Re: Branding - NOT for small BIZ

From: Matthew da Silva <mdasilva_at_ibd.yamatake.co.jp>
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 10:44:09 -0600 (CST)

> RAMON RAY WROTE:
> > I can't think of one small biz that is a brand name - except
> > for a dog company that American Express highlights in it's
> > Inc. Mag ads and other exceptions like this.
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is pure nonsense and displays nothing more than
evidence of the almost-irrelevance of this list. Branding
begins in the backyard, and people create brands NOT by
being the same as everyone else, but by being different:
Diversity leads to added value. It's a human imperative to
seek out diversity. One could possibly prove 'the impulse'
has genetic origins. Some subscribers here may be
disinclined to actually study the needs of a small business
but they should remember that small businesses rule the Net.
You may be surprised to find that they can indeed develop
strong brands, and even invent new models of marketing. But
then, those companies are not knocking on your doors. Why?
Because online advertising is a forgone conclusion: Nobody
clicks on banners. I don't know how many times this has
been repeated, but it seems that every time some fool
presents an honest opinion, the backwash drowns him out.
Don't you guys read anything except UPSIDE and PC Week?

A tip: read the March issue of Business 2.0, which is a
nicely packaged (sure to appeal to animated gif creatives
out there) mag. I found it at Tower Records in Shibuya here
in Tokyo. There's an article of some interest about
marketing which goes some way to address issues I raised
here a while back around the subject of text advertising in
email subscribed lists.

> RAMON RAY WROTE:
> > The only
> > brand's I know of (IBM, Microsoft, AT&T, Clorox/Tide, etc -
> > the mother load of brands) have invested billions in
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the curious out there, is 'mother load' where you put mom
in the Maytag and press GO?

> RAMON RAY WROTE:
> > So unless someone can convince me otherwise - online
> > branding is NOT for Small Businesses. We want a fast ROI, immediate
> > results, etc.
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You won't get them. It takes years to build a small business.
Doesn't matter where you live or what you sell, or to whom.
Even the guy flogging tin jewelry by the street side has to
be there, on the pavement, every day, as long as his target
customers are strolling by.

> RAMON RAY WROTE:
> I think small businesses remain small because many do want
> fast ROI and immediate results. Small businesses can react
> faster, watch their online branding investments more closely
> than "the big guys", yet most want a "get rich quick" method
> of online success. I think a small business can get great
> branding on the internet, look at Goto.com. They are up
> against GIANTS like Yahoo, Infoseek, and Altavista, yet they
> have been successful in branding in a very unique way,
> solely on the web.
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I wonder how much luck and how much experience was tied up
in Goto.com it seems to me that they are building a neat
site but personally, I don't have the time to visit every
month and it's not in my agenda for the next year to perform
search engine optimization beyond visiting their sites.

You might be surprised to know that it is very likely that
some of those GIANT search engines will fold in the mid term
unless they improve their services. Yahoo! is past a joke.
I never use it. Why? Nobody verifies its links any more.
Remarks about Hotbot elsewhere in this post ignore the fact
that users overwhelmingly prefer to serach using 'the Wired
Search Engine' because it does more of their work than the
others. Read ONLINE mag and try to find an article by a
professional searcher that does NOT refer to the 'Bot by
name.

Too much is being made about doing stuff online. We should
start to concentrate more on how to use the Internet to do
stuff with our customers.

------------------------------------------------------
M a t t h e w d a S i l v a
I n t e r n a t i o n a l B u s i n e s s D e v e l o p m e n t
Yamatake Corporation mdasilva_at_ibd.yamatake.co.jp
2-12-19 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-8316 Japan
Tel: 81-3-3486-2216 Fax: 81-3-3486-2503


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Received on Wed Mar 10 1999 - 11:58:02 CST