BRANDDIGITAL
DRAFT of BRANDDIGITAL
Adblog activity – Master 1 – Advertising major – Cyrille Horper – IHECS
1.Bibliographical information
ADAMSON, Allen P.
2008 Branddigital. Simple Ways Top Brands Succeed in the Digital World, (foreword by David Kirkpatrick), New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 274p.
Blurb
The digital era enables customers to get information in a fast and simple way : It has never been so easy to get in contact with a client or a customer, and the Internet has given a large range of possibilities to present, get, analyse and compare huge amounts of data.
Smart marketers have taken these opportunities and include them now in their branding strategies.
If you want your company to be part in the digital space, this book gives you the most important points that have to be considered before, while and after creating your online presence.
2.Purpose of the book
Allen P. Adamson has written this book for two reasons. He first wanted to show that the major rules of marketing have not transformed or changed in the digital space, they have been magnified by the digital era. They are the same as before the proliferation of the Internet, but they are now stronger than ever before.
Then, Adamson intended to show that every company should use the new instruments of the digital era in order not just to give information to their customers, but also to get new insights about their customers and visitors, and to control what’s being said about their companies on the Internet.
3.Gist of the contents
The book is structured in two parts : in the first part, the author explains that the truths of branding have been magnified. He gives the most important points of marketing and shows how these points have become stronger in the digital space. It explains how an existing company should or could use the Internet in the most effective way. In the second part, Adamson demonstrates how it is possible to build a brand in the digital world. This part is focused on the way your company should work according to your online strategy.
Here’s a list of the main subjects presented in both parts :
The Importance of Gaining Superior Costumer Insight
In the 1920s, Procter & Gamble sent a dozen observers throughout the USA in order to watch how housewifes were using products in their houshold. Nowadays, a company can get more detailed insights about their customers and/or their target group in a far more efficient way. The rule is simple : the more you know about these people, the best you can reach them.
The Importance of Relevant Differentiation
This old rule is still in service, and the digital era has magnified it : even on the internet, your presence has to be « different » from those of your competitors. But it’s not only the content and the visual of your website that matters. There are other manners to differentiate your brand from the others : -Does your website enables its visitors to get in touch with the brand and/or a person from the company ? Does it give the possibility to share information, e.g. in a forum or chatroom ? Does the website offer tools to faciliate something ?
The Importance of Delivering on your Brand Promise
If you don’t get what you’ve been promised you’re annoyed or angry. This point is far more important since the appearance of the Internet : people get more information. They know what your brand stands for and public opinion got more weight due to the raising number of forums, websites and so on. So do not come with a slogan that doesn’t correspond to the reality ! Dell delivered a bad service to one of its customers. The person then created a website called DellHell, and through word of mouth it became a very bad connotation for the brand. On the other side, if you deliver more than expected, your cutomers will become « brand evangelists » : a positive kind of buzz !
The Importance of a Single Idea
Every brand-related activity and behavior of your company, from advertising to product design to customer service should follow one single idea. Example : Apple has sold millions of iPods, not because the fruity company delivers the best mp3-players (players from other brands have the same efficiency and functionality). They succeeded in selling this by showing simplicity : the player is simple to use, the packaging is completely white (the headphones,too…), and the point of sales look pleasant and not overloaded with products. A whole community has been built around this idea !
The Importance of a Clear Brand Voice
The company has some kind of relationship with its customers. Use who instead of what. Try to build a strong relationship with your clients. The website economist.com shows its « voice » by giving the people the possibility to react to an article and discuss about it. A journalist plays the role of the mediator. So, economist.com shows that it is open-minded and ready for all kinds of discussions !
The Importance of Following the Customer’s Journey
Analyse the way your customers get in touch with your brand : before they buy your product (where do they get information ?), while they buy it (do they come to your shop without a plan or idea, or do they come after the decision of buying something ?), and after it (customer service).
The author wanted to create a book that is easy to understand, full with concrete examples and interviews of marketers. It is not a book for ex-cathedra-teaching, but invites the reader to go online and watch the compaigns described in the chapters.
5.Relevance for my professional future
I’ve always been interested in creating websites, but this book doesn’t show how to create one – it goes further by describing how to create a whole concept, including online branding. This approach enables me to have a look into specific points without forgeting the others, keeping a general overview.
6.Regrets & Personal considerations
Although the book is worth reading, I was annoyed to feel that some chapters looked more like a repetition of points that have already been discussed : the second part is definitely too long and less enjoyable.
However, this book shows how important it is to observe what is happening on the Internet, and how people behave online. Nobody would deny that this is the place of the future. It is quite strange that our school (especially our advertising department) hasn’t adapted its lectures to this reality…
7.Information worth remembering
The whole book is based on one fact, and this point shouldn’t be forgotten : all the rules of branding have not changed since the proliferation of the Internet, they have been magnified and are now more important than never before…
8.Keywords
Online branding, social marketing, permission marketing
