NONE: Differentiation/revenue via community/brand
Differentiation/revenue via community/brand
Brian Sarrazin (sarrazin_at_earthlink.net)
Wed, 21 Oct 1998 06:45:50 -0500 (CDT)
Web site directors want reasons for visitors to come often,
and to stay longer when they do. They want sustainable
competitive advantages that translate into hard currency.
But on the Web, the competitive playing field is more level
in many ways than in the real world. Once you've driven
someone to your Web front door, the experiences they realize
are difficult to differentiate. A requisite for any
sustainable competitive advantage is that it be based upon
assets or talents not possessed by competitors.
This is very difficult in Webland. "Me-too" is a more viable
competitive tactic here. Many of the usual barriers are
greatly reduced. However, one very effective means to
advantage is through the use of successful brands. We see a
lot of branding deals "this week." The problem is that "next
week" the good brands will all be gone, so I suggest you
focus on building your own.
I believe that every Web site may properly be considered a
brand. Each carries its own set of impressions and
experiences distinct from, though modifiable by, the real
world.
But what is the essence of "brand?" What does it symbolize?
I'm convinced that brands are abstractions of "community."
It is the real world's shortcut to connecting individuals.
We all know by now, after much repeated hammering, that
"community" is something humans crave, right down to our
lizard brain. In no small measure, community is our way of
discovering ourselves, and of communicating it to others.
How we position ourselves relative to a given community
speaks to who we are, and often, who we wish to be.
All this is true of brand allure. In every case where a name
or logo means something to the market, individuals in the
market define themselves by whether they buy it, or another
brand. Why Mercedes-Benz over Lexus? One would be
hard-pressed to come up with a good, rational reason to
spend the extra money. Yet driving a Mercedes communicates
to the world something about the driver that driving a Lexus
does not -- or so the driver, down to his lizard brain,
thinks.
It's ironic, but this identification is all virtual. We are
identifying ourselves through mutually agreed-upon
perceptions. It's a replacement for the real deal. After
all, we are not what we buy, we are what we do. Enter the
world of the Web.
Web technology affords site directors to enable visitors to
be themselves by *being themselves.* If everyone can see
what everyone else is doing, you have community. Visibility
is key, because then people can reach out and express who
they are. So when I visit a chat group at the
Harley-Davidson site, I can actually read how one of my
hog-riding compatriots beat-up a yuppie. Instead of buying a
Harley and imagining that my community knows I hate yuppies,
I can tell them, just as though I were sitting on a stool at
a biker bar (a fictional example, I assure you).
And soon, technology will enable more than just streaming
ASCII to communicate with. But let's not count out products
and their brands just yet. They still enable us to quickly
deliver rich packets of data as to who we are. "We went to a
movie on my bike" isn't nearly as informative as "We went to
the drive-in on my Harley," especially contrasted with "We
went to the Cineplex on my Schwinn."
I'm suggesting we offer a combination of real-deal community
*and* product merchandising. This has already begun with
CDNow and the spate of personal Web site communities. People
can put a referral link for their favorite CD on their
personal pages. These links go directly to a filled-in order
page at CDNow. But this is only the beginning.
Any site can offer products that help build and identify
community, but the good ones will enable their visitors to
become part of the site's community. This is best done by
encouraging interaction among visitors/members and
Webmasters, and by enabling visitors/members to build their
own stores -- within limits set by the Webmaster of course
(i.e. members can only sell your products, third-party
enhancements, co-marketing partner products, etc.). This
enables your site visitors/members to speak with their brand
choices, and you to make a percentage of sales.
I see a world where everyone defines themselves, in part, by
the products they sell in the personal stores they create at
a variety of their favorite sites. But then, perhaps I'm
biased.
What do you think?
- Are brands an abstraction of community?
- Can interaction among site visitors/members produce
revenue in this way?
- Is this painfully obvious?
- If so, why isn't everyone doing it?
Brian Sarrazin
Vice president, sales & marketing
Media In Motion
http://www.mediainmotion.com http://www.snapsite.com
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