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The Currency of Branding
Tajdar O. Chaudry
I was going through my Facebook messages today when I came across something that majorly “irked” me. Im an avid reader of this local publication called The Fourth Article, so as social media commands, I’m a part of their group on Facebook too. I got a Facebook alert on my Blackberry and I unassumingly opened what was a message from the community only to find an adolescently misguided girl talking about her “new line of designer handbags”. What came next resembled (in my head) a corporate takeover of biblical proportions. This “girl” somehow got hold of admin status on the Facebook group and proceeded to remove all other admins, changed the name of the group to her that of her own brand and started advertising her product line to the unassuming 300+ members of the group.
This is just a fine example of the lengths brands will go to, to promote themselves. While these tactics might be lauded in smaller more shrewd circles for their business acumen back in the day, the global chain has grown extensively since then and an example of this sort might get you shunned out almost instantaneously. Gone are the times when brands dictated to their consumers and those of one-way communication channels. The consumer today, is key, and the worst part for brands is that they “know” how important they are, entering into the brand psyche a certain set of rules & regulations that would now make the consumer more perceptive and less annoyed.
Branding methodology and its transition into social mediums has been marred by conflicts & celebrated with conquests. The key components to their successful campaigns might’ve been great viral value, innovate marketing tactics and great packaging, but when it came time to exchange cash with their consumers, the brands dealt in “credibility”. The more currency a brand had to pass around, the more consumers it attracted. This currency is one that holds true for personal branding as well and the example mentioned earlier along the same guidelines would make for a great Naukri.com advertisement!
Credibility, in the Google age, is the only term that collaborators, employers and consumers understand. When dealing with consumers in specific, be they interested in your personal or corporate brand, there are a set of guidelines which you should abide by or risk losing your clientele. Consumers aren’t a flock of sheep to be passed around from brand to brand. Identify & understand your market first and open up a communication channel with them, teach & learn all at the same time. Only on interaction with you will your consumers ever trust and rely on you and your services and/or products. Back words up with action and produce results; that’s always another good way to earn their appreciation, respect and trust. Portray a certain amount of aptitude and you will automatically see your corporate and consumer network growing effortlessly.
The bottom line here is that with the evolution of technology and its impact on the way that the human race now communicates, brands are adapting and following suit. There’s not much to say about the ones that stay stuck in their ways, because honestly each new day ushers the birth and death of brands. The ones that fizzle out are hardly heard of in this great talkative global conference room. The ones that survive have served a certain amount paying their dues before their services are heralded and credibility pays a vital role in their success.
As always, thank you for your patronage and if you’ve found this post to be educational or feel like a friend would enjoy reading this as well, please take a moment and share.
Author: Tajdar O. Chaudry
The author is a Public Relations practioner who blogs about Social Media, Public Relations, Badvertising & Music from all over the world. He also tweets at @TajdarOC
Great post. I agree that trust has to be 'earned' and crediblity cannot be bought. It all comes to knowing and understanding the space before one enters it for commerical nature.
On another note, I have yet to find a good successful 'revenue' generating success story off Facebook. Giving out samples, or 'Fan' pages don't count. I am looking at Facebook from B2C or even B2B perspective and have yet to see a credible model. I do see more value from Linkedin this regards though.
http://www.Bilal.ca
http://twitter.com/bilaljaffery
Web Marketing Manager – IBM
Great post. I agree that trust has to be ‘earned’ and crediblity cannot be bought. It all comes to knowing and understanding the space before one enters it for commerical nature.
On another note, I have yet to find a good successful ‘revenue’ generating success story off Facebook. Giving out samples, or ‘Fan’ pages don’t count. I am looking at Facebook from B2C or even B2B perspective and have yet to see a credible model. I do see more value from Linkedin this regards though.
http://www.Bilal.ca
http://twitter.com/bilaljaffery
Web Marketing Manager – IBM
Excellent post, Tajdar. It's puzzling that someone would think they could hijack an entire Facebook group, send spam email, and end up with customers? This “adolescent” attempt, as you put it, to get new business just demonstrates the lack of understanding some people have for the integrity required to build a brand. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent post, Tajdar. It’s puzzling that someone would think they could hijack an entire Facebook group, send spam email, and end up with customers? This “adolescent” attempt, as you put it, to get new business just demonstrates the lack of understanding some people have for the integrity required to build a brand. Thanks for sharing!
Tajdar,
That was a great article! You really got it right on point.The consumers definitely know that they have the power.
A very informative & thoughtful article on the concept of branding today.
Hey Tajdar
I agree that credibility and trust are the key to long term brand success. I wish ppl would understand that or at least think before they act.
Thank you for the support.
Regards
Rabia – TFA
hey i like the way the kid is analyzing things:)
an yeah of course we have to keep this kinds of things in our mind
[...] The Currency of Branding | The Communicista Code http://www.communicista.com/2009/08/30/the-currency-of-branding – view page – cached Branding methodology & its transition into social mediums has been marred by conflicts & conquests. The key component to any brands success is credibility. — From the page [...]
Good stuff Tajdar, as you say, credibility (and authenticity) are the watchwords of the day.
Tajdar –
Great observations you have here. The act of patiently and methodically building your brand equity is the gold standard. You build fanatical followers of your brand one at a time and it can't be dome any better than that.
Hijacking lists or spamming will never be (nor never has been) a solution that the masses will adapt to. While the perpetrators may steal a .08% lead from these tactics; the TRUE brand will have a stable, secure, passionate base of fans that will garnish much more rewarding results.
Thanks for the link. I look forward to reading more from you.
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
Tajdar,
Yet another spot on observation about the nature of transparency and trust in a social media age. What I think this brings to light the most is that many companies have forgot that they never truly owned their brand to begin with, the consumer did. A company can define their brand and promote it initially, but ultimately it is the consumer's experience with the brand that gives it life. Without that strong visceral connection to the brand your marketing efforts are in vein.
From an analysis perspective Brand Managers should be jumping for joy because social media has given them a real time tool for monitoring the impression of their brand. This allows forward thinking companies to immediately evaluate and re-work their brand strategy in the face of adulation or criticism.
Brands are more than a logo or a tag line, they are your consumers' emotional connection to your product or service. It's what makes you not just a choice, but the only choice! This is why a company's front line employees' understanding of the brand promise is so critical. They are your brand ambassadors and if they fall flat on your brand promise your consumers will revolt.
Steven Paul Matsumoto
CEO
Stigmare, Inc. Couture Marketing & Product Development
Tajdar,
Yet another spot on observation about the nature of transparency and trust in a social media age. What I think this brings to light the most is that many companies have forgot that they never truly owned their brand to begin with, the consumer did. A company can define their brand and promote it initially, but ultimately it is the consumer’s experience with the brand that gives it life. Without that strong visceral connection to the brand your marketing efforts are in vein.
From an analysis perspective Brand Managers should be jumping for joy because social media has given them a real time tool for monitoring the impression of their brand. This allows forward thinking companies to immediately evaluate and re-work their brand strategy in the face of adulation or criticism.
Brands are more than a logo or a tag line, they are your consumers’ emotional connection to your product or service. It’s what makes you not just a choice, but the only choice! This is why a company’s front line employees’ understanding of the brand promise is so critical. They are your brand ambassadors and if they fall flat on your brand promise your consumers will revolt.
Steven Paul Matsumoto
CEO
Stigmare, Inc. Couture Marketing & Product Development
These kind of tactics almost always backfire. They did twenty years ago and they will today. Just because the tools may be different, the response will be the same.