From the Publisher
Industry experts agree that one of the biggest issues facing brick-and-mortar companies in the New Economy is the need to transfer offline brand credibility onto the Internet. Yet,as Walmart and many other brick-and-mortar brands have discovered,extending their brand out into the unfamiliar reaches of cyberspace is a tricky business,at best,involving new technologies and revolutionary new branding strategies.
Written by two of the world's most sought-after experts on Web brand development,From Bricks to Clicks arms managers and executives at established brick-and-mortar brands with a proven five-step approach to successful online branding. With the help of case studies and interviews,the authors acquaint readers with the full range of important issues surrounding Web branding and get them up to speed on the latest technologies for creating greater brand differentiation online. Then,step-by-step,they walk them through the process of transplanting their company's brand recognition into the digital marketplace for business success online.
How Market Leaders from Coca-Cola to Disney Harness the Strength and Value of Their Offline BrandsOnline!
A company's Web site must grab a prospective customer's attentionwhile gaining full benefit from its carefully nurtured offline brand. Problem is,conventional wisdom says that established bricks-and-mortar companies can't easily transfer tried and true,proven brand credibility onto today's fast-moving,point-and-click Web environment.
Conventional wisdom is wrong. From Bricks to Clicks arms managers with the techniques and strategies they need to successfully extend well-positionedoffline brands to the Web. Case studies,interviews,and examples from a wide range of companies provide proven guidelines for top-to-bottom Web branding success,including:
- A battle-tested five-step approach for transferring an offline brand online
- Strategies to combine new sound and video technologies with proven branding techniques
- Methods to launch a brand on the Web and seamlessly relate it to existing corporate activities
A company's Web site is its product catalog,salesperson,showroom,and brand identityall wrapped into one package and accessible to any potential customer with the click of a mouse. From Bricks to Clicks focuses on the challenge of extending a solid offline brand to the Web and shows you how to both secure the attention of your target audience and provide them with instant brand recognition and valuefrom the moment they enter your Web site.
"From Bricks to Clicks emphasizes a thoughtful integration of old economy business and marketing principles with New Economy acumen. Neither pop-marketing nor pure philosophy,it is a book about an extensively field-tested,methodical approach adaptable to virtually any business problem involving brand development. "
From the Preface
IBM. . . UPS. . . Toyota. . . Each of these corporate names invokes a carefully developed and nurtured brand image. Yet these recognized industry leaders can't rest on their laurels. They have discovered that,in today's take-no-prisoners competitive battleground,they must work diligently to maintain their successful brandsand transfer that success to their companies' online effortsif they are to hold off fast-moving,Web-savvy competitors.
From Bricks to Clicks offers solid,market-tested techniques for developing and maintaining an online brand that coordinates with and complements your organization's existing offline efforts. Filled with examples of successfuland not so successfulInternet brand building,it walks you through the essential process of designing a Web site that both maximizes the attributes of an established brand and helps newer brands establish an identity that is sustainable,memorable,and profitable.
Utilizing the authors' carefully researched five-stage Internet branding process,From Bricks to Clicks shines the spotlight on the critical stages of creating a powerful Internet brand:
- DiscoveryThe facts about the brand,its core message,and its overall business strategy
- FrameworkHow the brand and its various components will work together
- Verbal ArticulationCommunication of the brand's many traits through names and taglines
- Visual,Physical,and Sensory ArticulationDesign and implementation of a fully integrated,engaging Web site
- ExecutionActual launch,maintenance,and reevaluation/rediscovery of the Web site
In today's ebusiness environment,top marketers design Web sites to immediately secure each customer's attention and emotion. And even as numerous decades-old marketing standbys are either reconfigured or discarded to capitalize on the Internet's unique strengths,these forward-thinking marketers have come to understand the powerand responsibilityof the brand to communicate a core brand message. From Bricks to Clicks describes how they do it,and how any marketer can ensure brand developmentand promote brand consistency across every medium.