Out of the Way- It’s Personal!

The internet has become a power medium when it comes to branding. It has enabled marketers to generate stronger brand engagement through cost-effective brand message delivery and a better understanding of the target consumer with audience tracking capabilities.  At a more fundamental level, the Internet has provided the gateway to Web 2.0 technology, which has become a central platform for integrated marketing communications programs, given its direct impact. If used effectively, it can be a boost for marketers wanting to extend their brand, and drive customer engagement.

In 2009, Internet marketing trends have taken the lead with the economic recession.  Companies are focused on effective, creative and innovative ways to ensure that customers spend more time with their brand(s) on an ongoing basis. Personalization and focus on thrilling existing customers to building longer-term relationships are imperative to creating greater brand authenticity.  Of the fast-growing and potentially highly effective trends that reach consumers in unique and compelling ways are advergaming and mobile marketing.

These emerging media platforms provide an opportunity for a higher level of marketer participation and responsiveness not possible through traditional marketing tactics. 

Effectiveness of Advergames in Branding

Growth in these areas has mainly been driven by the marketing community to reach its target audiences in their comfort zones. More importantly, advergaming and mobile marketing research have indicated that they have successfully impacted higher repeat purchase, greater loyalty and stronger brand advocacy, because both have been recognized as tools that serve buzz and viral marketing.

Consumers Free to Speak Their Mind Online – eMarketer

Brand marketers know the Internet can be a dangerous place, where they lose control of the message and consumer-created content reigns. That is partly because Internet users now have the ability to cr

via Consumers Free to Speak Their Mind Online – eMarketer.

 

Look Out For That Buzzzzz

Long before the Internet, people shared product opinions with friends and family through word-of-mouth. For years brands have spent countless sums of money on multichannel advertising campaigns to promote their products/services. Today, it is no longer about the millions or in some cases billions of dollars spent, but rather finding ways to become closer to your target consumer to stimulate trust and support to create brand evangelism.

With the World Wide Web, word of mouth has transferred into eWOM, a social networking platform where consumers are able to share attitudes, opinions and reactions about brands, products/services with each other.  Social networking  has provided consumers with the authority to influence a brand’s image and perceptions as people are relying more on the opinions of others.

The multifaceted and influential viral marketing has also become a powerful medium for corporations. The Web 2.0 development have ignited key features of social communication services like social network, virtual reality, and online community sites that have proven to influence a brand’s image and perceptions.

Corporations are beginning to implement viral campaigns using social communication services, such as Twitter, to reinforce their image and influence consumers.  With unlimited online access for everyone, the impact can be profound. There are many other means of social networking platforms, which ones you choose depends on what’s the product or service, your target audience and what is the main objective behind utilizing these platforms.  But the bigger question is which is the most powerful when its time to build that BUZZ?