The ‘brand’ new challenge

There aren’t

as many companies in India which do business on the net as there are in the

US. So the problem is not so widespread now. But the day is not far when Indian

companies on the internet will be grappling with the issue of branding, once

the penetration of PCs in the home increases. As of now, the few Indian

e-business sites are full of graphics and image heavy and take a long time to

download. Worse, these sites do not indicate where to contact in case of a

problem. Some do not even give telephone numbers.

What does all

this point to? Simply this: spending money on launching e-business is not

enough. What is equally important–perhaps more so than launching an

e-business is the need to build a memorable, positive brand image that

online consumers will be attracted to in the long haul.

Having said

that, it would help to remember that branding in the online world is

different. It is more than just transferring your print brand identity to

the web. Unfortunately, the web is full of examples of companies who use the

web as a brochure with heavy graphics and colors. While it is important to

have a graphic design image, a brand in the world of e-business is more

largely affected by the interactive experience provided to users. Since the

web allows to build a one-to-one relationship with your customers.

The key here

is the quality of relationships. The web site’s ability to engage

customers and facilitate an ongoing relationship with them is the real key

to successful branding on the web. With the web, once a customer gets put

off, the probability of the customer visiting that site is rather remote.

And unlike in the physical world where there is a probability of

accidentally seeing an advertisement, in the web world only a deliberate

click can take you there. And that’s the catch. In short, if it isn’t

done correctly, it hurts a company’s ability to gain and retain business

through this channel.

It would help

to keep the following in mind:

•  Know
  
  your target audience:
  
  It is important that a web business determines who its best prospects are.
  
  Your best prospects in the physical world do not have to be the best online
  
  candidates.

•  Make
  
  your online brand usable: As
  
  mentioned earlier, creating an online brand isn’t just about the design,
  
  overall look and feel, and a pretty logo. It is very much connected to and
  
  enhanced by a positive user experience and an intuitive navigation scheme.
  
  In most circumstances, users want to get in, find what they want
  
  (information, items to buy, informal chats and community-related
  
  interaction) and then get out, on their terms, whether that means two
  
  minutes, or two hours. E-businesses need to assess users’ impressions of
  
  how easy it is to navigate a site and find what they want. And, when a site
  
  is redesigned, continue to review whether the job has been done correctly.

Deploy

technology that creates a strong, unique brand definition: Do not fall for

the temptation of adding functionality to a site after seeing another site

that offers a ‘hot’ service or a feature. The decision to buy web

applications (there are hundreds of them that you can either buy or build)

should be based on the overall business drivers. For example, if you intend

to differentiate your organization based on personalized customer service,

make sure the self-service applications and user interfaces that you put in

place are designed to fit your users’ unique needs and are integrated with

back-end customer databases and "real-time" customer service

channels.

The most

important thing to understand is that a ‘web brand’ is

multi-dimensional. It is more than just a messaging and identity effort; it

is also the degree to which you ensure a positive user experience, optimize

usability, and incorporate technology that addresses key user needs and

leapfrogs the competition.

Latha

Kuttappan-Chandradeep.