the Dyson's reputation, the functionality, and pirce point of their products. But if for some reason the DYson has a defect of some sort and i am not satisfied with the model i purchased, that is when brand power and identity as Hunar said does not matter any more, and the consquences could be significant.
Deletecheers
As Christina stated in our last class, "trust can take years to build but just seconds to break". Consumers want to feel not just like they are a customer but that the company actually cares about them as a person. If web branding is done wrong just like Dusan stated above, the customer can go on the site and either hate or love a brand. The company or marketing team needs to make sure that they have the same marketing message through all types and forms of their advertising.
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely an interesting read, I enjoyed reading it and learning a little bit more about web branding. Very well done
Branding on the web is definitely a key element.
DeleteReferring to the point you and Dusan made, I do believe that it doesn't have the power (yet) to completely make or break the perception of a customer. It can however, tip the scale into a positive or negative direction.
Thanks for reading.
A marketer must be careful when implementing a branding strategy for their comapny/or product. It's going to represent how the consumers protray your company, and the light they see them in. if one can successfully grow cusomer relationships and establish a good branding image with a target market, it will certainly be easier to keep the consumers coming back, and can also successfully gather new potential customers. Great read.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the last statement about new needs that need to be addressed we also talked about how websites should not be static. The same way that consumers are changing their wants and needs, their preferences, and likes and dislikes, the website will need to be constantly changing to keep up with these changes in the target market's attitudes.
ReplyDeleteCreating and managing a more dynamic website can be more costly and time consuming, but this will create space that consumers are more willing to remain on and click around.
Great post!
ReplyDeleteI just finished the book No Logo by Naomi Klein and I thought I would give some info on the backstory of branding because I thought it was interesting. Highly recommend picking it up if you have the chance.
Branding first started in the 1880s when corporate logos were introduced such as Campbell's Soup, Heinz pickles and Quaker Oats cereal. Logos were actually tailored to evoke familiarity and folksiness, (think Aunt Jemima.) It was an effort to replace the anonymity of packaged goods. So in other words to replace the shopkeeper as an advocate for the product you were purchasing. I find it interesting that still, to this day, controversy lies between whether to support your local community and independent grocers, storekeepers, etc. or whether to "sell out" with the larger brands.
I definitely agree with you when you state that the logo and slogan is what makes up the brand. Consumers can not think about a brand if they don't have anything to think about when they hear the brand name. When they can associate a logo or slogan with a name, then they have a bigger idea of what your brand may be about.
ReplyDeleteBranding on the internet is really important because it helps a brand to get recognized by the people and they learn more about the brand, through this way people become aware of a business and continue to work with you. Through Branding you even build Brand loyalty which one of the most important consumer aspects of any business which helps the users to remain loyal to your brand and pick you over others in the market.
ReplyDeleteAs the number of internet users are steadily increasing,The benefits of using the website to promote your brand becomes more advantageous for marketers,therefore marketers should focus on how to design a good website that could meet customers requirements, so that people can move from the awareness stage to the action stage quickly.
ReplyDelete