“Moments of truth” now depend on “equity clicks.” Equity clicks happen when your consumer allows your brand to exist within their journey. An equity click is any consumer-driven action online (or on mobile) that involves clicking on links, images, buttons, etc., in order to connect that consumer to a brand.
Digital and social have changed things. The academic foundation of marketing is becoming less relevant and less practical. The idea of non-linear purchase funnels, or consumer decision journeys, has gained a great amount of traction; read Harvard Business Review for one example. The journey is becoming a never-ending chemical reaction between brands, advertisements, consumers, publishers, networks, friends, family, and other influencers.
The old foundation grouped consumers into stages along a linear purchase funnel, wherein marketers could help guide them along toward trial of their brand. The often-used phrase “moment of truth” could occur along these stages of the purchase funnel. For a CPG brand, one moment of truth may be when the consumer chooses your brand at the shelf in their grocery store. Another moment of truth may be when your consumer actually uses this product – is it a good or bad experience? This entire process depends on the consumer’s point of market entry. When a consumer is in need of a specific solution or product, they will then enter this process to determine what they really want.
Consumers still move through a purchase funnel, but as digital consumption continues to grow, this linear model seems unrealistic.
Here are a few key considerations for marketers moving forward into the digital age.
AWARENESS:
I once overheard in an external meeting, “TV generates your awareness.” As in, that’s it. Just TV. Let’s not overthink awareness here. Awareness happens anywhere. Awareness at scale is one thing, but even those lines are becoming blurred: YouTube is in the top three search engines in the world; 25% of all U.S. page views come from Facebook; search is the #2 online activity across all age groups, just behind email; mass marketing is now challenged by performance marketing.
BRAND CHARACTER:
Have you seen a brand equity pyramid before?
Remember that little area labeled “Brand Character” that included a few comma-separated characteristics of who or what your brand is? It always seemed to be ignored for the most part, an arbitrary inclusion within the pyramid. Not anymore. When your brand talks to consumers online, through social networks or elsewhere, the tone and character of your brand shine brighter than ever. Just ask Old Spice.
PLAY WHERE YOUR CONSUMERS PLAY:
I am online over 10 hours each day, either on my desktop or my laptop. My homepage is Google. I am on my iPhone 16 hours. I am in front of a TV for 2. You tell me which medium represents the biggest opportunity to communicate with me. Furthermore, what happens when TV is fully on-demand? It’s coming. Actually, it’s here. Prepare for it.
Today, a click is similar to picking up a product from the store shelf. It is an experience with your brand. A click is a simple consumer behavior that has a complex meaning. Each click creates a relationship, the growth or decline of your business.
The sum of your equity clicks for one individual consumer defines your brand. If one fails to be present or meet expectations, the entire chain of equity is brought down as a result. Brand equity is built by developing meaningful connections with consumers throughout their tumultuous decision journey. If your brand receives no clicks, your brand is not effectively building its equity with consumers.
What are your meaningful connections? Where are your equity clicks?
Tags: Brand Equity, Branding, Consumer Behavior, Digital Branding, Nick Brady, Strategy
June 27th, 2011 at 10:12 am
[...] a continuation to the post Moments of Truth to Equity Clicks, let’s start thinking about the Multiplicity Factor of Pageviews for Digital [...]
July 4th, 2011 at 3:07 am
Excellent blog entry nick.
March 1st, 2012 at 10:31 am
I’m on my computer most of the working day but my mind is ‘at work’ so I’m less likely to react to advertising than I am when I’m say watching TV. I think it’s more about context.
Totally online financial products will find it hard to gain credibility without other forms of marketing. Online is just one part of the mix. Yes the way we buy into a brand may be different but that’s because the media landscape has changed. You still need to generate awareness, interest etc. And it is probably still quite linear. Social media has made it easier for people to make their views known but we always chatted about what we felt about products – and I’m not sure if 30 opinions on say Trip Advisor will carry more weight than a single comment by a mate.
And equity clicks?? We have noticed that in email for instance clicks may not be as important as opens and forwards. And display banners may not get clicked as much as we like but we know they help build brand awareness because we see changes in our search stats – move from general product terms to brand terms.