Re: Branding and marketing

From: Preston Bealle <preston_at_babygear.com>
Date: Wed 27 Dec 2000 12:43:40 -0500

BOB RIOS <brios_at_xspot.com> WROTE:
> I'm doing some research for a project. And one of
> the things I need to do is to find a site that will
> give me some ideas on branding. ...
>
> Do you have any sites or ideas????

TO WHICH LARRY RAUBACH <larryraubach_at_hotmail.com> REPLIED:
> In my opinion Bob, branding per se isn't just an idea -
> it's a philosophy - one that eminates from the top
> down and is a long term commitment. It's not about
> cheap tactics like sock puppets or Super Bowl ads.

TO WHICH CHRISTIAN SARKAR <Christian_Sarkar_at_bmc.com> REPLIED:
> I agree strongly w/ Larry in the previous message-
> your brand is your customer experience.

Bob, Larry and Christian:

I have the point of view that branding exercises, in
and of themselves, are not appropriate for most
e-commerce companies now. There is too much
distance(and expense) between the time you build
"mindshare" and the time you actually convert that into
an order. Even the ignoring the expensive Super Bowl
placements of old(i.e., one and two years ago!) that
are very easy to condemn, I would make the case that
e-commerce companies should not advertise on
billboards, or the sides of buses, and sometimes not
even in magazines. You really can only afford
promotion which is very directly tied to getting orders
either immediately, or within a week or two.

Online advertising does this best, despite its bad
reputation. When you pay the right amount for it, and
buy it in the right place, it directly produces orders
at an exactly measurable cost, and the branding event
happens when that order is delivered on time, at a good
price, and so forth. Receiving that package is
ultra-branding.

Peanut butter, soda, toothpaste and other goods where
the identical product is purchased over and over are
the ones that need branding, mindshare, and a position
in the consumer's mind. Online superstores with
established histories, like Amazon and CDnow, also have
a justifiable need for this, but most web businesses
are not even close to this position, and only can
survive by quickly generating orders for every
marketing dollar spent. Etoys has spend most of its
marketing dollars on branding on television, and it has
not done the job for them. A company of that stature
having current sales only equal to last year's in
strong evidence of the peril of spending money on the
brand name rather than on direct marketing.

Preston Bealle





Received on Wed Dec 27 2000 - 11:43:40 CST