What comes to mind when you think of your company’s brand? Is it a logo? Slogan? Feeling? Customer service? These are just a few of the requirements for a successful corporate brand.
Walter Landor defined branding as “…a brand is a promise. By identifying and authenticating a product or service it delivers a pledge of satisfaction and quality.”
This definition has been a great representation of a brand in the one-way marketing communication of the past. Now, we have reached the new social world where brands need to engage customers by creating and continuing two-way conversations on an individual basis. This means that the actual control of the brand has moved from the company to the consumer where the company has become a facilitator of the relationship. Brands are becoming dynamic, in a sense, where they able to grow with the customer, ever-integrating into the lifestyle of that individual customer.
With the increase in database marketing, social media, and the shift in consumer behavior, consumers are demanding individualization and molding brands into their own personal lifestyle and daily routine. This transition has created levels of brand loyalty and advocacy once thought to be unattainable.
On the flipside, a company needs to be aware of the power shift and be able to allow for the malleability of the brand with the essence still visible and constant throughout the individual customer relationship. This dichotomy of the brand will forever change the way marketers look at their company from the social perspective and create awareness of the various conversations surrounding the brand (brand to consumer, consumer to consumer, brand to community, brand to advertising, etc.).
Social Branding is all about creating a dynamic brand that can be molded and changed for the individual customer relationships while still holding true and communicating the brand’s essence. It’s a wonderful time to create a lifelong brand relationship with the customer.
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