Mon 16 Mar 2009
How’s your brand experience today?
Posted by Lisa Hickey under branding
photo: malias
Back ten years ago, when I was starting my own advertising agency, I read a book called “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. Terrible name, but great book, one whose proposition was that any company you start you should start AS IF it were going to be franchised. Make it turnkey right from the start. That way, you get the systems down pat and the process so it can be duplicated day in and day out. You also get the branding right. You are able to duplicate the *experience* for the consumer whenever and wherever they encounter you.
The author gave an example of how he once went to a hairdresser. The first time he went in, the place was neat as a pin. Everything was lined up, organized. His hair was cut with precision, exactness. Not much chitchat, he was in and out. Got a great haircut, felt good about himself and the place. The second time he went, his experience was much mellower. There was music in the background. He was served a cup of tea. It was more conversational, took a while longer. His hair was cut slowly, with painstaking attention to detail. Again, he got a great haircut. In fact, both experiences were good.
But because there was such a disconnect between the two experiences, it completely shook him up. He never went back to that hairdresser again. He didn’t know what to expect.
Fast forward ten years. Companies have a digital “presence” all over the web. They are interacting with people everywhere. But are the experiences that customers are having with brands as they encounter them all across the vast array of networks similar enough so that the customer is not confused? When you have multiple contact points, multiple bloggers writing stuff, multiple twitterers, bunches of videos and pictures and hundreds of conversations a week, thousands of conversations a year, is the brand story still being told in a cohesive, easy-to-understand way? Or are brands just getting out there and talking to people, without understanding what they really are communicating? Thoughts and ideas anyone?
Excellent point. While it’s harder to control the items posted about your company in the world of user content, a strong company identity can serve to unify the image being presented and this can be achieved by starting out, like you said, with the vision of making your company a franchise.
I find the discrepancy between what I tweet about and what I blog about causes some cognitive dissonance among people who follow me. My blog is very niche–mainly dealing with the web–whereas my tweets are more open and reflect everything that occurs, from conversations to links about other topics. I haven’t found a way to coordinate the two successfully.
Maybe I should pick up that book.
As far as using multiple social platforms, I think that is valuable, especially when one never knows which may morph into tomorrow’s platform of choice!
And the branding may look a bit different as the market for each may require a different “look” or presentation.
My question would be if a company had just one choice for branding a digital presence, what do you think would be the most effective one to reach the market today?
Hmm, everyone’s got me thinking about this a little more. That’s the *good* news.
First, a couple of people on Twitter suggested that maybe a better word is “coherency” instead of “consistency”. Ahhh. I do like that better. Consistency can easily be taken to mean “bad branding” – the kind where the same exact messages and images are used everywhere, with no regard to the differences in medium. Which is one of your points, Phil. To me, the most successful brands are able to continually surprise and delight across different mediums and platforms while remaining true to their core values and story, and ultimately, the “feeling” of the experience”.
AV Flox, looking at your tweets and blog, I can see why some people experience some “cognitive dissonance”. But like, in the story, “they’re both good haircuts”
It’s just that since both your content and your style are so different across the two mediums, it almost appears you have two different personalities. I’d be interested to know what your goals are for the two. What do you hope *happens* as a result of your interactions with people in those two places? And if one or the other of them is not seen as a “business”, then perhaps it doesn’t matter.
Finally, Phil, “if a company had just one choice”… again, I think it gets back to their goals. Have real clear objectives of what action you want people to take, and then choose accordingly. However, if I had to pick just one for *my* brand, I’d choose Twitter any day of the week for it’s ability to quickly make new connections and move them to action through the sharing of ideas.
I’m just pleased to see marketers and creatives examining the issues, even as these new digital/social avenues emerge. I lived through (survived) the introduction of the desktop computer. Everyone and their brother was an instant designer, and the work that flooded the market showed a focus on program knowledge over solid design principles. Then came the advent of the internet, and those who could write HTML code grabbed the design/marketing baton. As we enter this new paradigm, it is clear that there is a lot more conversation and careful thought about how these emerging media opportunites fit into a solid long-term marketing vision. And for that I am thankful!
Hi Lisa et.al.,
Great conversation! I think I would like to refer to the coherence/consistency you’re talking about as orchestration: the art of turning completely different elements into a great overall experience, by letting differences be in tune with each other and by valueing the contribution of the individual elements.
Touchpoints can differ, experiences can differ, as long as the whole is orchestrated and in tune, and as long as the people involved in generating the experience have a say and contribute their individual qualities.
This, I believe, goes for off line touch points as well as for on-line touchpoints. And for their synergy.
Good points. Thanks, Lisa. I think the same applies to writing, parenting, marriage, and all kinds of other stuff.