Integrated Brand » content http://www.integratedbrand.com Where brand leaders meet Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:54:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 What makes you different, creates buzz http://www.integratedbrand.com/830/what-makes-you-different-creates-buzz/ http://www.integratedbrand.com/830/what-makes-you-different-creates-buzz/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:15:09 +0000 jent http://www.integratedbrand.com/?p=830 Buzz isn’t something you scientifically produce. It is a little mystical in nature in that you never quite know for sure what is going to catch on and become buzz-worthy. However, the best way to create buzz-worthy content or events is to focus on your brand–what makes you different in the first place. How do you uniquely do what you do? How do you express yourself in your visual and verbal brand that sets you apart? Identify that, harness it and use it to drive your content creation for the best chance to create buzz. And, remember, it’s what makes you different that is of value to people that is important. Not just being different for being different’s sake.

Check out this example of a website that clearly demonstrates its brand difference through its content, tone and manner, and the way it uses YouTube to create an engaging experience.

–Jen Travis

]]> http://www.integratedbrand.com/830/what-makes-you-different-creates-buzz/feed/ 0 How to: Architecting the brand experience online http://www.integratedbrand.com/549/how-to-architecting-the-brand-experience-online/ http://www.integratedbrand.com/549/how-to-architecting-the-brand-experience-online/#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:49:53 +0000 jent http://www.integratedbrand.com/?p=549 wordle
Your brand is experienced by your customers in a multitude of ways: through your product/service, your marketing, your people and…(no drum roll needed) your web presence. This doesn’t just mean your website anymore (although, that is a really important piece of it), but your online advertising (whether banner ads or Google AdWords campaigns), discoverability keys (keywords and meta-tags you use to define yourself) and your social media presence (whether managed or not) as well.

Yikes. That’s a lot to think about. But, when filtered through the lens of your brand—your unique value and promise—it is much easier, because you already have the road map, you just need to make sure you manage the stops along the way (the trip, if you will). How do you ensure that your online presence delivers your unique brand experience?

1. Know your users: Who is coming to your web site or following you on Twitter? What tribes do they belong to and what are their motivations, needs and online behaviors as a result? Segment them, profile them and think about how they would engage with you online.
2. Benchmark your online brand equity: What do your current site analytics tell you about your visitors’ interests and how they found you? What is the current murmuring about your brand in blogs, on Twitter, around Facebook? Review and analyze this to gain an understanding of where you are now and what is currently working (or not working).
3. Collect and categorize your content: What can (and do) you offer your customers? Is it thought leadership? Tools? Resources? Humor? What? Inventory organizational content (intellectual property, images, video, etc.), filter it through your brand, and develop a content development and repurposing strategy to deliver this content on your site and social media channels.
4. Map it all out: How will you organize your content to demonstrate your brand and meet your user’s needs? Conceptually and diagrammatically map out how users will use your content and how that experience demonstrates your brand value.
5. Implement and measure it: Design, deploy and measure it against your benchmark, using criteria and metrics that help you define the brand equity gained or lost, increase in awareness, connections, and of course, conversions.

With 74.4% of the North American population using the Internet, it’s more important than ever that you differentiate, engage and deliver online.

–Jen Travis

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