That’s the way it used to be. You’d click on a link for one of the design-oriented branding companies and, after a while, the “splash” page would appear with a message to “be patient” while the artwork loads. Then there would be a Flash segment or an animated gif that was neat-looking but pointless. Several minutes and a dose of frustration later you’d have to click on the next link to get to the meat of the brander’s message.

But here are three examples where branding companies have used interactive components to good utility.

My first example is the website for the Brand Identity Guru. It has a lot of gif and flash animation going on, but more functionally, they have provided a game to assess the vitality of your brand. “Is your brand vital?” is an interactive version of “Hangman”. You answer each question as it’s presented and “build” the gallows and its victim for wrong answers. The point is after you find your brand inadequate, you are given the phone number or contact form to contact Brand Identity Guru. They also provide another interactive Brand Strength Test which will also lead you to the last screen: contact us.

Chatwick Communications also provides a quiz format to involve users. They have a Branding IQ test which points out, as you go through each of some 10-12 questions, branding is a vital function in which you are not as expert as you thought you were. Yes, there’s a way to then contact them for help.

My final example is not a survey. It’s a table of branding terms and definitions laid out to simulate the periodic table of elements. The table was created by Kolbrener USA. Through the definitions and color coding, terms are grouped together logically. The definitions appear as you “mouse over” each cell. After a while visitors get the impression that branding is an integral process involving many elements. It’s well done and functional.

Now you could go to my web site and find a lot of valuable information but no interactivity (except downloading). That site, http://www.signaturestrategies.com/, was designed for a slower generation of internet access. But I think it’s time for me to update the site concept and introduce functional interactivity.

Just as soon as I can spare a minute. :0)

Martin Jelsema
303-242-5975

Post from:

Source of info and strongly-held opinions about branding and positioning

Branding related posts:

1. What makes a strong tagline?
2. Naming Tips: Number 25 in a Series
3. Find your niche for long-term growth
4. Naming Tips: number 50 in a series
5. Why taglines go astray

No one says, “I’m a member of the market for pink, hip-hop-toned cell phones”, but they’ll passionately admit to being part of a MySpace community of teen-aged girls who adore Eminem. Networks have common interests and might even have an agenda. They are populated by like-minded and like-motivated individuals. Some “reside” on the Internet and some are locally connected.So our goal in branding and marketing is to become part of selected, relevant networks. Don’t try to “manage” those networks or even manipulate them. Just relate in positive ways. Contribute meaningfully to them. Support them in their common quests to achieve whatever the network represents.

Once members “resonate” with you, once they see your goals are their goals, you build trust, and for some, an obligation to do business with you.

For larger companies with national or global distribution and traditional infrastructures, this will be a significant paradigm shift; one that most will not make even if they so desired. Too much baggage. Too many “old school” practitioners. Too few visionaries.

But small organizations, particularly those oriented to local markets, can surely benefit from thinking in terms of networks. Individual entrepreneurs and franchise operators could certainly embrace marketing to networks.

Here’s an example. If I were a dry cleaner with shops throughout a metro area, I might approach schools about helping to raise money for band uniforms or to finance a bowl trip. If I both contributed to those funds and made my shops collection centers, I’d gain recognition and appreciation. I might even clean uniforms for half-price and clean flags and banners for free. I’d not only gain appreciation from band members and their families, I’d probably get their regular cleaning business as well.

The idea of branding on the Internet takes on greater significance if you wish to explore Web2 and the implications for social networking. Here the possibilities become almost limitless. I’ll be blogging about this phenomenon and how it could affect your branding process in the coming weeks.

Martin Jelsema
303-242-5975

 

Post from:

Source of info and strongly-held opinions about branding and positioning

Branding related posts:

1. Branding for Referrals: Think Networks Instead of Markets
2. Who is the leader of the brand?
3. Sequencing your brand development
4. Branding on the Internet
5. Brand Smart from the Start

To them, the offer is king. Make an enticing offer and back it up with benefits, testimonials bonuses and a great guarantee. Then get that package into the hands of a targeted list of known buyers of similar products and you have the making of a direct response empire.

Thousands of folks are attempting this very formula on the Internet today, and a few are making a darn good living with it. There’s one more aspect to the business model. It’s called the “back end”. That’s where they attempt to sell their first-time customers more related stuff as often as you can. That usually means until the customer get sick and tired of more offers hyping more mediocre ebooks and study courses and they cancel their email association with the marketer.

As a somewhat skeptical student of their methods, I’ve been deluged with email notices, newsletters, RRS feeds and “viral” give-aways promoting these products. And though almost to a person they will tell you they are building relationships with their customers, these “marketers” are really only selling whatever they believe they can foist upon their customer base before those customers become non-customers.

Their concept of building relationships is starting their email with…”Hi Martin, I hope your day is going well. I think the offer below will double your income in a month. Learn the secrets and earn big bucks with this new…” Gag!

But I think things are changing.

Several Internet marketing “gurus” seem to have retrenched and have reconsidered the value of branding as a tool for building and maintaining relationships.

Rich Schefren, one of the most astute Internet coaches around, has been preaching for over a year that Internet marketers need to quit being opportunists. If an Internet marketer is to be more than a “freelance gunslinger”, he/she must build a business that stands for something their customers desire. And branding is one of the major tools to do that through recognition of market needs and desires, company core values attuned to those desires, and a desire and presentation that reflect both. An on-line brand needs to be as strong, as consistent, as unique as a brand for a glass-and-mortar business. 

Now another voice is being heard. Ben Mack, a veteran brand planner with several large ad agencies, has written Think Two Products Ahead. Though not primarily directed at Internet marketers, he launched the book to Internet marketers using some of their favorite devices and methods. Ben deplores the lack of appreciation of branding by small companies. He advocates determining what he calls “brand essence”, which is similar to the “intersection” of “company strengths” and “what customers value” presented by LePla and Parker in their really practical book, Integrated Branding.

Ben describes a process that small businesses, including Internet marketers, can use to develop a brand. It’s practical and fairly easy for a business person to do because Ben has made it his goal to “take the mystery out of branding”.

So for those Internet marketers reading this blog, I suggest paying some attention to establishing long-ranging relationships with your customers through the simple idea of matching your core competencies with customer needs and desires, and do it consistently through branding.

Martin Jelsema
303-242-5975

Post from:

Source of info and strongly-held opinions about branding and positioning

Branding related posts:

1. Can the Brand Short-Circuit Direct Response Sales?
2. A new definition of branding.
3. Branding: a function of strategy
4. Branding an Internet service provider
5. How do you Manage Customer Loyalty?