Archive for November, 2010
CREATING A POWERFUL BRAND WEBSITES
November 29th, 2010 | 
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CREATING A POWERFUL BRAND WEBSITES
CREATING A POWERFUL BRAND WEBSITES
By
Miss. P. PIRAKATHEESWARI, Lecturer in Commerce,
Sri Sarada College for Women (Autonomous), Salem – 16.
Introduction
Most brand custodians recognize the power of the web as a tool for branding. The versatility that technology provides, the ease of operation that the web offers, the immense amount of relevant information that the can be communicated simply yet impact fully gives brand custodians good reasons to set up websites for their brands.
Guidelines for Creating powerful Brand Websites
1. Express the brand’s personality
Identity and personality can be conjured up through simple effects. Something as simple as the voice of the celebrity endorsing the brand welcoming the site visitor to the site could itself have a powerful impact on the site visitor. Offline design elements and brand properties carried online can provide a familiar and welcoming feel to the site. Nike.com is a good example of how a brand can communicate brand image and personality powerful through their website.
2. Content first, Tech next
It is not always essential to have a hi-techno scream blast effect on site visitors. Research indicates that there are many surfers who are not very technology friendly. A complicated hi-tech site may leave the visitor bewildered and not too happy about the online brand experience. Giving the visitor options to view the site in basic or hi effect form would be a much-appreciated feature.
3. Emphasize Differentiation
Research indicates that most brands derive their equity from their differentiation from competition. Whether it is price differentiation or even image differentiation –differentiation can easily be emphasized powerful through brand websites. Some websites give elaborate explanations of how their brand offers significant economies to their consumers while other brands use websites to explain the brand’s tradition of quality to create image based differentiation.
Ensure that the site reflects the brand’s values: Every brand has a unique set of values that form its very essence. Knowing the brand’s values and the direction of its charter is important to anyone who wishes to have an enduring relationship with the brand. The website gives interested visitors an opportunity to understand these values better and the opportunity to forge a more meaningful relationship with the brand’s constituents. Information about the brand: Many site visitors visit brand sites to know about the brand-its antecedents, its vision, etc. Irrespective of whether site visitors want to know about the brand or not-it is always reassuring to have an ‘About Us’ section as this indicates transparency and openness.
4. Education on brand selection
A large number of people visiting brand websites do so in order to understand whether the brand is relevant to them or not. Consumers need to be educated on the different categories of products that can serve their needs in the context in which they are planning to use your brand. A consumer who is looking at a brand of brand of paint may not know that he actually needs distemper for that particular application and not paint itself. A brand may lose out on a sale by providing such information but it can earn appreciation and positive WOM through this route that in time can bring in more sales.
5. Product specifications
Many prospective consumers want to know the product specifications of brands. Knowing the tolerance levels for industrial products, side effects for healthcare formulations, presence of a specific ingredient for edible products, etc is critical for decision-making. Equally important for a brand is communicating the king of tests conducted for product quality and the brand’s performance on these parameters. Websites give brands a good opportunity to share this kind of information that helps prospects/ consumers develop a better appreciation of the brand.
6. Best Uses
Giving tips on the best way to use the brand is a good way of convincing consumers about the brand’s commitment to its consumers. Maintenance tips too help in terms of reassuring consumers of the brand’s intent to play fair with the consumer.
7. Suggest more uses for the brand
Informing consumers of more uses for the brand helps to increase brand usage and consequently drives higher sales. Web pages with such forms of relevant information add tremendously to providing a positive brand experience online.
8. Brand Heritage
Brand heritage also builds greater familiarity with the brand. If a brand can talk of its past—who started it, how it started and how it evolved over the years then consumers get a sense of the brand’s history and a more appreciative perspective of the brand.
9. Give out Interesting News about the brand
Brand extensions, forthcoming events, celebrities coming on brand need to be up on the site. While it may seem obvious that this information should be carried on the website, it is disappointing to see that many big brands do not remember to include this information online until it is stale.
Who else the brand: Consumers derive great satisfaction in using brands that celebrities use. Give interesting anecdotes about the brand: Many brands have witnessed interested incidents that have gone on to become the brand’s folklore. Brand custodians should use the brand website to communicate interesting brand tales to their prospects / consumers. Put photographs of people: The presence of photographs speaks a lot of the credibility and friendliness of a brand. Photographs of the company headquarters and some key people add to the interest value of the site. Database creation: A common fault many big brands commit is asking site visitors for email ids without having a definite plan of how to use these in the near future. Often brands do not want to miss out on collecting email ids of visitors who gave their site, but do not realize that site visitors who give their email id normally do so expecting something in return albeit a simple newsletter. Not receiving anything in return for giving the brand permission to intrude into their life can cause rancor. Asking for email ids only makes sense if the brand has a ready plan of what to do with these ids in the near future. Ask for suggestions and reward them: Asking for suggestions is a sign of showing that the brand is not bigger than its well wishers. A ‘suggestions’ section provides an interactive component to the website and can be of great value with the insights and advice that it elicits. Good suggestions can be rewarded with a simple gift and all suggestions should be rewarded with a mail thanking the contributor for the suggestion. Ask for feedback and set deadlines for respo
nse: The feedback section of most sites often the feedback either not responded to in a timely manner or just plain ignored. Unanswered complaints/ queries can cause enormous irritation. This can be prevented through a simple line that states the time frame by which the brand’s representative will reply. Careers etiquette: Brands that have a careers section need to be discreet in way they handle this section. People responding to the careers can feel slighted if they do not receive any response for a while or ever. Auto response through bots is not a great way of providing response either. Applicants can be touchy and getting an dehumanized auto response can rub them the wrong way. It is important to be sure before setting up this section whether the HR department has the interest and energy to handle online applications or not. Allow business associates to contact you: A good website offers something for all its audience. Giving prospective business associates an opportunity to communicate with the brand makes for common sense marketing. Similarly a section that provides information/contact details for investors/media people is a part of every well thought out website.
Testing the website is critical to the success of the website in achieving the brand objectives set for it. Five critical tests help in understanding how well the site functions.
Testing for speed: A site catering to international audiences needs to take into consideration the varying bandwidth levels prevailing across countries and see that the speed is acceptable to a majority of its visitors. Testing for
Management Tip: Getting to the Bottom Line
Management Tip: Getting to the Bottom Line
At a high level there are only two ways to grow a business: increase sales and decrease costs. Here’s a simple management tip that will save you a lot of wasted effort. Before you start looking at the details of each method, you should understand the layout of a simple profit and loss statement and some basic terms your senior management team is very familiar with. These are the measurements that matter to business leaders.
The Bottom Line Definition of Growth
Businesses are ultimately measured by owners and investors by how much profit they generate. Simply put this is how much money is left after all the costs are paid. Let’s take a look at a simplified business profit and loss (or income and expense) statement.
Sales Revenue ,000,000
- Variable Costs (material, labor, etc) – 0,000
= Gross Profit 0,000
- Fixed Costs (overhead, building, etc) – 0,000
= Profit 0,000
- Taxes – ,000
= Profit after Tax 0,000
In this example the top line of the P&L (profit and loss) Statement is ,000,000 and labeled Sales Revenue. The top line is always Sales Revenue, and as a result growing the sales side of a business has come to be commonly referred to as top line growth.
The bottom line of our P&L Statement is 0,000 and indicates how much money is left after all the expenses have been paid. This is the money that the owners or shareholders have left to either put in their pocket or reinvest in the business. The money left over after all expenses are paid is commonly referred to as the bottom line.
Summary
By looking at this example we can see that there are fundamentally only two ways to grow a business. One is to increase the top line through increased sales. The other is to increase the bottom line by decreasing costs. Top line and bottom line are terms and concepts you must be familiar with if you want to drive growth. Initiatives that impact either the top line or the bottom line are the only initiatives that matter to business leaders. Once you understand this, you can start to focus your efforts around initiatives that matter.
Daryl Cowie has shared management tips with 1000s of people in over 30 countries around the world. His mission is to help you and your company turn business opportunities into business realities. Sign up for his free business management home study course at http://FreeManagementTips.com
Google's Matt Cutts gives tips to small business owners
www.reachd.com Rodney Bartlett interviews Google’s Matt Cutts at Pubcon 2007 in Las Vegas. Matt had some excellent tips for small business owners and answered a few great questions.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Posted in Business Tips | 
Tags: Business, Cutts, gives, Google's, Matt, Owners, Small, Tips | 
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Top Ten Money Saving Tips
With the global economic crisis causing everyone financial hardship, here are some sure-fire money saving tips to help you make ends meet and streamline your household budget. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! au.youtube.com FOLLOW ME! www.twitter.com BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK! www.facebook.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Running A Small Business- Tips On How To Start Off
Running A Small Business- Tips On How To Start Off
Almost anyone with a great business idea, a solid business plan and adequate funding can start a business. Starting any business is the easy part, but running it,is where things start to become complicated. Most people have no idea how to run, maintain and succeed in a small business. That is why many small businesses end up going out of business in less than a year. That first year is the most crucial period when you have just started a business. This is the time you will be able to gauge your business and know whether there is a future for it or not.
When you start a business, you are the decision maker of every aspect. This is from dealing with customers, to accounting to finances. Small businesses can be faced with all manner of challenges but the way you handle them can help you run it successfully. If you are not well versed with accounting you could hire an accountant. It may cost you some money but in the long run, this expert will help you in managing your finances and you will be able to see whether you are growing or not.
When running a small business, it is vital that you plan your growth. In as much as you want to be a success, too much sudden financial growth can lead to disaster. You need to know how to balance all these new developments. Always pay your debts promptly. Do not forget to factor in your debts and expenses every month.
Running a small business may force you to make changes to certain aspects of the business. Do not be afraid to make changes especially if something is not working. If you have customers that waste your time but bring in a little money, cut them lose. You can do without that obnoxious employee or that unreliable supplier. Learn from the world around you and be creative. This will help in the running of your small business.
Mercy Maranga writes content on Finance and Small Business Management. Visit her site here for more information on Finance and how to effectively Manage your small business. Small Businesses