Digital consumers have stronger relationships with brands than non-digital consumers. This was the finding from Millward Brown, who analysed WPP’s BrandZ database recently.
The report compared the brand relationships of digital consumers with those of non-digital consumers across all categories and countries. The findings: that digital consumers have 15% stronger relationship with a typical brand.
For some categories such as airlines they have a 93% stronger brand relationship while others such as soft drinks and fuel (items you don’t usually buy online) both recorded a 5% stronger brand relationship.
The chart below shows the categories and impact of digital on that category to consumers brand relationships.
So what is the BrandX definition of a digital consumer? This is “someone who has either bought or researched that category online”
Digital consumers were reported to have have stronger relationships in all 24 countries examined.
Key Takeouts from the Report:
- Willward Brown discuss the ‘digital branding circle‘ where consumers are more interested in brands, research online increases brand knowledge, digital purchasing increases brand knowledge further.
- As more digital researching and purchasing takes place the brand relationship gap between digital and non-digital consumers widens
- Some consumers will be digital consumers in some categories and non-digital consumers in others
- Brand managers should examine if their category has a strong digital relationship, examine their competitors digital relationships and integrate the research into a smarter digital marketing strategy.
(Report Background: The report was compiled using 2008 BrandZ data with a total of 100,000 consumer intervierws and over 8000 brand measurements. Interviews covered 24 countries and an average of 15 categories per country. The report pointed out that the digital relationship difference ” is not a measure of brand equity – it has no correlation with the absolute strength of the brand’s pyramid.)
How do you help build engaged digital consumers?
So how can you build a closer relationship with your consumer and make it easier for them to interact with your brand online?
(A) Search Marketing and Organic SEO can help you answer the ‘visibility’ question ie getting your brand found on the web. There has been much written about the fact that during recessionary times consumers are spending more time researching products and services online (lending more relevance to the ‘Digital Branding Circle’ theory discussed above.
(B) Social Media Marketing. While search marketing might help you get found on the web social media marketing will help with the ‘engagement’ of those consumers. In fact a study released recently by The National Retail Federation’s Shop.org and Forrester Research found that:
- Amongst retailers that are reducing spending, 56 percent are cutting spending on search engine marketing, while only 24 percent will cut their social media marketing budget.
- Amongst retailers that are performing well (“beating expectations” according to the study), 12 of the 20 will increase spending in social media marketing.
- Further, amongst retailers that are increasing budgets, 80 percent will put more money into search, while 65 percent will put more into email marketing.
Tight economic climate right for building ‘digital consumers’
The recessionary climate where consumers are increasingly researching your products is the opportune time to start engaging with them online.
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