App, Website or Oculus Rift? – Part 2

April 9th, 2015

Part two of our blog series looking at the impact of future technology on branding, with a focus on the challenges of brand extension and integrity.

 

All this new technology, where to start?

First up, we recommend checking in with your company brand blueprint.

Brands now have to operate on multiple frontiers that bring new challenges and new opportunities. It is the reason why eBrands advocates revisiting your company (or organisation) brand blueprint before marching boldly into new brand centric technology. The failure to recognise these challenges and opportunities almost always stems from either ‘getting away’ from the blueprint or following ideas or functions that are not synergistic to what a brand is capable of supporting.

eBrands looks to do this efficiently. Our version of the brand ‘blueprint’ is a one-page document that outlines the rationale for the brand, its capability via its controllable (internal) factors and its influencing (external) factors. The blueprint validates the brand’s existence; we enhance this with a digital context.

Checking in with the blueprint can take the form of a recap or ‘restatement’ session, where the existing brand ‘promise and proof’ is re-iterated and rationalised. During this session (we typically recommend a small micro-community working session to begin with, with room to expand if required), we test how the brand works and operates during hypothetical situations that are brought by new technology. This essentially combines a brainstorm with a ‘rigour’ test.

For example:

What opportunities do we have with ‘always-on’ connectivity?

What customer functions or processes could be enhanced?

Are there competitive barriers we can create?

What could be better?

The conclusion of this session will provide a list of ‘working ideas’ that can form part of a scoping exercise or scope debate. An example of a result of such a session for one client was ‘specific recognition of our unique content’, which resulted in creating a branded format that could present very long-form content powerfully and effectively across all devices – (hence focus for improvement in that development project shifted to building a responsive website with clear reading options away from developing a series of apps).

This type of session is invaluable for seeing what can be part of a scope and is very effective at highlighting potential issues before they arise. It is not a feasibility study or a cost-benefit analysis, but it will save time, save money and minimise mistakes by providing the development process with a tangible brand presence to be adhered to.

 

For more information or to hold a ‘future session’ for your brand, contact Mark MacWhite at eBrands.

Comments? Thoughts?