Why should you carefully consider brand experiences over digital platforms?
A recent report asking opinions of 522 brand marketers across Europe and the US carried out by Sizmek, shows that 67% of the audience profiled are concerned about the compromise of creative design and brand experience across digital platforms.
It’s an issue we’ve been asked to solve on several occasions, but with the right creative team onboard, it’s quite easily avoided by following a few guiding principles. Doing this from the outset can help you steer clear of eroding your brand essence online and strengthen your brand’s consistency across all touch points, ultimately enriching your customer’s experience.
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No-one can be a unicorn
Specialists are specialists for a reason, you’ve got an amazing brand agency and an amazing digital agency, but don’t expect the creator of your fantastic brand to understand all the parameters of front-end or digital development. And vice versa; that the talented front-end developer sees how the brand vision should hang together. Both have value to offer and if you bring them together from the very start you’ll never look back.
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If only you’d told me that at the start
Communication is key. Teams work best when they have one leader and recognise everyone in the team has their unique role to play. Once we’ve assigned a team, we always start with a kick off meeting, it’s the brief really; this can be done face to face or via Skype, Google Hangouts or WebEx. Bringing the whole team together ensures roles and responsibilities are properly assigned, grey areas are resolved and your campaign can move forward as quickly as possible.
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One size does not fit all
Once the brand has been approved and before the guidelines are created, engage your digital team to give it a final sense check. It’s critically important that the brand has been fully tested by digital teams to ensure it will work properly across all channels before you finalise any guidelines.
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It’s how you say it
Your audiences may very well be the same above-and-below-the-line, but messaging and how you say things should be adapted to suit the channel. Regular conversations between digital specialists and creative and copy teams will ensure everyone knows exactly what they’re working to.
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All on the same page
The kick off meeting and subsequent regular updates will have established the creative and all the specifications needed for the brand or campaign assets. The creative and assets will then properly reflect your true brand essence. We find regular communication led by the team leader keeps everyone focused and on track.
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Ultimately keep your customer front of mind
This is a real opportunity to deliver a more targeted, personal and immersive brand experience. The experience of your brand needs to be consistent at every touch point, that doesn’t mean it needs to be the same, but the overall impression they get, should be one that reinforces the essence of your brand and validates why they keep coming back to you again and again.
For the latest news in branding, head on over to our Articles page. Alternatively, if you have any questions about a branding project – or branding in general – then get in touch with us. We’d love to help!