It has been believed that Consumers start at the wide end of a funnel with many brands in mind and then narrow them down to a final choice. Businesses have traditionally used strategic marketing to build awareness and move consumers through the buying cycle. Today’s consumers however, are assaulted by media and awash in choices, and often have a reduced set of brands they consider at the outset, and expand them further on. Typically, they’ll add new brands to the set and discard some of the originals as they learn more and their selection criteria shift. With modern technology and savvy consumers, there are a few things organisations should take into account when working on their branding strategy.
The Importance of a Name
Based on what we know about SEO and names, the complexity of naming a product or a company has gone up a thousand fold in recent times. Google recognizes when a search query involves a particular entity, and if the entity can be associated with a specific web site, it might show multiple results for that site. As SEO by the Sea pointed out, search results on a search for “Hawaii”, might now include segmented sections involving different aspects of the entity “Hawaii,” such as “beaches,” “hotels,” and “weather.”
This all means a company has to get its name in synch with its SEO strategy.
Instant Feedback
Organizations should view instantaneous feedback from consumers as an asset, something that enables them to deliver what consumers really want when they want it.
Take Google’s purpose: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” This language clearly and compellingly tells the world why it needs Google, what value Google brings to the world, and how Google is different from every other organization on the planet. With a complete understanding of its purpose, consumers can anticipate what their relationship with Google will be, both now and in the future. As long as it sticks to its mission and doesn’t do anything “off-brand,” Google will always be relevant whether we interact with the brand on- or offline in the future.
The biggest stories are always the ones infused with personal experience and raw emotion. In a world where a customer can tweet about a product as influential as a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, it makes sense to engage in a real-time dialogue with your customers and co-authors of your brand story. “My Charity Water” does just that by creating humans, their profile and say why this love is important to them, what fund-raising even more personal and inspiring. Fans feedback can be a contribution, a piece of fan fiction, parodies of ads and web pages or entire blogs.