Brand New

The internet has brought so many new challenges to companies when it comes to branding and online reputations. Branding online has become an interactive experience that blurs the line between advertisement and entertainment. Consumers are encouraged to participate in dialogue. The internet has made it easier for organizations to target the audience that they want to communicate with.

Online presence equals to brand awareness. Developing a strong online presence and paying attention to your overall online branding increases both positive customer experience and search engine results. Your reputation is online identity and you can gain leads from enhancing your online presence.

Online branding has become a must and has increasing become popular over traditional resources. With traditional media, the messages are sent out to the world no matter what level of trust and interest the company has previously generated. The Internet allows communication based on where each prospect is in the four stages of the relationship-building process. 

Prospects pass through several stages before embracing a relationship with a company:

• Awareness – The consumer can recognize the name of the company.
• Familiarity – The prospect acquires an appreciation of the products or services offered, and various  related features.
• Trust – The customer becomes motivated to purchase a product or service because of the perceived benefits derived from particular features.
• Commitment - A transaction occurs. The prospect and the company are no longer strangers. Both comprehend something about each other, hopefully encouraging many repeated exchanges.

Coca Cola provides a great example of an online experience that builds their relationship with the teenage market. Coca Cola has developed a digital online campaign targeted towards teens called the “AHH Effect”.  The Ahh effect is supposed to generate a feeling of happiness, satisfaction and delicious refreshment one experiences after drinking Coca Cola. The digital experiences include games and films. The campaign consists of 61 URL’s, 25 are designated for user generated content. Coca-Cola is awarding those URLs to teens who submit their own creative interpretations of what AHH means to them.

“Digital, social & mobile are re-writing the rules of marketing. We can no longer have one-way brand to fan communications -- instead the brand must facilitate true fan experiences to drive engagement,” said Pio Schunker, senior vice president of integrated marketing communications, Coca-Cola North America Group. “This campaign is the next step in our evolution of Coca-Cola’s marketing innovation. The notion erupted in 2012 when the iconic Coke Polar Bears watched the Big Game with millions of fans from their arctic living room, then millions more logged on to help 'Gamify' the Big Game with the Showgirls, Badlanders and Cowboys earlier this year. Now, we hope the AHH Effect will reach a new generation of Coca-Cola fans using the right content in just the right digital context.”

Coca-Cola is partnered with some of teens’ favorite online destinations to drive engagement in the campaign. Alloy Digital, Break Media, Vevo and Smosh each will be featured in “The AHH Effect” sites. The Company also has designed specific experiences in association with customer partners, including “Slurpee^® Sucker” and “Can Cans” with 7-Eleven, Inc., “Fry Choir” with McDonalds and “Mobile AHH Giver” with Target.

Companies of every size can benefit from online reputation management. Tim Leberecht explains in his Ted video 3 ways to (usefully) lose control of your brand, that your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room. Hyper connectivity and transparency allow companies to listen and join the conversation. Openness is paramount. Opening up to criticism and feedback has been beneficial to companies that openly communicate with their consumers. Transparency means giving employees and customers more control to talk about product and services publicly, establishing a one on one communication channel, asking for feedback, and responding to criticism effectively. Transparency is risky but if done well, this elicits more trust, satisfaction, and loyalty from each customer.

The internet provides several tools to increase brand awareness. A corporate blog could enhance visibility to your brand. A blog is interactive and engaging and can help build relationships with customers. A blog can easily be linked to several social media sites, multiplying visibility to your brand. Regular interactions on social networks are important to business success.

Branding isn’t just for companies anymore. A new trend called personal branding has evolved and is essential to personal achievement. Personal branding involves managing perceptions effectively and controlling and influencing how other perceive you. Having a strong personal brand is important in today's online and digital age. Taking control of how others perceive you online has become increasingly essential and is the key to personal success. A personal brand must be authentic. The world's most successful people like Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson and Bill Gates thrive off of their personal brands.

Marie Forleo is an example of someone who has built an incredible personal brand online with over 100,000 followers and fans all over the world. Her award winning web show Marie TV help people dream big and back it up with daily actions to create measurable results. Marie was recently interviewed by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation. Her brand and vision is to help you realize your greatest potential and use your unique talents to change the world. She reaches over 250,000 readers in 191 countries and leads training programs that teach individuals to succeed in business and life. 

If you were  corporate brand, how would you market yourself? 

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