Digital Brand Management is becoming the critical new discipline for marketing in the digital age. Digital can no longer be looked upon as a “post-strategic’ channel or as a simple one-off, add-on or after-thought. It reflects the new paradigm of this transforming world of ours; that digital must be at the core of a brand’s strategic platform. Marketing companies that continue to think of digital only as a series of tactical channels or platforms will do so to their long-term detriment.
The discipline of Digital Brand Management applies the techniques of traditional brand management: analysis, planning, implementation and measurement, but with a much more rigorous, robust approach. Why is this possible? Because digital is a living, breathing reflection of how your consumer is forming their relationship with your brand…in real time.
Digital tools and techniques provide the lens and the listening devices to not only “join the conversation,” but also to clearly understand how every point of contact—especially the digital ones—links to and influences the others, to make your brand’s relationship to consumers stronger, deeper and more profitable over time. They form and create new channels to listen, learn and help formulate your overall brand strategy...not an end, but a beginning to the strategic journey....listening and driving creative, integrated business solutions.
The added benefit is the ability to monitor and course-correct all your brand building communication programming. It allows marketers to maneuver a brand to its desired end result to a measurably higher degree of effectiveness and efficiency. In traditional brand management, by the time you have completed the “post analysis”, the game is over!
To be able to monitor, measure and refine as you go is a powerful tool that was not in existence to marketers until only recently. It guarantees greater success for a marketer to be able to, in essence, steer the ship and to be in more control of the final destination.
This is clearly contrary to the general sentiment that you cannot “manage” the conversation; however, it is clear that you can help influence the end result by shifting gears as need be. It is critically important, however, to ensure that the engaged conversation remains credible, transparent and two-way. It’s a tricky maneuver, but done right it will generate tremendous impact and value for the brand. Done wrong and you might find yourself in a sinking ship.
Brandon Gutman is a Founding Partner of FOCi Group, a Digital Brand Management Consultancy specialized in building Digital Excellence for the Fortune 500 community.
