The value of an online brand: case distributors and industrialists

Recently, I caught the following quote by Krista Triede, PR Director and Made For Good Partner:

“Brands no longer dictate their rules to a faceless audience from the height of the podium. Now they have to deal with some of the most educated, sophisticated and attentive consumers, who in many cases participate in the formation of a business concept and require a real, two-way relationship. As a result, "branded" companies have to put more effort than ever to demonstrate their authenticity, and those who do not have it, it is very difficult to survive in the market. The brands had to complicate the presentation of information, the so-called “narration,” and despite the fact that the best of them are always ready to modernize at any cost, they are now introducing innovative solutions in portions ”(from the Chief Strategy Officer, a publication on marketing and research on innovative solutions).

In my opinion, this is one of the most expressive, deep and strong statements regarding brand management on the market that I have heard lately. I discussed its impact on our e-commerce activities with manufacturers and distributors. Here are some of my observations:
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Distributors who in the past have not focused on a brand of their own (even if companies are focused on the brands or products they sell) have become more important than ever to tell the world about themselves and what they are doing. Nowadays, almost every distributor with whom I speak, notes that: "our customers do not know the entire range of products we sell." This is especially curious, despite the fact that most, if not all, distributors seek to expand their current supply of goods. From the point of view of e-commerce, the use of a multi-level hierarchy to demonstrate hundreds of thousands of products on the website of an online store will only make navigation difficult from the user's point of view - and it will in no way help the visitor to understand the distributor's assortment policy.

At the last seminar, Paul Miller (Paul Miller) from WW Grainger Inc., a supplier of more than a million varieties of repair equipment, which continues to expand its range of online services, said that Grainger is not going to stop printing his catalog. It can be argued that the very presence of the catalog - especially six inches in thickness - is an example of a costly strategy that has outlived itself in the modern digital world, but the catalog definitely speaks in favor of the brand and, therefore, still has some value at a slightly different level. .

Another typical remark that a modern distributor can do is: “our customers are not aware of the many services we provide.” Branding is read in every word of this remark, but the traditional approach to familiarizing the audience with the brand for the distributor previously came down to the fact that the trade representative of the brand shook hands with the consumer and crumbled in promises that the company undertakes to fulfill. With the growing number of buyers from the “two thousandth” generation who are not positioned to shake hands with your sales representative, companies are beginning to realize that there are significant flaws in their market entry strategy. Moreover, their brand becomes “faceless”, and they simply do not see a way to tell its story.

As for the producers, I like the word “narration” used in the introductory quotation. We are all human beings, and we like to listen to stories, and many brands have something to tell. With the social technologies available today, it’s quite simple to take a stable position in the business world, in which there are excellent opportunities to tell people how your products or company influence are spreading in completely new ways.

Manufacturers can start by searching for "pioneers" in this area in order to learn some valuable ideas. My favorites include the Jeep Life project on Jeep.com; video stories and just articles about the work of Starbucks in various world communities on Starbucks.com; SubZero and Friends of the Kitchen from a supplier of products for cooking and freezing food at Subzero-Wolf.com.

For manufacturers and distributors, the use of a “narrative” approach will simply become necessary in order to interact with consumers, increase the influence of their brand and stay in the market.