What? You’re going to brand me? If the word “brand” conjures up an image of a vast frontier, you’re on the right track. In marketing terms, branding can be described as the outward representation of an organization’s vision. It is part of a greater "identity" which is managed by the ways in which the organization presents itself to the audience or customer. Logos, taglines, colors, brand names, and even corporate perception all fall under the “branding” tag. These branding aspects help form a picture in the mind of the customer. Repeated exposure to that mental picture helps reinforce the brand meaning; hence the need for branding consistency. 

There is a necessity for online branding to effectively match offline branding and product recognition. For example, virtually every website we work on uses established brand colors and cues on their branded websites. This drives home brand recognition. However, these stylistic and formatting elements do not guarantee that the brand’s web pages take full advantage of the visitors' attention. The internet offers a unique marketing opportunity, because users actually seek out the branding/marketing instead of having it “unexpectedly” presented to them through the traditional offline routes. The users go online to search for additional information about a brand, company, or service. It's imperative that goal-oriented users find what they're looking for once they arrive online. 

It's equally important that customers feel comfortable navigating a website. Usability goes hand in hand with branding. Online visitors come to the internet experience with different levels of technological aptitude, and it is essential that this be taken into consideration when developing web design.

In today’s online era, products are classified by “attitude” as well as a brand. That attitude is what drives consumers online. They want to be able to research all aspects of a product before purchase, and the internet offers all that and more. Consumers can find product specs, nutrition information, price comparisons, product comparisons, corporate citizenship information, and other consumer feedback. All these ideas add to the attitude a consumer has towards a product or brand. The online identity an organization puts forth has to support and enhance the overall image of the brand or product.

Good brand differentiation calls for better use of tools that underline a brand's service reputation. If a healthcare brand stresses that the company cares about the patient, then the tools need to be available to prove it on the website. An organization’s online branding message needs to adequately show the product’s “attitude” by cohesively using all forms of branding, both online and offline.

So, on the great expanse of the internet frontier, online branding enables your company to leave a lasting impression. Don’t miss our next issue of Adventures in eMarketing for another eye-opening article on branding. See you on the range!