Akhil Bandhu Paul
Social Professional Personal

A new era of Marketing – Digital Branding

18 Apr, 2017 1267

The term digital branding is often used, but what actually is ‘digital branding’?

Digital marketing has emerged as a specialism over the last decade with its origins rooted in direct marketing. The increase in the number of personal devices and their use means brand marketers have many more ways of communicating directly and interactively with their target consumers or customers. Given this, it’s no surprise that branding concepts should be applied to digital media and technology to develop brands through interactions with consumers on their digital devices.

Here’s my perspective on “Digital Branding“:

“Digital channels and assets are used to communicate a brand’s positioning (or purpose) as part of channelizing brand communication or engagement programs”.

So let’s rename ‘digital branding’ ‘digital communication’ and consider its role in the context of the business strategy and brand planning. 

How are Business Strategy and Brand Planning linked?

A brand’s communication strategy will be part of the annual brand plan and thread back through to the business strategy.

Where to Play

This is essentially about which markets (and segments) a business wishes to compete in. When looking at the options, we should think about factors such as:

• Target markets– how big are they, how fast are they growing, are these clearly defined and understood?
• Customer needs and wants– how are the target markets segmented?
• Differentiation– to what extent will the business need to differentiate their branded product or service to appeal to the target customer and/or consumer segment?

How to win in-market

This is all about what the initiatives and activities the business will execute to win in market. These are typically detailed in the Annual Brand Plan. For example, does the business:

• Have a compelling story to tell that will communicate the brand proposition and differentiate the offering in the target consumers’ minds?
• Are the activities aligned from a brand and channel perspective?
• What key performance indicators have been agreed to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities?
• How will we know whether or not we are winning?

It is at the ‘situation analysis’ stage in the planning process that the communications strategy, including digital, is reviewed/developed.

So rather than being viewed as a discrete function, digital communications (or marketing) should be integrated into the business, brand and communications planning process.

So what’s the Role of Digital Communications in Building Brands?

Digital capability is becoming more necessary for businesses that are seeking to build or enhance their brands through brand building program. Digital is a powerful tool for brands and with many brand-building benefits.