Behind the Buzz - digital and interactive advertising and marketing

Keeping the Wow Factor

by Rachel on February 23rd, 2008

One of the challenges with digital, as with all marketing, is to do things in a way that is different enough to help you stand out. It is far too easy to just jump on the latest bandwagon, the latest hot thing and suggest that your brand/your client do this because everyone else is - or because they can get some PR (Second Life and Facebook spring to mind). Often, using the latest thing rarely adds value to the brand beyond a few column inches. Building a hotel in SL or starting a Facebook group can be useless if your customers and potential customers turn up in these spaces and find nothing except boring advertising. Both of these are social spaces and need to be treated as such, which means you as a brand/agency actually need to spend time in them and interact. For other digital aspects, just copying a success does not mean you will also be successful and in many cases it means people just think you have no innovation.

It’s harder by far to use the web and other digital media in a way that’s not been done before, either something completely innovative or mixing elements, presenting them in a new way. But to keep the wow factor that’s what you need to think about. It does not mean you should abandon the basics; I’m a strong believer as much information about your brand on the web as possible, in a way that’s linkable, searchable, copyable and just easy to use. Brands that forget this and replace them with flashy campaign sites with little information are doing their customers a disservice.

Digital and integrated marketing is somewhere you can have fun though, even with what may be seen as traditional aspects I’ve liked the Resident Evil banners, the Terminator mobile use, the Honda Joy of Problems site, the O2 Staring game, the Covet perfume ARG, Nike Run London, all examples that I’ve been using a lot recently to talk about the wow factor in doing things differently for a brand or a category.

Keeping the wow factor is something brands should strive for everyday. It does not have to be the newest and hottest thing, the wildest use of the technology, but whatever it is has to be done well and has to be on brand message, it HAS to continue to add value to the customers and the brand. Remember the adage - talent imitates, genius steals. Do something different!

Image by Naked Faris

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POSTED IN: Engaging the Customer, General Stuff and Admin