Branding in a digital world

Rewir branding agency

Topics for today

What is a brand in the digital world?

How do you build brands in a digital world?

A lot has changed but not everything

A brand consists of all opinions, associations and emotions that the surrounding world has to

your name and logotype right now

This has always been true

Ask yourself

Why are some brands…

…loved…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brian-fitzgerald/257377081/

…while others are hated?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fibonacciblue/4657781224/

It’s not because of advertising or communication

Even though those can be a powerful tools

It’s because of the experience they deliver

Think about the most loved brands

They all deliver an experience worth talking about…

…and “word-of-mouth” between friends is the holy grail of building a strong brand

Social media is like putting oil on the fire that is “word-of-mouth”

Some figures…

500 000 000 000Number of minutes spent on Facebook each month

500 000 000 000Number of minutes spent on Facebook each month

233% increase from last year!

24 hoursAmount of video uploaded to Youtube each minute

100% increase from last year!

24 hoursAmount of video uploaded to Youtube each minute

4 000 000 000Number of pictures on Flickr

13x more than the US Library of Congress

27 MillionThe average number of “tweets” per day on Twitter.

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Amount of women in the age between 18-34 that checks Facebook before they go to the toilet in the morning

This changes branding in its foundation

Brand

Before Now

PR

Advertising

Experience

Conversation

Brand

PR

Advertising

Experience

Conversation

Experience Conversation

Great experiences… …create great conversations

Bad experiences… …create bad conversations

An example of greatness…

Zappos is a online store that is absolutely insane about customer service

They call it the WOW philosophy

24/7 Customer service over the phone

365 days return policy

Free shipping both ways

Exerpts from twitter.zappos.com

CEO Tony Hsieh’s best social media tool

Show me the money! Turnover for Zappos

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

200000000

400000000

600000000

800000000

1000000000

1200000000

1400000000

Millions of dollars!

So what happens when it goes wrong?

United breaks guitars!

“Musician Dave Carroll said his guitar was broken while in the airline's custody. He alleged that he and fellow passengers on board a flight plane saw baggage-handling crew throwing guitars on the tarmac in Chicago O'Hare on his flight from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Omaha, Nebraska.

He arrived at his destination to discover that his $3,500 Taylor guitar had indeed suffered a broken neck (shown in his video). Fox News questioned Carroll on why he checked the valuable guitar and Carroll explained that it is difficult to bring guitars onto flights as carry-on luggage”

Dave Carroll did what many other do – complained online

With one difference – he knew how to communicate on the web

The song had a possible direct impact on United’s stock

“The Times newspaper reported [17] that within 4 days of the video being posted online, United Airline's stock price fell 10%, costing stockholders about $180 million in value.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breaks_Guitars

What does this tell us?

Experience Conversation

Experiences matter… …because the world is talking

But not just any experience

They have to be remarkable

They have to be worth sharing

They have to be possible to share

They have to be allowed to be shared

They have to be delivered by everyone

This puts new requirements on companies

1. Your brand must design and create experiences

http://www.flickr.com/photos/t_trace/282175990/

2. Everyone in your company must understand what to deliver to be in line with your brand

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zbowling/2746925285/

3. You need to turn the marketing bullhorn around

http://www.slideshare.net/missrogue/whuffie-at-web-20-expo/

Lemme explain…

Super bowl is THE bullhorn

http://www.slideshare.net/missrogue/whuffie-at-web-20-expo/

4. You need to empower your community

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brazilnut72/2247695138/sizes/l/

5. You need to accept and embrace chaos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3327203671/sizes/l/

Even with eyes closed the chaos is still there

6. Learn the logics and dynamics of social media

So what to do?

A concrete way to approach this world is the customer journey concept

The customer journey is a customer-centric way to look at your company

The concept emphasizes the experience of a brand…

…to create a map for where remarkable experiences should be created for maximum impact

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What actions and interactions do your customers have with your brand?

Both those that are in and out of your control

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How are those interactions delivered, through which channels?

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Which are the most critical interactions, what are the moments of truth?

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Who are delivering the experiences, both in and outside of your organisation?

How remarkable are those interactions and are they in line with your brand?

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Greatness

Negative

Answering these questions creates a map

It helps you to understand where you should focus your efforts

It helps you to understand where to create remarkable experiences

It helps you to understand where digital tools can enhance the experiences

Key conclusion: People are at the centre

And of course also people you don’t control

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcoetzee/3591718222/sizes/l/

So remember this…

The digital tools are just a mean, not an end

Sure, the magic is in the execution but…

…if you don’t know why you are in social media

your customers will not know either

It’s not about digital branding

It’s about branding in a digital world