Web 2.0: A new dimension in brand marketing
in Marketing, Corporate Communications, Online Strategy / Web Development, Brand, Digital Media
Mar 26th, 08
Many marketers are asking about Web 2.0. What is Web 2.0, and as a Brand Marketer, what do I need to know? Is Web 2.0 forcing us to rethink marketing and possibly see the onset of Marketing 2.0?
Web 2.0, a term coined by Tim O'Reilly in 2004, refers to the resurgence of the web with new business and social models and increasing relevance and importance following the dot com crash of 2001. Web 2.0 is often used to loosely define a set of online technologies and methodologies that are forging a new level of interaction between online publishers and online consumers. In fact, the movement is starting to blur the line between these two previously very distinct groups.
Popular websites built on Web 2.0 methodologies include the likes of YouTube, Digg and Facebook which are driven by user contributed content, however the same methodologies are showing exceptional promise as Brand Marketing and Communication tools for a broad range of enterprises.
Business Embraces Web 2.0 - Competitive Advantage or Survival Necessity
Business Embraces Web 2.0 - Competitive Advantage or Survival Necessity
A McKinsey Global Survey: How business are using Web 2.0 conducted in January 2007, showed widespread business interest and implementation of Web 2.0 technologies across a variety of industries. Technologies enabling automation and networking were of particular interest to businesses in the near term. The results point toward increasing investments in Web 2.0 technologies in the coming years with a high level of satisfaction from early adopters.
While the respondents to the survey were optimistic about the business benefits of Web 2.0 (with many already realising considerable value), it is perhaps a little early to accurately measure any competitive advantage gained by adopting Web 2.0 tools. Certainly customers have responded to increased quality of communication and participation, and early adopters of Web 2.0 tools for the consolidation and optimization of internal knowledge and communication may see long term competitive advantage through improved internal processes. However, the adoption of the tools are happening so quickly that it may no longer even be a game of long term competitive advantage, but rather one of keeping up with the Joneses as these new approaches to business become quickly commoditised.
Easier Implementation
Web 2.0 tools are often characterised as being relatively simple and inexpensive to set-up and trial, and can often bypass the implementation barriers of traditional IT projects. In fact, according to the McKinsey survey, many successful projects start as grassroots efforts from within the organisation rather than topdown management mandates. This is allowing different departments within an organisation, such as Marketing and HR, to trial the tools and experiment with aligning them with their objectives without the usual resistance of traditional business decision processes. The value and business case can often be quickly demonstrated without huge investments in new IT infrastructure.
New Business and Brand Strategies
Wikis, blogs, podcasts and RSS have all been demonstrated as technologies that can bring immediate value to an organisation by enhancing communication. Web 2.0 is all about conversations, collaboration, openness and transparency. Before a business jumps into Web 2.0 they need to make sure their brand and communication strategy is prepared for it. Following are four considerations when forming your Web 2.0 strategy:
1.Define a commitment to communication, especially listening and responding. Some Web 2.0 initiatives can take significant time to gain traction, and an ongoing commitment to communication is necessary for success. Abandoned blogs and unused internal wikis can do more harm than good, so make sure you have the resources in place to facilitate ongoing communication. Once a customer begins to participate in the communication you need to demonstrate rapid comprehension and response.
2. Be prepared to hand over some brand control. Your brand is already in the hands of the people, but Web 2.0 can amplify the voice of a single customer to a global audience. Passionate consumers will play with your brand and publish this online using Web 2.0 technologies. Brand messages need to be strong and relevant and aim to leverage the global voice of customers to reinforce positive messages.
3. Offer customers significant value and then extract value from the customer. Your Web 2.0 offering should offer the customer significant value, but also aim to tap the collective value of customers to further enhance the value of your offering back to them. Consumer contributed content is a example of the customer adding to the value of your offering. Web 2.0 can allow the customer to become involved in the design, testing and marketing of products and services.
4. Approach Web 2.0 from the perspective of top level business challenges rather than the enabling technology level. Although these tools are demonstrating themselves to be invaluable in increasing customer engagement, grow revenues and lower costs, they need to be approached appropriately to achieve the desired impact.
Examples - Financial Services
The Financial Services industry was a reasonably early adopter of digital marketing and advertising using online banner display advertisements and direct relationship marketing email campaigns. Having recently attended the Sydney Ad:Tech conference session titled "Web 2.0 for Financial Services" I thought it would be good to have a brief look at couple of examples of experimentation within the industry.
NAB - Yes the big Australian banks are still relying on traditional television based brand building with at least 2 of the big 4 currently running significant (and expensive) TV campaigns. However as the golden age of advertising continues to diminish with fragmenting media consumption, Web 2.0 tactics are being employed. This fun example demonstrates how engaging content can leverage existing Web 2.0 platforms like YouTube as a powerful brand builder:
ING Asia Pacific - ING also has a popular blog
Financial Social Networking - Wesabe is an interesting Web 2.0 that provides tools and taps collective user data to assist members to manage their finances more efficiently.
Scotiabank - Scotiabank produces a series of podcasts called The Money Clip
UMB - American Finance Company UMB ran a campaign making use of user contributed content
Internal Communications - A number of financial services organisations (Including Clients of Enso Consultancy) are successfully using Wikis, Blogs and Web 2.0 Intranet systems as a way to stimulate but not fully control organisation wide conversations and sharing of knowledge. Web 2.0 facilitated Collective Intelligence is the next logical progression - but that is a topic for another post.
Michael works as a business analyst and strategic consultant at Enso.
You can contact him at michael@ensoconsultancy.com.au