This Brand is Your Brand, This Brand is My Brand

With the rise of Twitter and Facebook, marketing isn’t just about email anymore. It’s true: email is still the king (see last week’s blog for the full email manifesto) but the Marketing Kingdom also has its princes (Facebook), dukes (Twitter), earls (LinkedIn), and knights (Google+). And with all these smaller guys running around the Marketing Kingdom, it’s sometimes hard to keep your company’s coat of arms (brand) and house motto (message) clear and consistent. When Prince Facebook and Sir Google+ each carry a different shield, your marketing is at odds. And your vassals (customers) will be angrier than they were during the ol’ Bread Revolt of 1342.

But enough with analogies from days of yore! This type of collaborative and consistent multi-channel marketing is the way of the future. With the use of five or more forms of customer engagement, it’s not just about good branding anymore; it’s about a good brand experience.

Recently, Hubspot put together a pretty cool list of businesses that are nailing their social media brand consistency, so I thought it would be neat to look at these prime examples of brand experience and see how Rapleaf stacks up. Alright, Mr. Demille, we’re ready for our close up.

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Google+

What do you think? With all those data men and Rapleaf arrows, I like to think our brand and message (I love data, anyone?) is pretty consistent.

But one thing the Hubspot article doesn’t mention in its list of awesome brands is customer-centricity. And that’s something we love, love, LOVE at Rapleaf. After all, it’s important for marketing to be consistent AND consistently targeted at the customer.

Of the 8 businesses nailing social media brand consistency, all are clear and catchy but I’m curious to see how they take their customers into account. Do Google and Coca Cola use personalization to ensure their message is cohesive as well as engaging? Target and Etsy have awesome social home pages but how does that change once I’m logged in? Check out this infographic from MarketingProfs for a full look at the use of big data and personalization in creating omni-channel brand loyalty.

Over the course of the next week, we’re going to pick three of these well-branded companies and we’re going to dive into their marketing content headfirst. We’re going to follow and like and register and subscribe to everything they have to offer in their social and email arsenal (heck, we’ll even get a Pinterest) and hopefully, once we’re neck-deep in Disney Tweets, we’ll know the answer to the age-old question: What’s beneath the surface of good branding?

Stay tuned for next week’s installment of RAPLEAF INVESTIGATES: MULTI-CHANNEL CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY.