southparc.

I love liquid. Why? Because it’s flexible, it adapts. And I’m getting really fascinated by the new (technical) possibilities for the web. Liquid websites are great, because they are build with only one target in mind: relevance!

A liquid website contains all content a certain company/brand/person wants to share with the world. Information, stories, news, pictures, schedules, graphs, videos, music, posts… you name it. But it’s not thrown in your face. No! All this (branded) content is patiently waiting to be activated by a visitor, hoping to be relevant. Pick me, pick me!

Assuming a website fascinates you, or at least has something interesting, you will return and a liquid website will learn from your visits, your clicks… and adapts. The more you come back, the smarter it gets, improving relevance time after time.

Does it work? Can it be done? Hell yeah, ever heard of Google?

Ben

In the past marketeers and business developers knew what was best for their customers. They had the training. They had the experience. They had the knowledge, based on surveys and statistics.

Question: Is that still the case? What if the customer knows what’s best? Scary idea! And hard to accept for a lot of traditional die-hards.

Nevertheless, embracing this thought is the only way to start using the wisdom of the crowds. Marketeers just have to let go of their pride and fear, changing their position from analyst to communicator. Replacing classical observation and segmentation by initiating and joining dialogues, with all who want to be involved with their brand-services-products. From this new perspective there’s only one key issue to focus on: how intense will our dialogues be?

Social media marketeer. New business cards please…

Ben

A growing number of experts claim that “Advertsing is dead” and the post-advertising age is here. Old school ‘interruption’ tactics are over. Consumers have taken control of media and are powerful enough to completely ignore you. The only stuff they will see is the stuff they choose to see. So getting attention comes down to developing a distinctive story, creating great branded content that is both interesting and relevant, and make it available in a smart way.

We agree. Do you?

Ben

“Could you please help me… I need your expertise on this…”. We love to be asked. In fact, most people do. And as far as we can judge, the entire 2.0 world is ready to share knowledge and ideas. To be heard, to be engaged, to help and improve. So why not use this potential to the max?

Let’s call it “ask-marketing”. And it’s simple. You have to make sure that your branding strategy and positioning is in place. And you need to develop some distinctive, high quality core content. Make this content available via an open and transparent platform and than start asking relevant questions to all involved.

In this way, you can stop trying to do it all yourself. You can leave the inside-out way of doing business behind. Start beta. Just ask for added value. Your audience will love to help. Creating new ideas, developing new opportunities, building new platforms… Take them seriously, be honest, be thankful… and you’ll never be alone again.

What do you think?

Ben

‘Make’em love you or hate you. Just don’t leave them indifferent’. Pretty straight forward quote we found on the web.

We  think brands are a lot like human beings. You can fall in love with them. Be loyal to them. Want to spent time with them. Develop a relationship. And like with friends, open dialogues are vital for mutual understanding and respect.

That’s why brands should alow their corporate content to spread to many social communities and join global conversations on all relevant topics. And, if possible, facilitate these conversations in or near their own website, improving trust, relevance and credibility.

As a result, we expect corporate sites to become more like platforms for customer discussions and not just brand/product pitches.

Question: are corporate websites getting irrelevant due to the new way of info sharing?

Ben

So let’s talk 2.0. And to be honest, we can’t come up with one comprehensive definition of what this 2.0 world is all about. What we can do is share our thoughts.

First of all, we don’t think this new world will replace the more traditional one entirely. It’s additional. It’s complementary. A new organic shell, forcing companies to rethink their branding and communications strategy. Because it’s out there and can’t be neglected.

Secondly, we do believe that the impact of the internet on brands is and will be very substancial. Not only because it’s quick and transparent, but also because it represents the highest possible grade of “perceived credibility”.

And last (for now), we strongly believe in a huge competitive advantage for those brands who are able to efficiently integrate “2.0-comms” in their strategy. Just to be clear, in our vision this implies far more than building a good website and develop some e-tools. It’s a change in strategy, mentality and organization.

So, how to address this issue? In general, we think,  part of the solution lies in answering the following two questions: 1. What can we communicate ourselves? 2. What can ‘others’ communicate for us.

Assuming the strategic basics are set, the brand organization should take on at least 3 roles:

- be the broadcaster of unique (branded) content

- be an open source and transparant knowledge provider

- be an active member of all relevant social communities

Sounds not that complicated, but in reality this turns out to be a mayor job and a huge challenge. Especially for global companies with lots of employees, varying in age, culture, education and (e-)experience. We’re in right in the middle of this proces with some of our international clients. In these specific cases we learned that forcing a revolution is just not realistic. So we’re helping them with a step-by-step approach. An e-volution. Pushing progress as hard as we can, knowing that there’s no time to waste.

It’s obvious that brand management has an additional priority field to address. How to follow, listen to, reply, inform, correct, inspire and fascinate all those different new communicators influencing brand awareness, brand image and preference. Well, if you can’t beat them, join them. Use this new and unlimited potential in a smart and positive way. It won’t be easy. But for those who succeed, it will make a tremendous difference for the future value of their brands.

Ben

In our opinion, creating a brand remains one of the most important goals for any business to survive on the long term. Why? Because a strong brand is hard to copy (in contrast to products and technologies). And because of their perceived added value, premium brands justify premium pricing. Keeping you out of the capricious price fighting arena.

It’s our job to develop strategic and creative concepts. So, as you will understand, we prefer to work with brand driven organizations. In these organizations, a frequently asked question by management is: “What is the capacity of our brand in terms of generating turnover and profit?” Valid question. But a bit hard to answer these days. Simply because a significant part of (future) brand value is defined ‘outside the company’.

Many books are written on brand building. All with different definitions, theories and approaches. In general, the bottom line is to define a clear and unique positioning (against competition) and dito brand values (dna). Next step is to develop a distinctive communications concept to underline this strategy and start sending the message to all relevant target groups, both internal as well as external. In short, this step is all about the WHAT.

So far, so good. Most brand oriented companies follow these general guidelines to get the basics right. Sending out controlled content to create brand awareness, brand image and, by doing a great job, even brand preference.

But the days of ‘outbound only’ messaging are long gone. An additional world of multi-way communications has emerged and is growing explosively in seize and influence: the internet. With a big impact on the HOW.

The internet has turned our world into one big talking plaza. People share knowledge, experiences and opinions on all possible topics, including brands. And here’s where the biggest challenge lies for future brand building. How to join this ‘uncontrolled’ worldwide area and how to manage and influence your brand position in a positive way?

Ben

Share ownership of the brand. What a great concept. Just let go of control. Open up, be honest and be transparant. Turn communications into conversations. Create unique content and make it available. And last but not least, accept that word of mouth still rules and let the outside world do the talking.

Your reach will grow, your credibility will improve and your brand will prospher.

Simple, isn’t it?

Ben

And we help our international clients to get the most out of their brands. By developing smart strategic positioning, by producing outstanding creative content and by implementing a fundamental shift in the way they communicate. Moving from monologue to dialogue. Making sure their message is present in the new world and their story is shared in global conversations. So let’s start some conversations and join us!