The rapidity of adoption of a variety of innovative online tools has every marketer on their toes. Which is a good stance to take considering that we would also describe the current online landscape as one of shifting sands. A question facing many marketers is how to adjust their brand management strategy and media buy in the context of online developments?

A few figures from The Nielsen Company Online’s Global Online Media Landscape report illustrate the changes:

There has been a massive surge in the use of online video. The availability and ease of use of inexpensive personal video technologies, the number of online sharing sites and enhanced internet infrastructure capacity has enabled this growth. The Nielsen Company Report indicates that last year alone, unique viewers grew by 10% and streams per user grew by 27%. The total time spent using video has also expanded significantly this last year.Amazingly, for the first time use of social networks recently exceeded use of Web-based e-mail. The time spent using social networking is swiftly rising. This dynamic momentum may augur a behavioral shift in communication methodology. The rise in Facebook use among an older demographic is telling, as noted by Peter Corbett of iStrategyLabs in the following analysis:

This changing online environment is one that brand managers must adapt to. These online shifts, while important, are still only a part of a brand’s miscellany of communication channels and experiential forums. It is especially difficult to weave brand management tactics in with still incipient online forums when the nature of those channels is transforming. Despite the zealous fervor of the most vocal Twitter supporters, for example, The Nielsen Company has observed that about 60 percent of people on Twitter end up abandoning the service after a month.  It is in that fast-changing context that brand managers must attempt to realign their brand strategies.

So what should brand managers be considering as they adapt? Here are just a few of our thoughts:

• Segmentation and Location – Where are your customers? How has their behavior changed? What does that mean in terms of how your brand should be communicating with your customers? You should be reviewing your market analysis to ensure you have answers to these questions. Your consumers’ worldviews and attitudes are changing along with their use of technology. We have pointed out in a previous post, for example, that online users have a lower tolerance for advertising on their social media forums than elsewhere online. This market understanding will be a vital part of a brand manager’s review of the brand management strategy.
• Adapt Communication Tone – Communication methodology must be flexible and varied. With the diminishing of one-way brand communication and PR led crisis control, brand managers now must shepherd their brands through several different layers of communication engagement; from one-way, top-down communication to a listening online facilitator of broad consumer discussions around brand experience. What may be a suitable form of communication on a radio spot or print ad is not the same as on your brand’s Twitter account or Facebook fan page. Communication activities should be re-framed in terms of engagement, while remaining authentic to the brand’s core.
• Marketing Mix – For the majority of brands, online channels, especially social media channels, should be a part of the overall brand management strategy. That said and notwithstanding the burgeoning online environment, this does not mean a knee-jerk deployment of marketing tactics online is always appropriate for your brand. There is particular danger in jumping into social media just because that seems to be this year’s marketing trend. As with every marketing tactic, managing your brand’s expression online requires diligent consideration of your brand’s promise and your audience’s needs and perceptions. In fact, we would argue that inappropriate use of social media by brands is even more visible and damaging than in other forums.
• Message Creation – As well as the method of communication, you can adapt your brand strategy to allow for nuanced message content depending upon the channel used. Social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube allow for exponential and immediate viral dissemination as part of a broader conversation or collaboration. Many brands are using that collaboration to fundamentally alter their brand promise and product/service, including having users generate the content and controlling messaging instead of vice versa. That may be a step too far for many brands, but they indicate a genuine attempt to deeply engage with their audience, which is an applicable principle for every brand management strategy.
• New personal technologies, such as the Flip video and iPhone, have enabled greater peer-to-peer information sharing and content generation. Clearly, customers are becoming more familiar with the democratization of content generation and sharing. This new mindset and content landscape offers opportunities for brand managers to engage with customers in entirely new ways and in novel places. Clients of ours, for example, are now integrating online video in alternative ways and are weaving social media strategies into their overall brand management strategy.
• Budget – Tactics deployed on online channels are easier to measure, which allows for improved advertising value as well as equipping brand managers with data to support their budgets. National brands such as Century 21 have decided to take their TV advertising media buy and instead place that online.

It is difficult for many marketers to reconcile the experimental nature of a lot of these online trends with their brand management strategy. It is an effort, however, that is not only advisable but also essential. Let us know how you are adapting your brand strategy for the particular circumstances of your brand.

Tags: brand management, consumer behavior, Facebook, flickr, Nielsen, Twitter, YouTube

Written by Stuart
About the Author: Stuart isn't often heard divulging his shady history. This, unfortunately, is not one of those times.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Branding, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.