The emergence of the Internet has provided a powerful marketing medium for all businesses, whether big or small, new or old. It has enabled all types of businesses to promote their brands easily. The Internet explosion in the past few years has changed the entire business processes and outlined the future business operations. The changes are visible in almost all business operations, and they have initiated rethinking of supply chain networks, reconfiguration of products and services or revamping of business models. The most significant change has been noticed in the promotional activities and in the use of the Internet as a brand building tool. The Internet has offered new opportunities, making traditional business practices outdated. It provided the opportunity to reach a wide range of audience and create never-before possible propositions. It also provided a new tool for promoting business, interacting with people and building relationships. It has also empowered customers with information and many options, and has changed the fundamental concepts of interaction between companies and customers. These tremendous changes in customer relationships, customer service and branding require new strategies and tools for brand building. The Internet has enabled new entrepreneurs to create new and strong brands, thus leaving established brands behind. Internet companies like Amazon.com, Yahoo!, eBay, and America Online (AOL) have established strong brands in a short span of time, whereas the traditional companies have taken decades for the same. Figure 1 below exhibits the time taken in years by the Internet companies in reaching $100 million mark.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. What is a Branding
3. Brand Value for Customers
4. Brand Value for Companies
5. Internet as a Brand Building Tool
6. Stages of Using the Internet for Brand Building
6.1 Attracting
6.2 Engaging
6.3 Retaining
6.4 Learning
6.5 Relating
7. The 7Cs Framework for Using the Internet as a Brand Building Tool
8. Conclusion
Objectives and Core Topics
This work examines the transformative role of the Internet as a strategic medium for modern brand building, analyzing how digital platforms enable businesses to interact with audiences, foster relationships, and create sustainable brand value in a highly competitive landscape.
- The evolution of branding in the digital era
- Benefits of brand building for both customers and companies
- The five stages of the Internet-based Innovation-Adoption Model
- Implementation of the 7Cs framework for online brand management
- Mechanisms for customer acquisition, engagement, and retention
Excerpt from the Book
Internet as a Brand Building Tool
A strong value proposition needs to be developed as the foundation of the brand building process. The next step is to encourage customers on trying the brand by giving them properly developed offering which also encourages them to buy the product or the service again. The process of trial to repurchasing is built in a mechanism based on product promotion, advertisement, public relations, direct marketing and sale. This mechanism is called brand building based on the communication of the company with its customers and the Internet has provided them an effective tool of efficient communication with customers and emerged as a strong tool of brand building (Berry & Parasuraman, 1991).
The Internet is the platform which allowed communication between communicating devices through a wide range of alternative channels. The three prime channels that enabled people as well as businesses to communicate are newsgroups and mailing lists, e-mail (the most popular) and the 'world wide web' (WWW). The constant increase in the number of the Internet users has encouraged businesses to use the Internet as a brand building tool. The reasons which make it an important tool of brand building are:
• Its easy availability across the globe
• Inexpensive bandwidth
• Easy accessibility
• Usability of multimedia tools for creating rich content
• Cost-effectiveness
• Development of support services like hosting, gateway services, web design, etc.
• Introduction of critical processes like placing orders and bills, payment, etc.
• Development of e-commerce
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: Discusses the emergence of the Internet as a powerful marketing medium and its disruptive impact on traditional business and branding strategies.
What is a Branding: Defines branding as a strategic mixture of tangible and intangible attributes aimed at creating influence and generating value for both stakeholders and customers.
Brand Value for Customers: Outlines how brands provide functional benefits to customers, including quality assurance, time savings, and ethical satisfaction.
Brand Value for Companies: Explains the strategic advantages of brand building, such as increased market share, competitive defense, and long-term financial growth.
Internet as a Brand Building Tool: Analyzes the technical and strategic reasons why the Internet has become an efficient and essential platform for modern marketing communication.
Stages of Using the Internet for Brand Building: Details the five stages of the Innovation-Adoption Model—Attracting, Engaging, Retaining, Learning, and Relating—used to guide digital brand strategy.
The 7Cs Framework for Using the Internet as a Brand Building Tool: Introduces a practical framework consisting of Convenience, Content, Customisation, Community, Connectivity, Customer Care, and Communication.
Conclusion: Summarizes the necessity for businesses to adhere to established principles and frameworks when leveraging the Internet for sustained brand success.
Keywords
Branding, Internet Marketing, Brand Value, Consumer Behavior, Innovation-Adoption Model, 7Cs Framework, Customer Engagement, Digital Communication, Market Share, Brand Loyalty, Online Business, E-commerce, Customer Relationship, Strategic Branding, Multimedia Content.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this publication?
The work focuses on the evolution of brand building strategies made possible by the Internet, shifting from traditional methods to modern digital engagement.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The text covers brand definition, the value proposition for customers and businesses, the stages of digital adoption, and specific frameworks like the 7Cs for online branding.
What is the ultimate goal of the research presented?
The primary goal is to provide a structured understanding of how companies can effectively use digital channels to build and maintain strong brand identities.
What scientific or theoretical methodology is employed?
The analysis relies on established management and marketing theories, specifically the Innovation-Adoption Model by Doyle and the 7Cs framework suggested by Aaker.
Which topics are addressed in the main body of the work?
The main body examines the transition from traditional to digital branding, details the specific stages of customer interaction, and outlines practical framework components.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Branding, Internet Marketing, Brand Value, 7Cs Framework, and Consumer Behavior.
How does the 7Cs framework support brand building?
It provides a comprehensive checklist for digital strategy, ensuring that elements like convenience, customization, and community are integrated to foster customer loyalty.
Why are the stages of "Attracting" and "Relating" significant in the digital model?
They represent the full lifecycle of the customer relationship: starting from the initial awareness stage ("Attracting") and culminating in personalized, one-to-one communication ("Relating").
- Arbeit zitieren
- Richards Macdonald (Autor:in), 2011, Use of Internet as a Brand Building Tool, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/213348
