Branding's click and mortar

OBAMA's ONLINE CAMPAIGN  BRAND MARKETING

Building a successful brand is a long-term strategy, requiring substantial investment and resources. Well-managed brands in the world of bricks and mortar have gone through a brand building process that has evolved to become more strategic and sophisticated due to the myriad of competitive brands available to a discerning target audience.

In the last few years we have seen the rise of successful companies which have built, not only their brand awareness, but also brand equity through online platforms. Google is one example. With no traditional advertising to start off with, the Google brand popped up out of nowhere and built its brand purely through word of mouth communication and online brand experience. The search engine did not have the benefit of first mover advantage but it managed to position itself successfully as the smarter search engine. In a recent global brands audit conducted by Interbrand, Google, which started operations in 1998, was ranked number ten with US$25.6 billion in brand value in a just ten years. In comparison Coca Cola, which ranks number one, is worth US$66.7 billion and has been built over 122 years.

Another success story that has built solid brand equity via online channels is one that has received relentless publicity and coverage in the past 12 months - Barack Obama's online campaign. One particular part of this campaign to help Obama win the United States presidency was out to motivate critical swing voter blocks in the battleground state of Florida, which was identified to be vital because of its high population of elderly Jews.

What this individual campaign did was to create an online grassroots movement to engage Jewish grandchildren as conduits to educate their grandparents about Obama. Their solution consisted of an online community and a viral film hosted by Sarah Silverman, a popular television presenter. The main mechanics consisted of TheGreatSchlep.com website, a Great Schlep Facebook group and heaps of Great Schlep-branded merchandise. The campaign generated the highest elderly Jewish votes in 30 years and Obama built his brand, virtually. According to BusinessInsider.com, Obama's spend on the internet was surprisingly low at US$8 million. That's just 3% compared to the USS245million he spent on television advertising. Clearly he wouldn't have spent such a colossal sum on television if it wasn't necessary and effective.

The success of building brand awareness and equity online was something that was unheard of a mere decade ago. But that was before the success of online platforms and social networking sites. Consumers didn't live online during the dot.com era but they do now. They now "hang out", converse, play and communicate in real time on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk and other social networking sites, and have grown used to the various click-and-mortar brands.

Can any product build brand equity via the online channel alone? I would say that it actually depends on how closely the product or service is positioned in order to serve a lifestyle need. Some advertisers or brands would have an easier go at building something up than others. Travelocity, Air Asia, Zuji and Asia Travel are good examples of lifestyle services that have built phenomenal brand presence and equity online. Click-to-travel is now part and parcel of the urbanite's lifestyle.

Other products on the other hand, have used the click-and-mortar approach to not only capture the hearts and minds of their existing consumers but have also leveraged on online platforms to reach out to the new generation so that the brand continues to evolve when their target audience grows up. The ubiquitous Coke brand remains as one of the most successful and innovative brands in the world today and has used traditional media in the early days to build its brand and later, captured the hearts of youths through online platforms. Its ongoing brand innovation continues to reinforce its position of leadership in the soft drinks category.

So, how do you decide whether online brand strategies work in your favour? Essentially, it is important to understand what appeals to your target consumers; their needs, tastes, and what they look for. Acknowledge their presence online and understand how and when your brand can be relevant to them. Customise to their needs by understanding not only where they live and play but also how they live and play. It is important to keep in mind that not all brands are suited for online branding alone because at the end of the day building brand equity, like building a brand promise, is about the ability to communicate your brand and generating emotional connection and we all know that this cannot be built by sheer online presence. It involves other aspects of marketing platforms such as public outreach, media relations and of course, the good old human touch.

To build solid, blue-chip brand equity, one would require the marketing trinity of click, brick and mortar.  These, along with other essentially materials, would establish even more concrete emotional connections and loyalty with consumers.

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