Digital Branding Strategies and Media Convergence

Be an Online Brand

To be an online brand, you need to:

• Be visible
• Manage your reputation
• Have a communication strategy
• Develop community

Evolution of Company Focus

Before vs. Now:

• Analysis: Before - Limited tools; Now - Online tools for comprehensive analysis
• Marketing: Before - Product/Service focus; Now - Focus on communication
• Advertising: Before - Creating Ads; Now - Creating content marketing

Characteristics of Online Media

• Addressability (Segmentation): Identify customers before they buy
• Interactivity: Customers' ability to express their needs to the brand
• Accessibility: Obtain digital information easily
• Connectivity: Customers' ability to connect with the brand and other customers
• Control: Customers' ability to regulate the information they view and their exposure to it

Our Relationship to Content

Infoxication: Avoid overloading consumers with information. This is a main problem in the digital market.

Our Relationship to Brand Content

Branded content proposes two fundamental things:

1. It must be of good quality
2. Brands must be inherently important or relevant

Storytelling is the core of why we exist and why we make purchases. Stories give us something to believe in, both before and after a purchase is made.

Transmedia Storytelling

(Henry Jenkins, often cited as a key figure in transmedia storytelling)

Transmedia storytelling unfolds across multiple media platforms, with each platform contributing new information that adds significantly to the overall narrative. It is a narrative method for transmitting messages.

Transmedia can work alongside traditional advertising by providing more depth to the story across different platforms.

Example: Jay-Z Bing Campaign

The Power of the Individual: Value Co-Creation

Prosumer: An individual who creates content related to a brand.

Embrace Consumer Interaction: Accept what consumers do with the brand. It's challenging to control copyright across so many platforms and users.

Traditional vs. Collaborative Entertainment

Traditional Model:

• Service-oriented
• Monologue
• Product-based
• Passive

Collaborative Model:

(It's all about experiences)

• Parallel
• Dialogue
• Experience-based
• Active

This model is more than just interacting with content; it involves remixing content and creating new experiences.

Great experiences can diminish the explicit intent to purchase. Buying a product is a state of mind; purchases often happen through sharing, NOT selling.

Convergence

Convergence is the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the entertainment experiences they desire.