Herbert Meyers

Branding @ the Digital Age

The advent of the Internet and other new digital technologies means that companies-be they virtual or traditional bricks-and-mortar-must develop a successful strategy for presenting compelling brands in the virtual world. Drawing on their experience with Interbrand, the worlds largest branding consultancy, and including chapters by branding experts from such companies as Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Hewlett Packard, the authors focus on the strategic role of e-branding. Practical, tested, and designed for companies in any industry, this book presents a lively look at creating and sustaining e-brands beyond the current dot-com fizzle. Авторы фокусируют внимание на стратегической роли е-брендинга в эпоху Интернета и новых цифровых технологий. В книге представлен взгляд практиков (консультантов крупнейшей консалтинговой компании в области брендинга и экспертов таких гигантов, как НР и P&G) на создание и поддержание интернет-брендов.

The Internet Explosion

Like a real physical explosion, the Internet explosion in the past decade not only riveted the attention of the world, but also created sufficient dust, smoke and chaos to limit our ability to see what is happening, where to go or how to survive. As some of the dust and smoke have settled, we are just beginning to realize what has dramatically changed and what is still standing, strong as ever.

The Strategic Role of E-Branding

It has been a fascinating time to be in business. This period has been called everything from the modern-day gold rush to the new economy to the information revolution. We have seen the rise of the knowledge worker and the demise of many Internet start-ups. The streets of Silicon Valley are littered with pink slips and tattered business plans, but those same streets are filled with numerous Internet millionaires walking to their empires.

Interactive Brand Design Research

“Get a website, put it up, people will come and buy your product,” is what people used to say a few years ago. Along with that simplified notion came the notion that perhaps there’s a real difference between an e-brand and an offline brand. There is no real difference. A brand is still a brand. The Internet certainly gives you another means to build the brand, but it is important to understand the different elements of marketing on the Internet and the different channels you have to help support that brand. The online brand has to be treated with great care and support, because online loyalty can be lost at the click of a mouse.

A Look Ahead: E-Biz in the New Millennium

If you look at what is happening in the world today with respect to services such as television, radio, newspapers and telephony, you see it all moving toward digital signals or bits, the same medium as online services and the Internet. Additionally, with software getting friendlier and easier to use, in the future you won’t have to think about the notion of going out to the Internet; software will make all this content readily available and easy to use. You’ll have all kinds of devices available that enable you to get at information easily. And what we used to call “going out to the Internet” will be irrelevant. That notion will disappear.

Brand Design for Digital Viewing

A majority of people have a misconception regarding brands on the Internet — that they are different from other brands that have existed for decades. A brand is essentially a promise of an experience. It is a set of tangible and intangible elements which in tandem create an experience, or the promise of that experience, in someone’s mind. So whether a brand is offered in a 12 oz. bottle, operates with an engine and a steering wheel, or is experienced only on the Internet, theoretically it’s the same thing. The difference lies in the medium itself and the opportunities that the Internet provides to create a much more interpersonal brand relationship.

The lifestyle influence

With its sour taste, it’s amazing that people can enjoy eating yogurt. Rarely will they order it in a restaurant, but they will always buy those small portable, serving-sized cups that are divided into portions and then thrown away.

The commercial power of packaging

When, as early as the mid-1800s, many storeowners began to appreciate the power of the package, they quickly understood that handling and offering merchandise in prepackaged form was the most efficient way of merchandising and maintaining their stores. With multiple stores and store chains, the control of distribution, shipping, storing, displaying and selling a large number of products of every description, packaging became an indispensable medium without which it was no longer possible to operate effectively.

A broader view

Trying to predict the future has always been a risky business. But if we want to be in control of marketing brands and products, taking an intelligent stab at future packaging is well in order.

The evolution of packaging

There was a time when pack animals were a common means of transportation. A few thousand years ago, packages were primitive bundles, baskets or earthen containers that were created to hold and transport food, beverages or objects valuable to the members of ancient communities. Numerous antiquarian discoveries of such containers have been made all over the world, especially along the ancient silk roads that led from Asia through Persia, Phoenicia and Mesopotamia (now roughly the areas covered by Iran, Iraq and Syria) to Turkey, the Middle East, Africa and, eventually, to Southern and Central Europe.