Brand on the inside, Brand on the out: Seamless Brands

Can a brand really be seamless down to the last thread?

Every brand has an identity that is built into its core. Every brand will incorporate various plans and techniques that are gathered up into an artistic ball of typography, copy, psychology, extensive research etc... that finally (and hopefully) results in a beautifully executed brand that resonates with its intended audience.

When most people think of brands in this way, they look at the actual iconography of the logo, and at the brand image and the metaphor that it implies. Which, don’t get me wrong, is very complex stuff for anyone to process without a trained eye or with. And I’m definitely not suggesting that this is the wrong way to look at the brand, nor am I suggesting that there are better ways to look at a brand.

What I am saying is that brands go further than what we can see as consumers. Brands should be seamless from beginning to end, but also: throughout, upside down, inside out and when cut in half.

Most positive experiences lead to an increase in brand equity (Keller 1993; Janiszewski & Osselaer 2000). A lot of brands (if necessary) look to increase their ‘relative’ brand equity which results in an increase of a product’s perceived value, therefore increasing the amount of money any individual is likely spend (the whole point of consumerism).

Because “certain mixtures of positive experiences (e.g., thoughtful, extended, affectively mixed, etc, may lead to more equity than a simple stream of consistently uniform positive experiences” (Haugtvedt et al 2008), it is important to ensure that a brands identity doesn’t contradict or differentiate itself and that it builds and reiterates its intended values.

So it seems fairly easy doesn’t it? Well you would be wrong!

So as I have mentioned in my previous blog (Interactivity: Quid pro quo?) consumers are exposed to around 3000 advertising messages a day, so the need for your brand to be consistent, effective, recognisable and efficient ‘down to the last thread’ is important on every level of consumer interaction.

The requirements of ‘seamlessness’ leads to, and can embody many different forms. For a brand to truly resonate with an audience and create a true and consistent brand experience the smallest consumer interactions must be taken into consideration. Everything from phone manner, error pages and packaging, location and tonailty must all ring true with the brands personality (Nedungadi 1990)

So a brand like Innocent would be a very good example of what I have been rambling on about for the last 420 words. Their building is officially referred to as Fruit Towers, the phone that you ring is called the Banana phone and their packaging speaks to the audience in an adorably simple and childlike or ‘innocent’ fashion. This can be seen in the pictures below.

There are other ways that brands can maintain a seamless brand personality down to very minor and unexpected interactions with consumers e.g. 404 error codes. This blog picture below is an image that is taken from Jim Beans 404 error page, seamless with the brand itself. If you click on the image it will take you to the blog ‘The 100 most funny and Unusual error pages’. 

Each of these individual traits and brand characteristics and personality that come across must not only make a brand what it is, but take into consideration that they must differentiate themselves from their competitors. Creating a culture that embodies all that is your brand, and what you as an organisation wishes to present to the consumer.

"To make and keep a promise that matters".

Drill down into this definition and you will discover the "make" implies everything your brand does with respect to sales, marketing and spreading the message. The "keep" implies everything your business does to ensure support and delivery of that promise. The "promise that matters" is what sets your brand apart from your competitors. Once you digest this definition and align your external marketing message with internal culture and operations, you'll have this "seamless" thing nailed.

The extract above came from The Seamless Brand. After doing my research and looking at the information that I’ve provided in this blog, The Seamless Brand is without a doubt the most informative and comprehensive digital reference to Seamless brands. It will do a much (more extensive) better job at explaining the innards and outers of the concept of a brand being seamless. I suggest that anyone interested in a further explanation of seamless brands and the depth which the discussion surrounding the topic can go, The Seamless Brand is the blog to check.

For anyone who just fancied having a think about seamless brands I hope that I have been able to quench your thirst and aided in your understanding in any way. I know that writing it made me think. How about you?

QR Codes to the Rescue!

Smartphone’s and Android’s such as Blackberry’s and I-Phones allow for and provide major opportunity for an increased move into digital advertising and marketing.

With Microsoft and Nokia deciding to pair up and make an ‘android baby’ that will compete with the market leaders as mentioned in my blog: B2B Mobile Marketing – What’s next?, I suggest that many more millions will be poured into digital and mobile advertising.

So, is this the beginning of the end for traditional methods advertising? I don’t think so! Ultimately digital advertising is going to rapidly increase with technology such as Augmented Reality (AR), 4G, Physicality (see first blog), Near Field Communication (NFC) etc... These advances in technology are going to increase the digital divide and those ‘in the know’ are going to rapidly overtake those that aren’t (very similar to the capitalistic division of class).

However a particular piece of digital technology created by Denso Wave in 1994, is something that isn’t going to prevent the increase in digital advertising and does in fact assist digital advertising, but it will allow traditional methods of advertising to further their abilities and have increased value.

What I am referring to are QR (Quick Response) codes. QR Codes are specific matrix code initially created to allow their individual contents to be decoded at high speed. They were originally used for tracking Toyota car parts in the manufacturing process and have now become “the biggest driver of traffic to mobile Internet by far” (Findel-Hawkins, Sales Director Nikkei BP Europe).

I am suggesting that QR codes will assist traditional methods of media to receive an increased level of budget because they provide direct links from static or non-interactive advertisements (or TV) to web pages and applications that allow for the purchase of brands/products as well as numerous other levels of interactivity. For example the QR code I have on my facebook page and that you can see below directs people directly to this blog.

“As mobile phones and other locative media develop, we will see new data layers added to the urban and outdoor environment” (McStay – Digital Advertising).  People by nature are inquisitive about their surroundings, so the idea of knowing secrets or gaining information that we cannot see at face-value is psychologically built into our genetics as a positive, whether it is general inquisitiveness or greed.

QR codes ignite this innate desire and in many situations provide us with something for nothing, another incentive, free stuff. For example, if I hadn’t of told you what the QR code above was for, wouldn’t you have wanted to know? And with QR codes being thrust at us left right and centre they are bound to catch on, in an even bigger way than before. QR codes are even being used in plots for globally viewed television shows e.g. CSI, as seen in clip below.

The application of QR codes is barley limited if at all and can be placed on practically anything with visual elements in particular traditional methods of advertising such as:

• Billboards
• Buildings
• Business Cards (2^nd intended purpose after tracking car parts)
• Doors
• Leaflets/Letters (Junk mail)
• Packaging
• Posters
• Products  
• Promotional Giveaway Items (e.g. Mouse mats)
• Television

QR codes can even be placed on ‘traditional’ media within Virtual Environments such as 2^nd life.

All of these media vehicles can have QR codes placed upon them which can contain Url’s, SMS’s, Phone Numbers and Text (Mc Gregor).

Television fragmentation has lead to budgets being spread across various channels. QR codes can be moulded quite easily to suit a particular target audience via different and varied media channels e.g. offering products or discounts for products that the TA can relate to.

After all, it is suggested that “a relevant context, matching a brand to a related advertising environment is assumed to put shoppers in receptive frame of mind increasing the potential impact of the brand’s message” (Plummer et al 2007).

If for example you wanted to target mums with a QR code that provides them with a discount (purchase/trial incentive) on Monster Munch multipacks, it can be done via a daytime television advert and then once the mums have purchased the crisps, different codes can be placed on the individual packets of crisps, which could, in turn lead to a game or a gaming website or money off an individual packet of Monster Munch, that the children can then use.

One of the biggest issues of QR codes is supposedly that people aren’t going to be able to scan them if they are on television because they will leave the screen before people have the opportunity to scan. I originally believed the same thing.

However looking at the way in which people are watching TV in this day in age, technology such as SKY+ allows for people to pause, rewind and then also fast-forward TV. This suggests that people are very able to scan the QR codes.  If people don’t want to stop their TV for whatever reason, then as you can see in the video below, there are other ways to prepare the TV audience e.g. a countdown.

The dynamic qualities of QR codes and their increasing familiarity (decreasing the barriers to entry), entwined within the innate use of mobile telephones, is a surefire blend of variables that will result in an increased amount of traditional advertising because of the value and brand interaction that they can add.

That’s what I’m thinking! How about you?

Interactivity: Quid pro quo?

I think that interactivity as a method of marketing is going to be very important, if not the pinnacle of many marketing campaigns, that will run alongside and become entwined within traditional methods of advertising.

To many, this is wonderful. However for me, as a future advertising practitioner, someone who grew up enthralled with television advertisements and the cinematography of adverts such as the one seen below, this movement isn’t as appreciated as it is to others, or as appreciated as it should be.

The battle that brands have to undergo in order to reach a consumer is extensive, due to the fact that we are “exposed to about 3000 advertising messages a day" (Truthmove). So without brands providing that little bit extra ‘give’ (interactivity), many brands will begin to fall by the wayside.

• Pubs and clubs are interacting with people via social networks, from local pubs, such as my own, the Halfway Inn, via Facebook, to major nightclubs such as OrangeRooms on Twitter.
• Yahoo! have created interactivity via Yahoo! Games.
• Zappos, the online footwear retailer has a website with a home page that has over 214 interactive links and buttons allowing consumers to interact with Zappos on a very basic level.
• Bestbuy suggest further interaction that can take place, looking at 4G technology. As they put it: From iPod to Tripod – (“Find and share the latest news & opinion, tech tips, videos, links, questions and ideas with the community”).

However interactivity isn’t all positive. Some brands are falling into the trap of ‘toolkit myopia’ and others are doing nothing, some proactive some reactive, and some using P2P and others P2M.This brings me latently to the title of this particular blog. Interactivity: Quid pro quo?

Many organisations have failed to keep up with the times and/or have failed to understand the necessity of interactivity in its various formats all of which are accompanied by their own individual integrated complexities that change from brand to brand.

The online Advertising Market place has gone past the dot.com stage and is now a platform that “encompasses all of the media before it and it stirs the pot to the boiling point with a large dose of interactivity” (Sherman, Nettime).

From Mail, Telephone, Mobile telephone, Internet, Computer games, Interactive TV and Personal Digital Assistants, to decipher what is right for your company or brand, and what is wrong in relation to interactivity, are all currently million dollar questions.

It could be proposed that there isn’t a lot one could do in this situation. Consumers are using the interactive element of the digital age, allowing them to ensure that products are being produced in the way that the consumers want and organisations are listening. If they aren’t the company and/or brand will ‘feel the wrath’ of the consumer i.e. EthicalConsumers has a "boycott list is widely regarded as the most comprehensive English-language list of progressive boycotts". This follows the online communication theory of Social Constructionsism, spoken about by Greenhill & Fletcher, Griffith University in: The Social Construction of Electronic Space.

So interactivity can be used to befriend the consumer, retain the interest of a consumer, entertain the consumer and inform the consumer. For example scanning QR codes in order to receive offers and location based promotions.

However not all consumers want to be interacted with constantly. This has created a need; which is to ensure that consumers are not advertised to all of the time whilst using the digital marketplace.

So in comes programs such as Adblock plus and Firefox plug-in, preventing omnipotent access to us as consumers. These types of programs defeat the purpose of certain online advertisements and wastes a lot of companies money which. With digital interactivity and technology allowing for international catastrophes such as ‘Bert is Evil’, which are inevitable considering the participatory culture of the digital world, the interactive digital marketplace is yet to be clear-cut, however is definitely the way the entire world is moving.

So whether interactivity is Quid pro quo? or not is relative! Don’t you think?

B2B Mobile Marketing - Whats next?

In the 1950’s Harold Osborne (Chief Engineer: American Telephone & Telegraph Company) predicted that mobile telephony would eventually allow us access to whomever, whenever, by entering a combination of numbers into a small portable device. 

Osborne correctly thought that these devices would allow us to hear and see people three-dimensionally. At the time this would have been a bold statement to make. However fifty-six years on, even he couldn’t have predicted the present technology (Conly) and what it is being used for. 

“The technological innovations of mobile telephony were established from the 1940s” (Lacohée). Branded mobile telephones have been around for just over 30 years and their technology is rapidly advancing.

Due to their relative affordability and accessibility, mobiles are penetrating the entire globe “with many developed countries reaching 60% ownership rates” (Goode) whereas “prior to 1985, no one in Britain had a mobile telephone” (Lacohée). 

 (World mobile phone usage map 2008 – Source: solarnavigator.net)

Since Cooper made the first mobile telephone call in 1973 the mobile telephone has become as innate and equivalent “to sipping a cup of coffee or taking a cigarette break. It is a street level device packaged and mobilized in the status displays of everyday life” (Ito). 

However the mobile is no longer an “empowering piece of technology, putting communicative power into the hands of the individual” (Geser) or solely being used so that X can get hold of Y and Z, or so that the masses can communicate. Now mobile phones are rapidly becoming a tool of the B2B marketer with massive opportunity to target businesses directly.

Businesses already contact consumers via mobile telephones and “up to now they have been seen as very much a consumer marketing channel” according to Dacombe, Verridians marketing director. 

However businesses are already contacting one another via mobiles when they are not in the office or communicating face-to-face. This suggests that the use of mobiles as methods of B2B marketing communications is inevitable especially if you look at the history of digital communication and consumption of new technology which ultimately leads to its mass and innate use.

According to MediaPost Online Media Daily (2010) 54% of the Fortune 100 companies are planning to increase spending on email marketing and 66% planned to increase expenditures for social media “even though about 80% of those acknowledged the difficulty in tracking ROI in the medium”. Not only this but with “a recent survey of B2B marketers by LinkShare at AdTech revealing that 28% believe ads on social networks will be the most important form of B2B advertising in 2011” (Weekes) and with 80% of Twitter use being on mobile devices (Williams) the mobile telephone is becoming an ever more exciting prospect for B2B marketing. 

As Toedman suggests “the digital space just offers up so many new ways to add value to your brand that it becomes so much more complex. But ultimately, more exciting too.” “In the next five to ten years the mobile will be the device that allows the retailer and the brand owner to influence shopper behavior” (Taylor).

A prime example of a B2B marketer being able to advertise because of digitalisation and via the mobile telephone is because of technology such as the Facebook app: Facebook Places. This is a voluntary application which is frequently accessed by mobiles allowing business to track where people are going and whom they are going with. 

This type of technology allows B2B marketers to precisely communicate with other business providing them with the correct information and promotional material depending on their specific location. For example at tradeshows and other business events, through the location-based application, B2B marketers can provide real-time offers and discounts to those specifically in attendance.

This movement to mobile marketing could be suggested because of Smartphone’s rapid rise to a status symbol of normality (Dacombe), becoming more entrenched into all aspects of life for consumers and businesspeople alike. With younger and tech-savvy executives moving up the ranks, the mobile opportunities for B2B marketers are opening up (What do C-level Exec’s Really Think About Using Mobile?) and increasing in weirder ways than ever expected. How could the technology spoken about by Hemmert in the video below one day be used for B2B marketing? If at all?

 

Where and what is next for mobiles and B2B marketing? These are the questions I leave you with. And the statement I leave you with is: 2011 will be a busy time for mobiles as a B2B marketing platform.

Have a think!