Can brand build really happen in email systems where graphics are blocked by default?

If an email campaign can be developed and deployed in a holistic and strategic manner, it can be a successful brand building effort. This would require a well thought out campaign design using offers and techniques that are relevant and that engage recipients.

For marketing emails, segmentation and personalization techniques can help provide a sense of relevancy to user needs. In this situation the need for a slick graphical presentation is trumped by the straightforward approach of the brand’s emails and the recipient’s need for information. To support the brand, white papers or newsletters can also be attached in PDF format or linked to from the text, but the information must be as relevant as possible to the recipient’s needs. This will mean getting to know your lists and your customers well.

Another way to build brand through text emails is by optimizing the transactional emails and landing page experiences. A place to start is by taking advantage of the welcome email. Welcome messages are one of the most common types of transactional email messages. A survey published in MarketingSherpa’s Best Practices in Email Marketing Handbook found that 54% of respondents stated that they open and read transactional messages “very often or always.”

It is likely that transactional emails could be effective if delivered in text only format; however, it is important for organizations to think about their transactional messages from the brand experience perspective.

According to MarketingSherpa an effective welcome message should:

• Thank the subscriber for signing up

• Reiterate the benefits of the email relationship

• Include a call-to-action

• Offer an incentive to encourage the desired action

The landing page or micro site experience can use graphics to present the brand, but the main focus here should also be on the user’s needs and the relevancy of the proposition. This will help create a connection from the email message to the landing page function and promote conversions. A-B testing and multivariate testing can help optimize the effectiveness.

I believe that an integrated marketing approach along with strategic text email campaigns can be successful in brand building, but will require consistency across all mediums and messages.

 

Should Brands Build Their Own Social Media Communities?

According to the law of the category from The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries, it may often be advisable to participate in an existing community versus starting your own. It would be advisable in many cases due to ROI leveraging and other positive aspects, but especially in cases of a narrowly focused brand.

According to Reis, a leading brand should promote the category, not the brand. Therefore, if a brand becomes active in an existing community it can do just that, and this type of participation is actually preferred over building one’s own, as suggested by experts such as Toolbox.com’s Social Media Marketing Best Practices for B2B.

Build your own category, by using someone else’s community. At first this seems counter-intuitive, but if done correctly it may be the best route to brand dominance. Ries sees a major area of potential for brands that have an extremely strong focus, as they are candidates to introduce a brand new category. Ries believes that to build a brand in a nonexistent category, brands must do two things:

• Launch the brand to create a perception that the brand was first
• Promote the category
Both of these goals can be accomplished by becoming active in an existing community. In fact, it may be more effective in the existing community vs your own. According to Toolbox.com, transparency is a key to credibility in these communities, so this case offers an opportunity to announce that your brand is active, while displaying the courage and leadership to do so within an uncontrolled (by the brand) environment. Another best practice from Toolbox.com involves entering existing communities, because of the significant ROI benefits over building your own.

The other driving force of Ries thinking on category building is that leading brands should continue to promote the category to increase the size of the pie rather than the slice of the pie. This also gives a strong rationale for using a medium viewed as brand neutral to promote your brand’s leadership through its consistent contribution of helpful advice and knowledge.

 

Convergence Happens

Apple’s Iphone, Ipod Touch and Ipad devices mostly disprove The Ries Law of Divergence, from The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. These devices all have taken over the functions of several other devices. The Ries Law of Divergence asserts that brands should naturally diverge as new technology comes into common usage. The Law does hold true in many instances, but in this case the law does not as these branded devices have truly shown a tendency toward successful convergence.

These devices have begun to encompass multiple purposes that used to be served by individual devices such as:

• Telephones (Communication)
• GPS (Navigation)
• Portable CD Players (Music entertainment)
• PC’s (musical storage, productivity)
• Home CD Player (Music, entertainment)
• Film/Video (TV, DVD Players)
• PDA’s (Organization)
• Books (Reading)
• Radio (Radio Listening)

Clearly, in the realm of portable mobile devices these devices have challenged the Law of Divergence. This may be because there was a strong demand for convergence devices in the mobile arena, as the convenience of the all-in-one device was appealing to users. This development doesn’t have the forced nature of the TV to PC convergence, which seems to be more of a corporate market control goal than a consumer driven need.

In the area of home entertainment, communication and organization, these devices have had less impact from a convergence perspective. Most consumers still choose to receive their home entertainment through their TV’s, and they use their personal computers for organization, productivity and other purposes. However, the IPad may be encroaching on some of the personal computer and the television’s roles, as it is a hybrid between the home and the portable (casual video and computing) domains. This will continue if Kevin Kelly is correct in his predictions about the touch interface becoming the chosen method for new devices. So, even in the area of home-based devices the Reis Law of Divergence is breaking down. I do think some slack should be given to the authors, since they wrote this book “way back” in 2000.

 

David Pogue says “Simplicity sells”

New York Times tech columnist David Pogue’s 2006 talk at TED illustrates an interesting idea: bad user experiences are universally understood. Since we all can relate to these problems does this serve to lower consumer expectations of the quality of user experiences?

I think that in the case of his Microsoft user experience examples, the fact that we can (and often do) collectively relate to these problems, does serve to lower overall consumer expectations. This is a very critical question to the whole idea that user experience will be an increasingly important separator for brands. In the TED talk by David Kelly on Human-Centered Design, it would seem the question has already been settled: User experience is becoming accepted by businesses and has a very rosy future. I tend to find the somewhat skeptical and very funny tone delivered by Pogue to be more accurate in describing the current situation and trend. He describes some good and some bad and some down right ugly user experience examples.

His two-sided narrative seems to suggest that the “jury is still out” on how much demand there is and will be for great user experiences in the digital realm. He chooses to lampoon Microsoft’s operating system and software, which makes sense since they are an illustrative example of how widespread consumer acceptance of poor user experience can harm the idea user experience being critical. Microsoft continues to thrive and dominate its market, while a brand like Palm with its commitment to UX shown by its professional “tap counter” staff, is fading fast.

The current state of brand commitment to user experience is a mixed bag in the marketplace, and this leaves one to wonder if its future may be murkier than some would suggest. The example of Apple’s branding strategies of the past several years offers some hope, as they have made the user experience the most featured benefit in their ad campaigns and branding strategy. If enough like-minded companies were to follow suit, the future might look bright indeed.

 

Don Draper would be proud

Today, I watched a funny and thought stirring talk by an old ad man Rory Sutherland. His point of view on the power of advertising to change perception might have made me sick if not for its wit and persuasiveness. Check it out

It would seem to me that the consumer usage of the web makes Rory Sutherland’s belief about changing perception very viable and sustainable. It is more viable, because in many cases the brand is the website experience, so changing the perception of the website can quickly change the brand experience. When the website is the product itself, changing the perception of it may not require the amount of time and money that it once did offline. I imagine how much easier it would be for the king to convince Prussians to trade in their gold jewelry for cast iron, if he had a website to promote the idea and finalize the transaction in a quick and pleasurable way. This is also the case when creating a perception that a task takes less time than it actually does (such as the train trip example Sutherland provides). This sounds a lot like the effort to make “the trip” in ecommerce from navigating a website through choosing a product to buying it. Certainly organizations can make that web experience more pleasurable and usable and therefore perceived as shorter. This is a viable effort in changing perception to create value that many online stores have been engaged in for years. It is sustainable, because new ways for customers to interact with a brand online make it increasingly more possible to guide and react to a dialogue about a brand. Social networking tools make it possible to find out what customers want and give it to them and then find out how that went. It allows for constant optimization of the brand experience, so long as the organization is committed to listening and guiding the conversation and thus the perception of value. This also requires cleverness, as organizations must find ways to encourage the everyday trivial interactions with the brand and the online conversation about it. Using tools that encourage “share with a friend” type interactions, can lead to the establishment of just the type of badge value situations that Sutherland speaks of. Amazon strikes me as a good example of the long-term sustainability of the belief in perception creating the value. Amazon hasn’t changed its brand soul much over the years, but it has outlived many of its would be competitors. This is partly because they recognized the value of the conversation. They embraced the customer review and user generated content in ecommerce and committed to it. Now, the Amazon brand is perceived as a trusted experience, partly because so much of their content and point of sale content is user generated. The perception is that Amazon is a network of people who express their honest experiences with products. They also reinforce this idea by allowing third party “mom and pops” to sell on their website. Many CEO’s would have shied away from this as it could “hurt the brand,” but Amazon saw it as integral to their brand essence. So although Amazon’s prices and product offering may not be unique, they are perceived as having better value because of their commitment to this perception.

 

How do we visualize?

I have a process for tackling a new strategy that I’ve developed over the years that works well for me. It begins with a mind map – today’s version of a freeform sketch. This gets all the ideas out there before the left brain can step in the way and try to ‘over think’ everything. Who cares what sequence everything is in when you want free flow of ideas to spring forth undaunted. After all that, I put the resulting ideas into a traditional outline which makes the left brain happy once more. From there I can then compose my plan of action in Powerpoint (uggh), Visio or whatever.

For simple projects like an advertisement or artwork, I always turn to the old number 2 pencil and piece of vellum. Nothing beats it. From there it’s on to Photoshop to flesh it out a bit more. The final step is whatever tool you like or find appropriate.

What do other creative types do? I am always curious about that one.

 

Wireframes Are Underated

I finished a new  presentation to a client today and used wireframes that were emailed to everyone present on the webinar. It was used as a central touchstone for discussion, which went very well. I almost showed them the work in progress website. I can only imagine how different that experience would have been. We focused on content and structure, rather than aesthetics and design. I can’t believe I almost didn’t use them!

 

Welcome

It’s been a while since I’ve chimed in. This blog is here to discuss user experience design, internet marketing strategy, and whatever else entertains or informs. The main question for me lately is: Does a strong focus on the user’s experience generate good overall value for an organization? If so, why is it so rarely done?

What do you think? Is this the right question?

 

What Have I learned?

Looking back, it sure feels like I learned a lot over the last few months. Blogging regularly, if nothing else, helps you sharpen your skills a bit. I knew it would be hard to record it all, so I will skim through my notes and posts looking for clues. Maybe this will unearth the evidence of a change in my writing and my understanding of digital media. Writing surely is one of the most underestimated endeavors.

Writing Well

I was surprised to find that I had lost sight of many of the principles and basics of writing. The text began with history for context and then moved to principles. Although I had learned principles many years earlier, I hadn’t seen it much since, and that’s the problem. Years of working on deadline in “good enough for government work” settings had diminished my writing skills, so I have re-oriented myself to these concepts. How do I know? Since taking this course my writing process has slowed to a crawl, as I question the brevity, clarity and accuracy of my writing. This has been uncomfortable, but it’s making a difference, even if it has yet to materialize in the final product. It would be useful to read this chapter at the beginning of each week to avoid potholes.

“I can’t overemphasize the need to be specific, concrete and clear. This is the most commonly fallen into pothole in writing,” from the textbook.

The Workshop and the Nuts and Bolts

My ego took some heavy blows during the early part of the course. My writing was full of grammatical errors, and there was nowhere to hide. One thing I noticed was that I learned more from being an editor for my workshop partner than I did from re-writing my own work. This seems strange to me, but maybe my defensiveness clouded my vision as I tried to assess my mess. I was more able to be dispassionate as I checked with Mr. Strunk and Mr. White and tried to help my partner. I still don’t fully understand the proper use of the colon and the semi colon, but I feel a new found desire to master it.

New Media vs. Old Media

Hallelujah! After the painful rite of passage that was “the workshop,” I could sink my teeth into some new media study. The chapter transitioned well by emphasizing the timeless nature of writing principles, regardless of media. I am not a journalist, but the topics of credibility and focusing on audience needs applied to my work just the same. I learned a lot about the differences between the print and digital audience. I had always heard that the web audience is impatient, but never really took it to heart. Now when I write and design I’ll consider Jakob Neilsen and the Eyetrack studies that validate assertions about the digital audience.

Screen Writing

Some of the material on screen writing and design was familiar, but it was also clear how much I had forgotten. The chief value to me was how integrated the material was. Writing, visual style, usability and information architecture were all touched on and formed a coherent perspective. I hope to refer back to this section every time a new project begins.

Wearing Many Hats: Journalism, Public Relations, Advertising

These modules seemed tangential to what I do, and I thought they might be less important. However, after working through all of the modules, I became more aware of the trend toward convergence in digital media. It became clear that as new media participants we often wear the hats of the journalist, the designer, the technologist and the marketer.

Questions

The “many hats” issue brings up a big question for me. What am I going to be when I grow up?
It seems silly, but in a way this is still the question. In an age of specialization, what does it mean that a digital media career incorporates so many skills and roles? What does it mean that everyone is a content creator now? How does this affect me as a professional content creator? This course provided a lot of answers, but some questions remain unanswered.

Conclusions

Before this class I was a bit overwhelmed by all the divergent paths in digital media. I feel like the biggest thing I have now is a big picture view of what it means to work in digital media. I feel like I have taken a high speed train trip across the country and now I have to collect and apply the information I saw along the way. I keep saying how I hope to refer back to the class material. I think this is where the practical value of the course will become clear. Have I become a better writer, designer and communicator? Maybe a little, but the real effect may come as I apply the ideas of this class to my daily work.

 

Re-setting the Course

Writing for Digital Media is a great course. I highly recommend it. As with anything, there is always room for improvement, so I will try to help with my “two cents.”

Improving, Enhancing, Changing

I think the course closely follows the official course description. I can’t find any critique of the class not living up to the description.

My experience was very rocky at first, exciting in the middle and exhaustive by the end. I was amazed throughout by the number of posts that people made to the discussion board. The amount and the quality of the discussion often surpassed that of a typical brick-and-mortar class. On the one hand that is great, as it’s hard to see more discussion as a bad thing. However, it was overwhelming for me to see people making three or four posts a day, when three or four quality posts a week seemed fair. The discussion board was mentioned in the course description, but it probably should be emphasized much more, to prepare students for what’s expected. I made my peace with it as the course went on by easing back on my standards in order to make more posts. I don’t know if that was a good trade off or not.

The blog format is a natural idea for this course. I was nervous at first that all of my assignment feedback would be made public and that could be awkward, but this didn’t become an issue. I found the free WordPress program to be lacking in many ways. It had strange glitches in the WYSIWYG department and didn’t really support a more advanced HTML alternative. I was caught somewhere in between. Maybe it would be a good idea to give a summary or critique of the various publisher options for newbie bloggers.

My main problem was with the pace of the course. With the numerous weekly readings, discussion requirements and written assignments, there wasn’t much time left to really reflect on the ideas or hone new skills. Many times I felt like I wanted to take another long look, but the train was leaving the station and I could barely catch up to jump back on. If one makes the effort after the class to go back and re-read everything and apply it to daily work, then this problem may be mitigated. The great breadth and depth of this class create the break-neck pace, but maybe cutting back a little in each would be worth consideration.

The Readings

The blend of practical and theoretical readings seemed just about right. It’s clear that some theory should be discussed in a graduate level class, so the question is more about how much.

It seems like the theory was strongest when it weaved in and out of the practical material. The usability modules are strong in this regard. I found myself enjoying the ride, as the content of the text flowed from “how to” to “what if” and back again.

The module about interactivity also had a good balance. The text offered practical advice, links and research on the subject. The Aarseth reading gave me pause, as it questioned some of the hype surrounding digital media and interactivity. That pause really helped me hone my critical thinking and introduced a touch of sobriety in a technology-intoxicated realm.

There are three aspects of digital media that make it ripe for theoretical discussion:

1. Things are moving so fast in the information age, that the theoretical discussions seem to add perspective. We need to stop once and awhile and take a look at it all from 40 thousand feet.
2. Digital media has so many implications for our society and the way we communicate and live, so it seems only natural to discuss theoretical implications.
3. Digital media can be a lot of fun. The “what ifs” in the field of new media are fun to explore and debate. They elevate the discussion.

Additionally, Brian Carroll suggested a fourth aspect:

“Change with digital media removing boundaries or distinctions between producer and consumer, sender and receiver, publisher and reader, theoretician and practitioner. These once-sacred roles or divisions have been thrown into the wind, made irrelevant.”

I wouldn’t suggest changing this balance, but I think it was helpful when discussions or readings were identified upfront as theoretical. This helped me shift the old intellectual gears before I hit the gas pedal.