Widgets here … Widgets there … Widgets everywhere !!!

The more I read about widgets and their possible use by marketers and brands, the more I think that there are some really smart people out there. But what’s even more incredible is that, eventhough everyone agrees (and is excited) that widgets and content portability is strategic to brands in their capacities to reach and create a more direct link with their customers, I don’t see or read anything on any ongoing projects dedicated to us, brand consumers.

The very aspect of branded content portability when combined with social networking brings up an amazing concept: consumer generated branding.

We all know that web2.0 in being content generated appeals to us all. Because in real life, we as consumer, do not want to simply “consume” rather than be actors of our consumption needs. Once again, as consumers, we want to tell our favorite brands what we think of their products, how they could be improved, or why they should be less expensive. We are more concerned with what they are made of, what is their impact on our planet, where they are made and by whom. Thus, we have becomed more informed, we change easily from one brand to another and we even have the possibility to make critics that will have an impact on sales (Amazon has clearly understood that and has made this last fact one of its best selling argument). It’s a nightmare for brand marketers …

Actually it’s not!

Give me the means to have an interaction with my favorite brands elsewhere than on a brand’s website (who takes the time anymore to go and look at a brand’s website anyway !!! And to get what information !!!) and to exchange with others like me. And don’t forget to widgetise all this because if you want your message to be heard, there is no network better than that of a brand lover like me.

Brands, just be honnest, we know what you want, but do you know what we want? I bet I could do a better job at promoting your brand and your products. Actually, I’d love to do this because I don’t mind being a branded content generating consumer. All you need to do is ask. Trust is important in any couple. 

Cheers.

Internet is viewed as the new media brands should invest in. Just take a look at the amonts of advertising that are invested right now … and it’s supposed to triple in the next 2 years !!!

What a progress ! Great opportunities lie ahead of us. But we all know that progress does’nt come without changes. And the people who will be able to forecast these changes will have the keys to great business opportunities.

Here’s one forecast that I think is crucial in understanding what advertisement can be in the next 10 years: internet is not a media, it’s a tool. WE ARE THE NEW MEDIA.

Indeed, through the community networks, we see that information, content in all its forms (audio, texte, video, …), is spread throughout the web at an incredible speed through community networks.

We’ve seen the power of website like digg, technorati, in filtering and spreading information, and we still need these amazing sites to give some order to so much content on the web. But with the arrival of blogs and now social networks, I get more information from my friends (I hate this word because I have friends which I don’t even know … what a paradoxe!) than from my favorite sites (actually, I just read the content coming from my friends first…and that takes already a lot of time).

As said before in my article “Why brands need Brandinity?”, if I tell you I love your brand, I probably will tell my friends (the real ones this time) that I love your Brand.

Now, what if I were to tell ALL my friends (the real ones and the ones I’ve got through my social networks) that I love your Brand ? Would’nt that be the best advertisement possible for a Brand ?

Once this is said, all we have to think about is : what is the best vehicle to give to people like me, that has a brand message, and that I’m able to pass to all my friends ?

The answer is obvious : widgets, gadgets, applications, …

Where can we give/get these widgets ? On websites such as Facebook, Myspace, igoogle, Yahoo widgets, or directly on widget plateforms such as clearspring, widgetbox or Rock you ? Certainly not, it takes too long to browse through 15 000 widgets on Facebook because once again, it’s not the widget that I’m looking for rather than the content and the brand giving the content.

That’s what we’re doing on Brandinity. Tell your favorite brands you love her … we’re giving them the plateform to address you with the content (widgets) you’re craving for.

Talk to you soon, cheers,

Alexandre M

For simple reasons:

If I tell you I love your Brand, I’m bound to tell my friends too.

That’s classic virale marketing.

If I tell you I love your Brand, and that you reward me for loving your Brand, I’ll tell ALL my friends and even more people how much I love you.

That’s Brandinity virale marketing

If you have not yet understood, take a look at this. SIMPLE IS BEAUTIFUL!

A SOAP OPERA!

Check this Business Week’s article published in … 2005

Could not be closer to Brandinity’s goal : brands have a hard time getting to us with traditional medias that’s for sure. But it’s even harder for us to get to our brands.

Wouldn’t it be easier for everyone if the brands knew exactly who are the people interrested in what they have to say (and even sell …)?

Brandinity is going to change this and create a new dialogue between brands and brand lovers … be patient.

Cheers, talk to U soon.

Here are some definitions of a brand:

“The intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, packaging, and price, its history, its reputation, and the way it’s advertised.” Ad agency founder David Ogilvy

“Simply put, a brand is a promise. By identifying and authenticating a product or service it delivers a pledge of satisfaction and quality.” Walter Landor, one of the greatest of the advertising industry

“A name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors” Dictionary of Business and Management

“A trademark or distinctive name identifying a product or a manufacturer” another dictionary

There are many other definitions and I will not develop this subject and talk about brand equity, brand extension, branding, mix, etc … Others have done it many times and much better than I.

I fancy the brand definition found on wikipedia because it points out the essence of a brand as well as its value : the customers, clients, brand lovers, … in other words “us”.

“Brands were originally developed as labels of ownership: name, term, design, symbol. However, today it is what they do for people that matters much more, how they reflect and engage them, how they define their aspiration and enable them to do more. Powerful brands can drive success in competitive and financial markets, and indeed become the organisation’s most valuable assets.”

I have the feeling that a brand and me is an indivisible “whole”. Actually, I think that we are the brands we use, drink or drive ; that WE build the brands rather than locked up marketers in their shinny office building.

I even beleive than I’M A BRAND! (actors and actress are, even Paris Hilton is !!!!)

For this reason, Brandinity will place everyone of us at the same level as all these brands that we like.

And at the end of the day, I hope that I’ll be able to have my car (whatever it’s brand) co-branded with my brand (name) : here comes the NEW Alex-BMW !!!

Cheers, talk to U soon.

Just so to know you better, could you tell me your favorite brands is, in :

(you can answer with more than 1 brand if you feel like it)

1. Cars / motocycles
2. Beverage
3. Clothing
4. Restaurant
5. Internet
6. Airline
7. Food (snacking, food, …)
8. Luxury goods
9. Celebrities
10. Music
11. Others

Thank you, we’ll soon see what brands come out first and how many we have in common.

Cheers, talk to U later.