‘Digital Branding’ – Putting the Cart Before The Horse?

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of references to ‘Digital Branding’.  As a marketing fundamentalist who has remained relevant during the shifting of trends in communications, I ponder whether the juxtapositioning of those words would be more appropriately ‘Branding Digitally’.   The marketing world in which now we live is made up of multiple digital messaging platforms – web, mobile, search engine, CX, e-Commerce, SEO, PPC, social media, and each appeals to a particular side and lobe of our brain.  And all lead to one end game – to simultaneously create brand awareness, and to generate demand plus loyalty for products or services while maximizing the customer experience (CX).

Putting the Cart Before The Horse?  

I often question how we can communicate effectively in digital channels to maximize the impact of technology without having an overarching brand strategy that weaves all content and platforms together.  A strategy that tells a story of brand relevance and purpose and is driven by core values.  One that provides a clear articulation of how employees as brand ambassadors should live and deliver a brand promise every day – at every level in the organization from the front line to the C-Suite.  Where the consumer journey has been anticipated and mapped, and the brand experience consistent at every touch- and decision-point.   What technology affords us – and demands of us – is to leverage this huge opportunity to achieve consistency of underlying message in so many places at the same time.  And that opportunity can only be maximized by employing a well thought, overarching brand strategy that blankets the entire corporate marketing continuum – in particular digital communications.

Some fundamentals just don’t change, although we like to think they do.  They morph.  Twenty years ago, marketers had the tools to deliver the brand message on perhaps a dozen platforms or so.  Advertising, direct, public relations, sales, trade shows come to mind.  The majority of impressions were made mostly with public/passive forms of communication.  While these platforms are still important tools for demand-gen, we now have the ability to create brand awareness and create demand through hundreds of digital platforms – almost simultaneously – in a targeted and individualized way no one could have imagined.

Technology provides marketers with a VERY IMPORTANT new toolbox in their quest to swiftly create brand awareness and demand-gen at every turn in the customer journey.   And this is my point – digital technology is a TOOLBOX.   It cannot supplant a well-informed brand strategy.  Rather, it supports it by offering a broad array of highly personalized tactics that generate demand and deep loyalty while simultaneously creating better consumer journeys and experiences.

So what’s the bottom line here?  If digital demand-gen tactics are not driven by a solid brand strategy and the promise of an astonishing brand experience, that’s money down the drain.   If employees are not informed and motivated by clearly articulated values that help guide them in charting  great consumer journeys and resultant loyalty, that’s money down the drain.   

In my next blog entry, I’ll write about a famous brand that lost its way.  Before it could maximize its use of technology and reaffirm its commitment to the ultimate customer experience, this category leader had to return to its branding basics.  Stay tuned for – Starbucks – Where Necessity Became The Mother Of Disruptive Reinvention.