Does your web marketing consistently communicate your brand thought?

Having a powerful brand thought is an essential component of profitable web marketing. It's about owning a thought (or story) in your target consumers' mind that is: credible; clear, distinctive; consistent and compelling.

For Disney, the brand thought might be 'making people happy'. For Apple, it's 'think different'. Developing the brand thought is a crucial step but on its own it is not enough. It has to be effectively communicated or demonstrated at every customer touch point. Your prospect or customer might see your website, your email, use your product or service, call sales or customer services, see your advertisement or some direct marketing. You don't know whether they will experience one or all of these touch points and probably will not be able to control the order. Most businesses fail to effectively communicate a brand thought. If you send mixed messages, you have zero chance of owning a brand thought in your target consumers' mind.

Yesterday, I received an unsolicited email from a marketing company (Intelligent Data Services) that sells prospect lists. I do not know what their brand thought is but can make a guess based on their company name 'Intelligent Data'.

Given it was an unsolicited email to an address I do not use, it first made me wonder about the list quality and how intelligent they really are. 

The email subject title is really important and heavily influences whether people are likely to read the email or not. In this case it was 'May Madness Countdown'. Given they sent the email on May 28th, it was a little late for a May countdown. They were using a tried and tested sales tactic (made popular in supermarkets) of 'Buy one, get one free.' There are hundreds of ways they could have communicated this offer. They could have chosen one that reinforces the brand thought which is one of the requirements for successful marketing in the medium / long term. Although 'May Madness' is often used to communicate 'big sales' the word madness doesn't reinforce 'intelligent' to me.

The copy also says 'This offer is only valid until the end of January.' Further down the copy says the 'offer is only valid until 29th May.' Even the best businesses can make a mistake but if your brand thought is about 'intelligence' you are setting yourself a 'high bar'.

They may be a great business and offer a terrific service to their clients but for me the key point is:-

If a business sends mixed web marketing messages that compromise their brand thought, in a business world with lots of competitors, don't be surprised if your target consumer goes somewhere else.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.