• by Olof Schybergson , June 13, 2011

Over the last decade, the concept of branding has evolved significantly and brands today have multiple evolving channels of communication with their key audiences. Unfortunately, many professionals still approach branding the wrong way -- with an industrial mind-set, an out-of-date approach where they develop the brand in isolation and then polish, defend, and protect it with every means necessary.

All too often, we see brands expressed visually and communicated using controlled channels. The brands are then managed using style guides that give basic rules and directions. This approach is out of date. It was probably effective and sustainable when we lived in a world of mass production, where essentially a uniform product and experience was produced centrally and distributed -- unaltered -- to the masses around the world.

However, the world is significantly evolving and increasingly, the core product is digital or interactive. In other words, the experience is two-way, not merely heading in a particular direction with no feedback loop.

Regardless of which report you read, the vast majority (80%-90%) of the leading brands in the world have digital at the very center of their product marketing. This further strengthens the argument that the industrial approach to branding--where it is centrally created and expressed then communicated in a 2D static way, using controlled channels--is totally inappropriate.

Today, modern brands have to start with digital first. This makes for a fundamental re-think of the brands of tomorrow and there are a number of brand questions that need to be answered:

•How does a user interact with the brand?

•How does the brand behave?

•What are the core user benefits of the brand and its services?

•How are the brand values expressed through its interfaces?

•How does the brand change and evolve, depending on digital contexts?

•How are core brand properties represented in the service creation process?

•What makes the experience totally on-brand when the visual brand is not present?

The modern brand has to be interactive. It has to be contextually adapted and be relevant in different contexts. It has to evolve. It must be open to change and evolution, usually by market forces and end users.

To achieve this in a digital world, branding today must be driven by user experience.

For many, the best approach to currently tackle branding is to completely flip the existing strategy on its head and go back to the beginning.

Companies, both big and small, need to see evolving channels, such as mobile, as part of the overall communications strategy and not merely another channel to reach the end user. It should be a fundamental part of the bigger picture.

The potential to enhance customer behaviour and raise positive brand awareness and recognition is significant and achievable if the user is at the core of the overall strategy.

There are many great examples of integrated campaigns that truly take a user on a useful and enhanced journey with the brand. Companies that are getting this right, often capture user interest or trigger a thought in the offline world, and then engage and provide additional information and buy-in online.

To close the loop and to close the sale or experience, great brand and marketing strategists take the story to mobile and use tactics on mobile that tie into in-store activity and also link to the journey - bringing the whole story together.

Is branding dead? Perhaps in its conventional form, we all need to go back to thinking about the user and ultimately focus on delivering the product or service that makes the brand and the brand's behavior needs to be to instantly recognized regardless of platform, operating system or device. The user experience must come first.