Throughout my career, I have had an amazing opportunity to work with some great minds and meet amazing people at the forefront of digital. As a curious individual, I always try to ask one question when I get the opportunity…

What is the role of brand.com in today’s digital world?

The answers I get vary, but the question itself seems to spark tremendous conversation and thought. Some say transitional, some say as a content hub, others say that they aren’t necessary anymore. Regardless of the differing answers, I have yet to find anyone who wouldn’t participate in an active discussion holding onto other ideas as potential options for the future.

The reason for my curiosity? For a few years now, I’ve noticed some amazing & disturbing trends happening across brand websites. For some verticals, I’ve noticed a decline in traffic, others the behaviors on the site have shifted, whereas others bounce rate & time on site have seen dramatic changes. These changes are a huge issue for us marketers. Sacred cows are being challenged and forecast modeling is becoming harder to solidify. Many variables are at play here – fragmented social conversations and knowledge sharing; third party reviews and informational sites; a mobile culture and more recently Google’s conversational search and knowledge graph are key driving forces behind the downfall of the metrics we’ve all come to love and variables we use to build our businesses and are quickly providing a mechanism for rapid content consumption without much action on the user’s part.

As marketers, we are struggling to stay ahead of the curve with the new technologies and channels that are permeating each and everyone’s lives; launching mobile sites, increasing search spend, social media strategies, mobile apps, content publishing. But have we given the appropriate thought to our most prized possession our brand.com site?

So what is my answer to the question “What is the Role of Brand.com?” It Depends.

It depends on what your consumer is trying to accomplish. Notice the keyword in that sentence? “Consumer.” In today’s world of real time information and knowledge sharing, it is our duty as marketers to help each person achieve their individual task at their most appropriate and relevant time in the simplest way possible. Too long our objectives and our strategies get in the way of consumer need. Yes, we need to sell product, make money, and profit, but we can do it in a more streamlined and efficient way for each customer.

“In today’s world of real time information and knowledge sharing, it is our duty as marketers to help each person achieve their individual task at their most appropriate and relevant time in the simplest way possible.” 

In the web 1.0 world we provided all our information as a “Just in Case” mindset. We smothered each visitor to our site with information, just in case they were looking for it. This brand behavior carried over into the web 2.0 world, but now we have even more content, more social, more mobile, just more stuff… all of which is getting in the way of what the consumer is trying to accomplish. It maybe a purchase, it may be specs, it may be entertainment, and we all are getting in the way with our pre-consumer-centric mindset. We literally anger our visitors and increase our chances of defection by forcing the visitor to find what they are looking for rather than giving it to them upfront.

So what is the future of the brand.com sites? Just in Time. Give each user what they need at the time they need it. If people are coming to spec a product, give it to them up front; if they are looking to purchase, get the eff out of their way and let them buy; if they want to be entertained, give them an experience they will never forget.

We live in a magical world where data, behavior, and dynamic content can produce amazing results for the digital citizens we support. Let’s respect their time and give them what they want at the time they want it.

In a recent article, AdAge discusses the use of “special personal relationships” with consumers as advertising fodder for several brands. The idea of using singular relationships with consumers as messaging is a great idea from the outside looking in, but aren’t we setting a standard that companies have yet to practice? Shouldn’t I, as a special consumer, expect the same, if not better, treatment with my experience with a particular brand? This communication sets a precedent of a certain level of expectation… One that many companies can’t or won’t strive to meet.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe this is the direction that brands should travel. I wholeheartedly believe that the future of marketing isn’t marketing at all, but a combination of strong relationship building with awe-inspiring experiences built in. With that said, I’m not sure we’re quite there as brands (or as consumers for that matter).

As these expectations rise, I challenge all marketers to strive to achieve what we are communicating… Personal experiences with each of our consumers.

The idea of “scale” in the digital, social, mobile world is something that has perplexed me over the past five years or so; really ever since the masses started pushing towards the adoption levels of maturity. Scale, to me, is a bit of an antiquated measurement in the “new way of marketing.” The idea that each message, regardless of media, must reach a massive amount of people in hopes that a decreasingly small fraction of individuals take action on a lead or purchase, is one that doesn’t begin to take into account the paradigm shift that digital has created; an individual paradigm. The role of a message or interaction in the digital space, most likely, isn’t for reach or scale for the consumer. It’s about something deeper, something more intimate.

Digital has the ability to segment or even dynamically personalize messages, offers, or experiences that produces a more profound output for a brand than a simple blanket message to drain money from an unsuspecting small percentage of the communicated universe. It allows for dynamic interaction; in real-time, wherever the consumer may be.

So when thinking digital, please don’t ever say the word “scale:” for it kills the opportunities before anything commences. Instead, think loyalty, advocacy, passion, lifetime value, and incremental purchase… Expand a relationship, don’t squander it by treating people like sheep. We have a great opportunity to think beyond traditional and think about the future of our brands.

Scale is in the long term, lifetime value of consumers, not universes reached.

*** Caveat, I’m not saying that awareness building campaigns shouldn’t be a part of the overall marketing strategy. They most definitely should be discussed and executed, even in the digital display arena. What I am saying, is allow yourself to segment, allow your consumers to segment themselves, reward them for doing so.

As brands become more involved on platforms and begin the “lifestyle integration” phase of their maturity, it’s necessary that the correct channels are mapped accordingly to the appropriate user journey. What this means is that we get to turn back time and play a big game of “Connect the Dots.” As advertisers and marketers, we have an ever growing list of channels or touch points that we reach, connect with, and engage with our consumers; some of which live in disparate silos from others, which is why “Connecting the Dots” is so crucial.

What this means is that we get to turn back time and play a big game of “Connect the Dots.”

By understanding the various touch points and mapping out where they live in the lifecycle of purchase funnel, we can begin to track and develop user journeys that not only provide a positive decision, but also add value along the way, furthering the strength and engagement with our brand. This exercise also allows us to better understand where these touch points live within the daily lifestyle of the consumer and their cultural implications towards different communications within their life. This power has the potential to open doors of opportunity through effective messaging, through the proper channels at the most opportune time within the purchase journey.

Once identified, we take out our pen and start “Connecting the Dots.” Align the different platforms with the particular messaging and calls to action to ensure activity and sustainability throughout the process. A dead end or unfulfilled promise may lead to defection or confusion. Ensure the communication leads closer towards an objective or end goal. Working in silos will likely develop these dead ends or confused messages. To provide a holistic experience that is sustainable throughout a long-term relationship, the playing field has to be identified; which is why the aforementioned identification of the various touch points is critical.

A dead end or unfulfilled promise may lead to defection or confusion.

A successful game of connecting the dots allows us, as marketers, to see the entire picture vividly while the user is experiencing our brand the best way for their particular life, needs, and cultural implications. Along the way, delight your consumer, give them something exciting to engage with, fulfill promises, and over deliver. The best “connect the dots” from my child hood were the ones that rewarded with an amazing picture; the ones that delighted me when I could start seeing the holistic experience. This is what we strive for as brand advocates… The excitement for the integration of the holistic experience.

This is what we strive for as brand advocates… The excitement for the integration of the holistic experience.

Originally posted @ blackwhalegroup.com

There has been something that’s been bugging me for the past few years. This is the word “community.” It has quickly become one of the most overused and improperly utilized words in the business buzz word dictionary. Why? Self-proclaimed “social media gurus” have diminished the absolute power of what a community is by associating anyone who “likes” a brand to get a coupon as being someone who is part of a brand culture, a subsection of a larger society, a group of individuals who align with specific characteristics and values, a community. But, as we all know, this is utter bullshit. Where is the loyalty on behalf of the coupon hound customer who is “liking” my page because I have a coupon, even if they are nowhere close to my target demographic? There is none. Once a competitor offers a better coupon they’re gone. Sayonara. Not someone whom I’d personally put stake in within my own communities. This level of engagement leads to a commoditized community based on commoditized offerings with no end goal of something deeper… “Communities” then just become another stat to communicate the success of a Facebook page.

Commoditizing a conversation forces engagement around features and benefits, not emotion.

But, for sake of communicating the valuable importance of this post, I will be using the term community (against my will) for what it truly is, as defined below.

So what is a community? Dictionary.com defines it as “[a] group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.”

Facebook defines these as “Groups.” Google+ defines them as “Circles.” Twitter even defines them as “Lists.” It seems as though the social space has really latched on to the idea of communities, but are we really setting our brands and companies up for success? Or are we approaching commoditized conversations with the real value exchange as being a coupon or an entry into a sweepstakes?

My personal thoughts, is that the end goal with any social venture is to develop and grow strong relationships with individuals whose values align with ours; whose ideals are shared among others; whose passions and affinities are aligned with those of our brand. Achieving this goal helps us create a place where like-minded individuals whose interests, values, and passions are shared; to develop a “community” around the core, emotionally driven differentiating factors of our brand. Doing so allows us to better understand and engage with those we serve. It provides us with the opportunity to learn and grow; make our products better; communicate them more effectively; identify opportunities for growth and expansion; and most of all, allows us to come together and accomplish the same goal, make our lives better.

So are you building a community or a commodity?

Over the past decade, the business world has been coming to an impasse. An impasse that emulates a perfect storm of many offsetting factors:

• Defection of consumers is at an all-time high. Defections are caused by increased communications from new channels, real time offers, and new shiny startups saturating the market.
• Consumerism is pushing for transparency and authenticity in corporate brands.
• High energy costs coupled with the economic recession is causing falling profits across the board dropping ad spend and forcing more targeted approaches to outreach.
• A shift in preference from manufactured goods to local and organically sourced materials.

That’s only scratching the surface of the business climate today. It’s time for a Shift // a shift in how we approach what a brand is. Not more “If you advertise they will come.” It’s time we engage our constituency and connect on a deeper level than products, features, or benefits. It’s time we have purpose, ideals, and passion with our brand; ideas that align with our sub-culture community, passions that are shared throughout our communications and engagements.

As we move into the future, brand loyalty, advocacy and passion will drive success and results. Not one-off advertising, but true relationships and engagements which develop the word of mouth that is so powerful in the marketplace. The Brand Shift model is sustainable… what we’re doing now is not.

What are you doing to prepare?

Ever since business school, I have heard of this new thing called “Integrated Marketing” where all messages, brand attributes, and channels will all work together in joyous harmony and delight the consumer to a purchase-minded bliss. But the deeper I’ve evolved in my career and having my blissful visions completely crashed by the cold hard facts I’ve found that there is no such thing as “Integrated Marketing” as we sit today; just a bunch of silos working independently from other touch points. Why?

From where I see it, as advertisers and agencies both work in these disparate silos the internal communication between groups is very little or almost nonexistent.  So how can we expect an integrated messaging output to come from that?

This is what I currently see happening:

As new channels and communication disciplines come about, both the advertiser and agency mindset is to create a new division or build a new agency to handle that particular channel. Done.

We don’t have to worry about it. We’ll build a “Social Media Task Force” and a hire a Social Media agency and everything will be perfect. We can keep doing what we’re doing while the social people (whatever that is anyway) will give us the presence we need to tap into that discipline. Now I’ll go back to my TV advertising.

I’m sure you have all been a part of a similar thought or have seen a similar thought happen in your organization (advertiser or agency). Huge disconnect here. No strategy, no communication, no thought of elaboration, or collaboration, or collective brainstorming… no integration.

So what have we learned about integrated marketing communications? Companies and agencies work in silos; HOWEVER, consumers do not. These silos don’t produce optimized results because of inconsistent messaging, false promises not held up by another touch point, confusion in action steps; frankly a disconnect between the needs of the consumer and what we’re providing as value through communication.

We all know this is a major issue facing everyone in the industry, so I guess the question becomes, “Why do we still act this way?” Just because it “worked” in the past doesn’t necessarily mean it will work in the future. Adding divisions and new roster agencies every time a new communication channel comes around will continue the siloed effect and quickly tear the beauty of expert messaging apart. Why not break down walls and focus on core messaging and definitive objectives for that messaging (regardless of the platform)? Why not start with a strategic view to satisfy consumer needs and strive to reach those needs.

Being completely platform agnostic and starting with the objectives and consumer needs in mind will allow for a literal strategic mapping of sorts of how communication and engagement should unfold for the consumer, not the other way around; not from the brand. Then, with this map to guide us, we can begin to develop a robust messaging strategy that is consistent across the touch points that are the most relevant to each consumer, effectively breaking down the silos and putting up a unified, dare I say it, Integrated front, continuously supporting the consumer to produce the blissful, purchase-minded results we all want.

All in all, consumers are constantly changing; their messaging platforms are constantly changing; their needs, desires, and behaviors are constantly changing… Why are we so reluctant to change?

As a continuous advocate for integrated messaging, cross platform interaction, and customer relationship management that extends beyond one interaction and builds upon all interactions, I get frustrated when the dots aren’t connected. By mapping out these various touch points and the decision process of a customer, we should be able to get a clear understanding of how things need to work together… but in our siloed world of corporate culture or segmented agency life, this simply doesn’t happen. In a world of too much communication and noise, what we need more of is communication. Not just any communication, but effective, communication, between teams, between agencies, between company – consumers.

In a world of too much communication and noise, what we need more of is communication.

With the ever-increasing number of touchpoints to interact with a consumer, this internal effective communication has never been needed more. If a consumer engages with our brand, whether a TV spot, a tweet, a website, with a specific call to action and that call to action doesn’t deliver on the initial promise… we have lost that consumer. We’ve lost the opportunity to amaze, all because we, as marketers, failed to effectively communicate internally.

While planning out your next marketing project or campaign, get to know all stakeholders involved and make an internal communication plan and pact. Strategize together; collaborate; and set timelines together. Keep an open mind and break down the walls of your silos. Reach out and respond. Get everyone involved for a stronger strategy and outcome.

If not, you’ll lose that interested consumer…

Today launched the awesome incubator TechCrunch Disrupt here in NYC. I, however, was unable to attend, but was glued to my monitor like it was March Madness or the Tour de France. Some great things are happening in the world of technology. Apps connecting the dots of individual user behavior, location, customizable offers, gamification, and shiny new technologies on smartphones and other mobile devices. And as a Physical / Digital Convergence nerd, I’m excited to see what comes from each of these new startups as well as some of the others coming out of TechStars and Y Combinator.

As an advocate for transparency, efficacy and consumerism in today’s business environment, I am, however left wanting a bit… I mean we have these great technologies, we have some “fun” things happening, but what are we really doing? Are we solving anything, or are we just showing off our geek-ness and ability to make a mobile device do something cool? With the speed to market being in an increasingly quick turnaround with agile iterations happening on an almost daily basis, the rush to ship is daunting.

Are we solving anything, or are we just showing off our geek-ness and ability to make a mobile device do something cool?

What if we take a step back and start with a real problem? What if use our collective genius to collaborate and create a technological advancement to solve these real issues? We have the power to completely change the way we live, the way we educate, the way we govern, the way we support one another as human beings. I see a huge need for a new type of incubator… one that starts with a problem and the solution is in the brainstorming and innovation.

Solve First… Then Ship.

What do you think? How would you use collaboration to solve real issues?

As I continue on in my new venture, I have to continually take a step back in what I’ve been brainwashed into thinking when it comes to Social Media. As companies continue to quickly run into the space to play catch up with the Starbucks of the world for sheer size of community and thinking of individuals within that community as a media measurement, they are missing out and passing by some amazing opportunities. Real life relationships with customers, real life engagement with individuals, a chance to change minds, an opportunity to support or celebrate, to laugh and cry… That’s what companies are missing. On the quest to 1 million fans on Facebook, the real value has been shot out the window. I’m taking a pledge here to never forget what “Social” media is all about… relationships.

Here’s a list of things that I’m finding again:

• Plan for value – Foundational strategies are great, but the true essence is the value you exchange with the community
• Engage - I mean truly engage… have your community manager really make an effort to meet and greet any new members in the community and try to understand what they want out the relationship.
• Deliver - Make promises that you over deliver on. If someone comes on board to learn, give them something to learn. If you tout your community as a thought leader, make sure you’re a thought leader.
• Take a deep breath – A past co worker had a great picture of a marathoner crossing the finish line to epitomize social media. Social media is a marathon, not a sprint. Slow down. Value the people you have in your community. Add value every step of the way. They are your key to social media success.

I challenge you, social marketing ninja/guru/honcho/etc to take a step back and identify what it is you truly are doing? Are you social or are you just another metric on a scorecard? Do you truly engage or are you pushing message and praying for a “Like?” Now is a great time to reexamine what we’re doing.

What could you do different?