Brand Identity Meets Today’s Social World

Brand identity. An age-old concept that asks the questions ‘Who are you?’ and ‘What do you stand for?’ Every company has had to define and explain their brand identity. The process involves a basic premise, goal, and/or bottom line and builds upon it within every aspect of a company’s actions and communication. It used to be much simpler, back in the ‘time before social’ (or TBS for short). Traditional media focused on a set of standard communications to project an image, while today’s communication is more social and interactive. Being more social and interactive means that companies are more exposed, and their customers know them and their brand on a much more interactive, and intimate, platform. Today’s social communications leave companies much more transparent, making a strong brand identity that much more important. How do you build and maintain a strong brand identity in today’s social world? Knowing your brand, sticking to your brand and it’s core values, providing customers with live person answers, listening to customers and responding to customers. The first two concepts are especially important, because a brand is nothing without a firm foundation to stand upon. Rance Crain of Ad Age references Ad Age’s Bob Garfield and his January 2nd article where he states “The core value of a brand must be real and sustainable, and everyone in the company must believe it” http://bit.ly/A3E6aA. This is an accurate and fitting explanation of what knowing your brand and sticking to your brand’s core values is all about. He goes on to say that a company or brand must be in control of what it stands for, not its customers. It’s also important to align your brand with endeavors that further its message, not detract from or work against it. As Crain puts it: ‘What you say on the outside has to match up with what you do on the inside.” Basically it’s up to you to define and embody what your brand is all about. Only then can you survive in any scenario, particularly a social one.

The other features of building and maintaining a strong brand identity in today’s social world are all about catering to customers. A recent eMarketer article focuses on how social campaigns affect brand metrics and purchase intent long-term. BzzAgent, social media marketing arm of dunnhumby, surveyed brand advocates about social campaigns for consumer packaged goods http://bit.ly/ADpOjs. Before exposure to a campaign, brand advocates were 39% likely to recommend a brand, and shortly after exposure were 61% likely. Even a year later, they were still 55% likely to recommend that same brand. When brand advocates were asked about their own purchase intent, before the campaign 38% were likely to purchase and recommend the brand. During the three months following the campaign 69% were likely to purchase, and a year later 61% were still likely to purchase. This proves there is a direct link between social campaigns and purchase intent. The fact that there is makes having a strong brand identity, and properly servicing customers (who become your brand advocates) that much more important. Another eMarketer article references a survey conducted by Conversocial, a social media customer service software provider, that lays out what attributes are most important to customers http://bit.ly/yAT6UV. The top two? Talking to a real, live person and having questions and complaints promptly addressed on Facebook and Twitter. Conversation does matter, and customers expect the same customer service in the social world as they do in the real world. Part of building a strong brand involves communicating that strong brand to your customers. Strong customer service is part of a strong brand identity, because it helps communicate a brand’s identity and reinforces it. In doing so it reinforces customer’s opinions about the brand and builds the brand and social media campaign positively. As a result of this positive growth there is long-term purchase intent. Long-term purchase intent equals a strong bottom line. A strong bottom line is a reflection of a strong brand identity. As you can see it’s a big circle and cycle that, when followed, results in the successful transition and maintenance of brand identity in today’s social world. So who are you and what do you stand for? The sooner you define and build that, the more successful you will be.

Ready for Social Display Ads?

Ready or not, here they come. Google+ has introduced a social layer to display ads on their Google Display Ad Network http://bit.ly/thvrHU. An extension of what started at the beginning of the year, Google+ has added a +1 button to its search ads. This move allows users to endorse those ads  by clicking the +1 button, displaying that endorsement and their profile picture to their connections. Images in Google search of connections who have +1′d an article or web page are common, now the same thing will apply to search. When the ad loads, images of connections who have “endorsed” the ad will be displayed along with a count of how many others have done the same. After 10 seconds it will fade away from the bottom of the ad. Google’s +1 display ads aren’t unlike Facebook turning ‘likes’ into social sponsorships that are displayed and known as “Sponsored Stories” within a user’s newsfeed. So, what effect do they have? For advertisers it’s a good thing, in the sense that it appears to show more interest and indicate which ads are more relevant to their target audience based on their clicks. Plus more click-throughs equal more money for agencies. However, as I have spoken about before, there is more to declaring interest than clicking on a button. When it comes down to the bottom line, and money is always the bottom line, actions are what translate into product sales. Just because a clicked button indicates interest and intent to purchase does not 100% of the time add up to definite and prolonged interest and engagement. Additionally, people may not fully understand that by clicking that ‘like’ or ‘+1′ button they are endorsing and/or sponsoring something.

Their true motivations for clicking it are to express to the brand that they support or like it. Whether they continue to isn’t often measured, because we often don’t follow-up beyond measuring overall clicks. I have yet to see a list of clicks broken down into clicks per specific users, probably because you can’t click twice on something to +1 or ‘like’ it. A major flaw of the system. Especially since 60% of agencies cite brand recall and intent to purchase as the most important measures of online success http://bit.ly/vDVBD5. Clicks and conversions are still key, but how do you measure ongoing engagement, brand recall, or an audience from that? The last part of that especially baffles me because clicks make it seem like your audience is growing but how do you know that even half of those people are still part of your audience? Another alarming component is that for 57% of agencies, the majority of their display objectives are building their brand while only 11% cite ad creative as critical to the campaign’s success http://bit.ly/vDVBD5. The way I see it, ad creative and display objectives aren’t two separate things. It takes ad creative to build a brand in the first place. People need to be interested in the brand to try it and they usually have to try it to like it. Where does that come from? Ad creativity. Is it any wonder that the best Superbowl ads are often aligned with the leading brands? All food for thought. I wouldn’t be so quick to jump on the bandwagon with social display ads. Like anything it is something to be entered into thoughtfully, and what I’m seeing is “let’s exploit word of mouth online to get more click-throughs.” Yet it’s not about click-throughs, it’s about consumers’ relationship with the brand right? If it really is about consumers’ relationship with the brand, we may need to reexamine this preoccupation with click-throughs. Are they good? Yes. Are they the best indicator of ongoing engagement? No. They are just one piece of the puzzle and need to be treated as such.

The Future of Groupon

There have been a lot of announcements about Groupon lately and speculation about its future in light of its recent IPO filing. Let’s dive into the conversation. The main inspiration for this post comes from E.B. Boyd declaring Groupon will either go the route of Webvan or become the next Google (obviously not literally because Groupon is not a search engine)http://bit.ly/muZDWU. Webvan was apparently the first one to think of home delivery for groceries, with customers ordering groceries online to be delivered in a half hour window, which is similar to what many grocery stores now offer as a service that you can sign up for online. Wonder if Webvan patented that? Anyways, the model proved unsustainable and the company floundered. Then there’s Google, which originated the search engine concept and changed the industry forever. If Groupon were able to go that route, it would be because they added services that added something to and resonated with their bottom line. In other words, services that are an extension of the ones they already offer. This would be the most profitable outcome and would prevent them from going the way of Webvan. While I am not going to take sides, I do believe Groupon is sending out a mixed message. I believe this because of two recent articles I read, one about the founders funding on online pawn shop venture and another about its possible insertion into grocery store loyalty programs. One points them in the right direction and the other sends a mixed message. The one that sends a mixed message is undoubtedly the pawn shop venture. Granted this is through their investment group Lightbank, but it still reflects on them and they are still associated with it in some capacity. The company they are funding is called Pawngo http://bit.ly/kwY6C0. Basically, customers who need between $1,500 and $15,000 send in information about items they would like to pawn and receive an estimate within the hour. The items are shipped to Pawngo’s vault and the loans last 3-6 months. Eventually they may even extend the business to sell unclaimed items.

This venture sends a mixed message about Groupon because it does not relate back to who they are. The worst possible thing that Groupon can do is confuse its audience by not proclaiming a strong brand identity. If Groupon ventures into too many unrelated side projects it runs the risk of going that direction. Confusing its audience means that it will most likely lose users and merchants and lose touch with its origins, which are the daily deals that made them so well-known in the first place. However, if it stays smart and executes new extensions of this daily deal technology then the sky is the limit. E.B. Boyd discusses the opportunity for Groupon to carve an additional niche in driving sales during non peak hours by offering immediate deals that customers sign up to be notified of via their phone when they are in the vicinity. Surely this is one way they can capitalize on the foundation they have built. Another is the partnership with grocery store loyalty programs http://bit.ly/laS8g7. Recently Groupon has been testing this concept out with Big Y stores. An example of what they could offer can be found in their pilot seafood deal where customers could purchase a $39.99 seafood grill pack of lobster tails, clams, mussels, etc. for $24. This prepaid deal would be loaded into their account and reflected at checkout. Groupon could revitalize the coupon industry. It’s a natural extension of the deals they offer in partnership with other businesses and would be a great niche for them to acquire. That type of innovation is what is going to set them apart from any comparisons to Webvan. Groupon already sent a mixed message with their Superbowl commercial, lest we forget, and so the smart move would be to clearly spell out who they are from now on. That is how you build a company, by forming a strong brand identity and leveraging it with brand extensions that build on the bottom line. Groupon seems like a company who is willing to take risks, but they need to be smart ones. The next move, is up to Groupon.