Branding in a Digital Age - Marshall Kingston

Marshall Kingston Presentation ©

Branding inA Digital Age

In this presentation we examine the pitfalls of digital marketing and how it’s easy to forget that essentially

marketing communication is about how people interact with products emotionally. In the race to tick a list of

required channels and create ‘sharable content’, many brands are still forgetting that the principles of branding

still apply@kingstograms

in/marshallkingston

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Presentation By Marshall Kingston

mailto:[email protected]


TIMELINE

1990First commercial

dial up connection

1984

Internet was founded 2016

NOW

1993

First web browser

\

1999

First mobile internet

1998Google

established

2004Facebook Launched

\

2013

First 4G mobile

Slide Notes:

• A brief timeline of the

origins of the internet

until now. (roughly 30

years).

• The past 30 years the

internet has upended

how consumers engage

with brands. What was

only imaginable became

feasible. Suddenly

brands could talk to

consumers directly,

small consumer

segments could be

targeting and we could

measure response with

incredible accuracy.

• This new type of

engagement changed

the very economics of

marketing, making many

functions and traditional

marketing strategies

completely redundant.


HOLY GRAIL

Slide Notes:

• It appears that digital

marketing was and is a

holy grail. Something

that has not only

changed marketing

forever but also our

lives.

• Media buying and share

of voice has become

significantly more

democratised.

• Brands are able to

engage consumers with

more intimate and

powerful ways then ever

be


TIMELINE

1990First commercial

dial up connection

1984

Internet was founded 2016

NOW

1993

First web browser

\

1999

First mobile internet

1998Google

established

2004Facebook Launched

\

2013

First 4G mobile

Slide Notes:

• Every year Intrabrand

release a list of the 100

top most valuable

brands in the world.

How many brands would

you think are in the top

100 from this time

line….. Just 6.

• Over the past 30 years

we have revelled in the

changing landscape of

marketing but there

appears there is a

disparity, a chasm

between the new age of

digital and creating great

brands….


CHANGE IS NEITHER GOOD

NOR BAD, IT SIMPLY IS

Don Draper

QUOTE

Slide Notes:

• So while many would

like to leave the

marketing age of Don

draper and in 1950’s, I

believe that in reality,

despite all of this

changes we have gone

through over the past 30

years,…. marketing and

people are essentially

the same.

• We are creatures

creatures of habit,

emotions and values.


MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

#NEVERTRUMP

Slide Notes:

• I'm hoping to show you

through somewhat of an

unlikely example,

Donald Trump has

shown this to be true.

• He has been able to

create a presidential

campaign that has won

the hearts of millions of

republicans and

changed the very

premise of a presidential

campaign, not based on

merit, or polices but

based on marketing.

• He does this in so many

ways, but I going to give

you 3 important

elements that he uses:


Slide Notes:

• Firstly Simplicity….

• Donald Trump does not

try to convince people

through elaborate

arguments, and details.

He leaves an impact by

keeping his message

simple and

understandable.


word incompetent. Now I just call them

Donald Trump

QUOTE

Slide Notes:

• If you think that’s his

natural vocabulary

you’re wrong, Trump

uses repetition, short

sentences, he repeats

himself constantly ad

uses the most basic

form of a word instead

of nuances.

• Our tendency is to think

that consumers are

becoming more verse,

well read and want the

cold hard facts. But

simplicity is actually

more memorable, more

comprehendible and

more compelling to the

decision processing part

of our brain.


VERY NOISY WORLD, AND WERE NOT GOING TO GET A CHANCE

FOR PEOPLE TO REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT

US, NO COMPANY IS.Steve Jobs

QUOTE

Slide Notes:

• This has not changed, in

fact its got worse - there

are more brands vying

for our attention, through

more channels and

touch points.

• In a recent survey of

7000 consumers by

Harvard they looked at

the decision making

path to purchase. 60%

of respondents made

little to no diligence in

their decision making

process with 30% going

straight for one brand

without consideration.

• See:

https://hbr.org/2012/05/

what-do-consumer-

really-want-s

https://hbr.org/2012/05/what-do-consumer-really-want-s


MYTH 1

Slide Notes:

• And here inlys myth

number one.

Consumers aren’t

getting more

complicated and savvy

as they have more

access to information

and brands.

• We have what is called

cognitive overload….

cognitive overload is

why adults have trends

like adult colour books.

• We are overloaded by

choice and information.

Brands relentless efforts

to engage us with

complicated messages

and information means

that all we want is to

make life easier, make

decisions easier and

anchor to the simplest

information available.


EMOTION“What can be simpler or more accurately stated? The

Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases,

criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.”Donald Trump

Slide Notes:

• Donald Trump never

responds to a factual

question with a rational

argument. No, he

rationalises his views

with antidotes and

stories. When someone

ask about how he's

going to build a wall, he

responds with what he

has seen at the Mexican

boarded,

• He uses fear, he uses

straight, but most of all

he communicates

hope…. “make America

great again”…. hope of

something greater to

come.

• Although lots of brands

are trusted or liked

many fail to align

themselves with

emotions that drive

consumer behaviour,

especially online.


Slide Notes:

• Nike don’t sell shoes

they sell self

empowerment, one of

our deepest and

powerful emotional

beliefs.


WHY:Inspire everyone to be great athletes

HOW:Create products that make people feel motivated

WHAT:Sells products that are trendy, stylish, affordable and performance enhancing

Our why : Inspire Greatness

Slide Notes:

• This is a why, how, what

wheel, this is like the

basics of brand

development. But what

so many people get

wrong is that they just fill

in each part… coming

up with a what and a

how and a why.

• Donald trump created a

why…. A reason for

believing, he aligned his

whole campaign

consumers emotional

and the how ad the what

fell out of that.

• In the same way Nike

did the same. They

created a why and the

how and the what fell

out of that.


Slide Notes:

• If Nike had started with

the how or the what,

they may have come up

with content like this…


Slide Notes:

• But they produce

content like this….

• If you cant figure out the

why of your brand its

unlikely consumers will.


MYTH 2

Slide Notes:

• Myth number 2.

• Interaction does not equal

engagement. So much of

the time we create content

that leads to lots of

interaction but so much of

the time we are never

building an emotional

engagement with that

person.

• In a study by Harvard, they

measured the emotional

engagement of consumers

with 40 of the worlds top

brands and Facebook

came out bottom of that

list.

• You can be ubiquitous, you

can be famous, you can be

liked, you can be shared

but that doesn’t mean you

have emotionally engaged

with your consumers.

• See:

https://hbr.org/2015/11/the-

new-science-of-customer-

emotions

https://hbr.org/2015/11/the-new-science-of-customer-emotions


BRAND CONFIDENCE

“We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning.”

Donald Trump

Slide Notes:

• When Trump says he is

going to build a wall and

Mexico and he is going

to pay for it, he says it

with such conviction that

it seems plausible.

• Although confidence is

rarely talked about when

it comes to marketing, it

is one of the most

attractive attributes a

brand can have.

• When someone is

confident it makes us

believe that there is an

underlying foundation

for that confidence.

• Confidence is insatiable

to human nature. We

always want to be on

the winning team.


Slide Notes:

• Confidence is what

allows brands like

tommy hilfger to make a

billboard like this.


UNAPOLOGETICALLY

Jony Ive’s

QUOTE

Slide Notes:

• Or allows Apple to say

this in their keynote

speech for IPhone 5c


Slide Notes:

• Or brands like

Patagonia to create ads

like this about its own

jackets.


MYTH 3

Slide Notes:

• Myth No.3

• We believe that digital

marketing has created a

democratised version of

branding - that brands

are no longer controlled

by brand owners, they

are shared with

consumer who interact

with them, talk about

them and have an

opinion on them.


"ACCORDING TO ME" IS THE ONLY "ACCORDING TO" THAT MATTERS.

Harvey Spector

QUOTE

Slide Notes:

• For example, If we as an

individual were wavering

in our behaviour, habits

or values because of

what other people

though about us we

would probably be seen

as week, fake or

shallow.

• So although consumers

have perceptions of your

brand and have the

ability to change your

popular image, It should

never change your

underlying believes,

values or personality.

• If you let others shape

your brand personality

you will eventually

become bland.

• Donald trump does not

set out to please

everyone.


MAKE BRANDSGREAT AGAIN

Slide Notes:

• Donald trump has not

ran a great digital

campaign, but what he

has done is tapped Into

something deeper.

• Digital Marketing is a a

leap forward but we

must be careful not to

get caught in the allure

of direct response

results and immediate

return on investment

measures

• Value consumers values

and your brand will

create better content,

more engagement and

better loyalty. Build

better brand equity and

you will build a brand for

the Future.