Business Blog Summit: You No Longer Control Your Brand

Know More: Blog Business Summit 2.0, Blog Business Summit

In the past, branding and marketing focused on product quality and consistency. Think 1950's style Campbell Soup commercials. Branding and marketing then changed to be centered on customer identity - how does the customer want to seen or feel while using your product? Today, they are identifying themselves by their social impact.

Ben Edwards, of IBM points out that customers control the corporate identity. They celebrate a brand, but they also:

Mock,
Mashup, and
Do Strange and Unnatural Acts (think Coke/Mentos)

and there is not much a corporation can do to stop it.

What corporations can do is change marketing methods, change how customer interaction occurs. In fact, INTERACT with customers. Don't just tell them (present to them, talk at them), discuss with them. Since the brand is out of corporate control, executives need to try and influence and engage the people who are creating your brand. Ben's agenda for engagement includes:

Don't segment customers
Let employees tell their stories
Listen to customers, suppliers stakeholders and employees
Engage with anyone who has an interest in your brand

I also thought this was a great session. I think many companies are very slow to catch on to the point that they can only influence people because they are fearful of letting go of control (funny that they don't have control right now anyway-but think they do)

Posted by: Drew Meyers | October 28, 2006 11:12 AM | Permalink to Comment

Great post. Sounds like you are suggesting that companies need to create/maintain a corporate blog. Nice idea. Allow unmoderated feedback. They need to hear the good and the bad. Often, companies only want to hear the good, and do not take the time to analyze the root cause of the bad. Suggestion, toss out the good and focus on the bad. That is where the ultimate "growth of a brand" lives.~rick

Posted by: ~rick | October 29, 2006 5:32 AM | Permalink to Comment

A digest of the top blogger thoughts and ideas - The A listers

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