Not repeating the success of Amazon.com - `Boo.com was doomed from the start'
Like it or not, brands are fundamental to us. We all have loyalty to one or another, which says as much about us as it does about the brand. Wrangler or Levis are both jeans, but mean different things to different people. That is the strength of branding.
The Internet has brought new problems if you are an advertising person with an innate understanding of how to tap human emotion and pull the heart and purse strings of the populace. Now that we are all online, the world has changed. As millions of eyeballs opt for the Web, how is all that leverage you have created for your brand - and the millions you've poured into advertising - going to work on the Web, when all the rules have changed?
The trouble is that the only people who truly understand the Web are the upstart Web companies who understand code, graphics and fancy Web tricks, and nothing else. Millions have already been lost in online marketing because the advertising community does not understand the online world, and the Web people have not got an advertising bone in their bodies.
Both sides claim to have the upper hand. The Web gang claims that the old order will be overthrown as the digital world continues to evolve. The advertising industry contends that people remain people; they are drawn to the same things regardless of the media. It is easier to learn a few fancy computer tricks, it argues, than suddenly acquire decades of experience in branding.
There is more to it than a bit of code and a few funky acronyms, however. The advertising industry has to realise that manipulating people's choices through advertising might have been fair game in decades past, but the game is up. The public now has a hugely subtle and sophisticated understanding of how advertising works - which means that brands and advertisers have to step up to the challenge and start doing things differently. The challenge is to understand the consumer and to interact with them on their own terms. The Web presents the ideal opportunity to move beyond traditional media and build relationships with customers. The problem is that most agencies simply aren't organised to think of digital as anything other than an afterthought. Agencies have a huge head start in the mapping and understanding of emotional territories, but they lack the dynamism and agility of the upstart e-business companies. There's huge opportunity for brands to expand and succeed in this new medium, but exciting, flashy and overvalued as they may be, the helium-powered Web companies simply do not know how to build and exploit a brand and, for the most part, simply have not delivered.
Ultimately, the brand that succeeds on the Web is the one which takes full advantage of the opportunities offered, while staying true to itself. Traditional brand people need to get their heads out of their marketing manuals, because all the conventional wisdom is about to be rewritten, except for the fundamental truth - that people are still people.
Conversely, the Web gang needs to comprehend what is at the core of advertising. It is not code, and it has little to do with computers. It might sound embarrassingly simple, but the name of the game is still talking to people. How do you do it? If you can comprehend what your brand actually means to people then you can work out how digital communication can improve this relationship.
Behind all the technical talk, the Web is just another way for people to talk to each other. Infinite variety, limitless information and bandwidth to burn are all very well, but brands are ultimately about relationships. The Web's great promise will be to let companies talk to customers one at a time, and that's how great relationships are formed - up close and personal.
The online bookstore with one of the strongest brands on the Net
