Give them what they want, not what you want - organisations are
starting to find that their overall brand strategy is increasingly
being shaped by their online image
Online branding has for some time played second fiddle to
traditional marketing channels, but slowly the tables are starting
to turn and, in many cases, it is now a company's online "image"
that is shaping its overall brand strategy. This phenomenon has
serious implications for the shopfloor and beyond.
The aggressive use of Web sites for e-commerce that many bricks and
mortar companies have adopted over the past 12 months has proved
that this can genuinely deliver new revenue streams. And the
growing online success is prompting marketers to review their
branding strategies.
In the past, higher-level marketing activities, such as TV ad
campaigns and point of sale were given priority, while the
company's online offering was almost an afterthought. However, as
the power of the Internet is realised, companies are giving more
consideration to online strategy and using this as the foundation
for building a coherent marketing strategy.
This is a huge turnaround. Commercial Web sites took a battering
from the dotcom crash but out of the ashes has come a strong
e-commerce environment which has created a new type of consumer.
The Web has changed the way in which customers accept information
and the behaviour of the online shopper is starting to influence
the look and feel of the offline brand.
One of the key reasons for this role reversal is that Web sites
make it much easier for marketers to try out new branding - from
fonts and colours to strap lines and special offers. Furthermore,
the flexibility of trialling campaigns online can save companies
vast sums of money because of the ease of tracking consumer
reaction via on-site user feedback facilities and site usage
statistics. If an element on the Web site is unpopular customers
simply won't use it.
With the growth of e-commerce, bricks and mortar companies are now
trying to lure customers to their Web sites. They are constantly
thinking of new strategies to get customers online and publicising
the URL is an important part of this strategy. I challenge anyone
to go into a high street store where the URL is not displayed
prominently.
Moreover, the Web-style design is very much in vogue and shops are
embracing it. There are standard elements such as functionality and
usability best practice, but there is huge scope in terms of
design.
By embracing the look of the Web site and bringing it onto the shop
floor companies hope to prompt customers to remember the visuals
and create a "safe and warm" experience for the customers both
online and offline. This potentially places Web designers in the
position of being the brand strategists of the future.
Looking to the future, it will be interesting to see how the
virtual store will influence the way in which physical shops lay
out their merchandise.
The way in which consumers shop online is very different to how
they shop in-store. The value-demanding, low-tolerance shopper
created through the Web is rewriting the rules of the traditional
shopping experience, with the user expecting fast, easy,
no-nonsense shopping, without the "marketese" and "fluff".
I suggest that, ultimately, this user-focused, "consumer is king"
sales process will dictate how shops function and look in the
future.
The potential of the Web is huge - on average, stores could expect
to get about 100,000 customers through their doors every week,
which compares to six billion customers potentially via the Web.
Undoubtedly, Web sites will take the lead and become the primary
sales vehicle and company Web site successes in terms of branding
will certainly filter down through the marketing channels.
Rob Richardson is senior consultant of user experience at
Integra