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Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
Laws of Internet Branding
< The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding >
By Reis and Reis
Mission
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
Your mission in studying this work is to try to
pull out all the “common sense” statements
that the authors make and apply them in the
work you do in this class for the rest of the
semester.
Notes
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
Highly Suggested
Al Reis is one of the best known marketing
strategists in the world and his daughter Laura
is following in his footsteps. In addition to this
book, he is also author of many other critically
acclaimed marketing texts.
I highly recommend any book that has his
name on it. Check them out on Amazon.com.
Last Update: 2010
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
Laws of Internet Branding
The Law of Either / Or
The Defining Statement
The Internet can be a business or a medium,
but not both.
1 : The Law of Either/Or
Notes
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
No brand can be all things to all people --- yet that’s
what a few Internet experts recommend.
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
You make too much of the Net to think it will replace
traditional business practices; you make too little of it
if you think it will not affect your business at all.
Important Things to Consider
Crucial business processes to consider (before using the
web):
For my product or service, is the Internet going to be a
medium or a business? What does either answer mean to
a business?
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
The Law of Either / Or
Laws of Internet Branding
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
Addendum: David Weinberger, from “Everything Is
Miscellaneous” text: think about how the data of your
business is represented to your customer?
1.Data Type #1: Physical
2.Data Type #2: Cataloged
3.Data Type #3: Digital
5 : The Law of Singularity
And what this basically means is that it is a mistake to use your (brick
and mortar) business name if you are doing it both on the Internet and
in the Outernet (unless you have a specific strategy.) (Periodical#1:
Sears, Pottery Barn, Dell with WalMart, BestBuy, Barnes & Noble)
As a medium, the Internet is an excellent electronic reference, or a
conduit to support your data.
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
The Law of Either / Or
11
Laws of Internet Branding
•
Is the brand tangible or intangible?
•
•
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
•
5 : The Law of Singularity
Is the brand fashionable or not?
•
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
•
•
For high volume (such as books), the Internet tends to be a business.
For low volume (such as cars), the Internet tends to be an information medium.
Is low price a significant factor in the brand’s purchase?
•
•
•
For fashionable products (such as jewelry / art ), the Internet tends to be a medium
(promotion)
For unfashionable (such as computers), the Internet tends to be a business (sales)
Is the product available in thousands of variations?
•
•
•
For tangible products, the Internet tends to be an information medium.
For intangible, a business; services tend to be the best Internet intangibles, such
as banking, insurance, and financial services of all types, which have moved to the
Internet and are extremely cost efficient. American Express says it saves $1.00
every time someone clicks on their website as opposed to calling them.
For low price, the Internet tends to be a business, for example Priceline, eBay.
For high price, like cars, a medium, except where there is a true aberrant success
story, such as minicooper.
Are shipping costs a significant factor compared to the purchase
price?
•
For high shipping prices, the Internet tends to be a medium
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
Laws of Internet Branding
The Law of Interactivity
The Defining Statement
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
Notes
Without interactivity, your brand and your
web site will go nowhere --- it is expected
History has shown us that there are five
major medium introductions:
1. The book
2. Newspaper
3. Radio
4. Television
5. The Internet
The book multiplied the number of
people that one individual could reach.
Newspapers allowed for large numbers
of people sharing news.
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
Laws of Internet Branding
The Law of Interactivity
The Defining Statement
Without interactivity, your brand and your
web site will go nowhere.
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
Notes
Radio added the attribute of the human
voice. Television added the attribute of
motion.
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
What attribute comes to mind when you
think about the Internet?
The Internet is the only mass
communication that allows interactivity.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR
THE INTERNET?
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
Laws of Internet Branding
The Law of Interactivity
The Defining
Statement
Without interactivity, your brand and your web
site will go nowhere.
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
Notes
The Internet is the only mass communication that
allows interactivity.
3 : The Law of Common Name
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
Interactivity:
• Is the ability to type info in and get an
immediate personal result
• Is also the site’s ability to deliver additional
(unrequested) information based upon the
original inquiry
• Allows users to add their own information to
the site (e.g. Amazon’s rating system, birthday
reminders, wish list: which have price reduction
reminders, favorites, )
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
Laws of Internet Branding
The Law of Interactivity
The Defining
Statement
Without interactivity, your brand and your web
site will go nowhere.
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
Notes
Interactivity is the ability of a web site :
• to handle complex pricing questions easily
• to perform a wide variety of tests
• to conduct auctions of all types
• to diagnose a situation and suggest
remedies
There is no point to be selling anything online
without
Striving for a one-to-one relationship with the
consumer.
(See syllabus for The One-to-one Future, Peppers & Rogers,
Currency-Doubleday, New York, NY, 1993 )
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
Laws of Internet Branding
1 : The Law of Either/Or
The Law of the Common Name
The Defining Statement
Notes:
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
The kiss of death for an Internet brand is a common
name.
The most important marketing decision that
you can make is naming a product.
 The Battle of Common vs. Proper nouns (
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
or
5 : The Law of Singularity
Important Things to Consider
Cars.com vs MercedesBenz.com)
 The leading Internet names are: Yahoo, AOL,
Amazon, Monster, eBay, Priceline, Expedia and
Google ---- what’s up with that?
Why do Internet executives continue to
go for common names when trying to
name companies? (even if history
shows that this doesn’t make sense)
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
The Law of the Common Name
The Defining Statement
The kiss of death for an Internet brand is a common name
Laws of Internet Branding
Why do executives go for common names
when naming?
1 : The Law of Either/Or
Notes
2 : The Law of Interactivity

3 : The Law of Common Name

4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity

Important Things to Consider
When the Internet was new it was an
advantage - why?
When the Internet was new, a common
name made it easier to navigate --- today
with over 1 billion users online --- it is NOT
an advantage.
“Pack Mentality” --- that’s what everyone
was doing
Internet branding’s goal is to burn your name
into the prospect’s mind, and a common
name is a weak foundation for that…
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
The Law of the Proper Name
The Defining Statement
Laws of Internet Branding
Notes
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
Your name stands alone on the Internet, so you’d
better have a good one.
 Your name stands alone and it is your most valuable
asset, this
is one of the major differences between the
Internet and the
physical world.
 There is an irrational urge to seek and own generic
names, for
example, when these originally sold:
 business.com = $7.5 million
 wine.com = $3 million
 telephone.com = $1.75 million
 bingo.com $1.1 million
 wallstreet.com $1.03 million
… but they’re not as effective as Twitter, Hulu and
Youtube….
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
The Law of the Proper Name
The Defining Statement
Laws of Internet Branding
Notes
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
Your name stands alone on the Internet, so you’d
better have a good one.
 When choosing a name for your site ask yourself,
what is the generic name that best represents
the category that you are marketing.
 Then that is the name you do not want to use,
invariably a unique proper name will turn out to be the
best result
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
Important Things to Consider
There are 8 rules that you want to
follow to choose the right name for
your on-line business
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
The Law of the Proper Name
The Defining Statement
Laws of Internet Branding
1 : The Law of Either/Or Important Things to Consider
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
Notes
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
Your name stands alone on the Internet, so you’d
better have a good one.
There are eight rules that you want
to follow to pick the right name
for your on-line business
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The Name Should Be Short
The Name Should Be Simple
The Name Should Be Suggestive of the Category
The Name Should Be Unique
The Name Should Be Alliterative
The Name Should Be Speakable
The Name Should Be Shocking
The Name Should Be Personalized
Bob Griffin - WDIM225 - Marketing Communication & E-commerce
11
Laws of Internet Branding
The Law of Singularity
The Defining Statement
At all costs you should avoid being second in your
category.
1 : The Law of Either/Or
2 : The Law of Interactivity
3 : The Law of Common Name
4 : The Law of the Proper Name
5 : The Law of Singularity
Important Things to Consider
Successful first brands on the Internet almost make
it impossible for successful “second” brands. The
only strategy is to create a “new category.”
Usually, in creating a new category you are
narrowing your product focus and appealing to a
very specific target market.
AMAZON – Books
Varisity — College books
Think of all-time firsts and their capability to stay in
your mind:
Lindbergh, Armstrong, Washington, McDonald’s,
Coca-Cola.