How does your brand stay relevant in the digital age?

1. Make sure brand design contributes to UX and UI

With the growing number of services and products in the world and the speed consumers expect, aligning design with user preferences matters more than ever. The focus within brand design has shifted to online, and content is becoming more visual. It is no longer enough for a brand to have the right look and feel: today, brand design has to contribute to a better user experience (UX) and user interface (UI). That covers not only logos and colours, but also the use of infographics and pictograms and the right use of typefaces and photography. Organisations that get this right include Coolblue and Bol.com. The focus is on online conversion, but both their online and offline branding is on point across every brand touchpoint.

2. Choose a branding agency with digital experience

Advertising agencies with a digital focus are moving further and further into the world of branding. Although these agencies often have no background in brand strategy and brand design, they convince clients to work with them – usually because they have more experience in the digital world than traditional brand and design agencies. As a result, branding agencies have to prove their added value all over again, especially where digital is concerned: a shift that should really have happened much sooner. When selecting an agency, pay close attention to its digital experience, so that you can move forward together now and in the future.

“Branding agencies have to prove their added value all over again, especially where digital is concerned”

3. Focus on coherence rather than consistency

For decades, consistency was the buzzword in developing and applying brands. It was embedded in the discipline and in the way people thought, often tied to static systems and rules. The digital age and the use of multi-sensory channels call for a different, more flexible approach. We are seeing a shift towards a more modular design that leaves room for coherence rather than consistency. That means brand touchpoints no longer have to share exactly the same visual layout, as long as each one feels the same and conveys the same core message.

“The digital age and the use of multi-sensory channels call for a more flexible approach.”

A modular design consists of building blocks and elements that help preserve the intention of the brand they represent. Online building blocks are more interactive and dynamic, because they are linked to behaviour. For example: what happens when you click, or move your mouse over an element? What should the navigation look like, and how do we steer more towards conversion?

4. Think from the customer’s perspective and build a complete picture of the customer journey

Putting the customer first has been the mantra for some time, but many organisations still do not fully live up to it. How do you approach that when it comes to branding? And which (digital) channels matter in today’s customer journey? Looking at the buying process from the customer’s perspective is the way to strengthen your brand. Mapping the customer journey delivers important insights that help you respond better to the customer’s objectives and pain points.

“Looking at the buying process from the customer’s perspective is the way to strengthen your brand”

Bear in mind that the customer journey is not only influenced by marketing and communication. Factors that are harder to control also play a part. Think of a salesperson, the influence of social media, in-store communication, and the opinions of friends and family. Make sure you have visibility of all that and a complete picture of the profile of your customer groups.

5. Close the “gaps” in your company journey

Alongside the external customer journey, as an organisation you also deal with the company journey: an organisation’s internal processes. It is important to connect these two. That sounds logical and straightforward, but in practice the two paths are often far apart. Internal obstacles frequently become visible externally in the customer journey, creating what are known as “gaps”. Many organisations forget to close them. For instance when the marketing and brand departments operate separately from each other. You often see that the brand is not well aligned with the customer journey and that marketing’s output does not carry the brand in the right way. But what do you need to do to align internal processes with the demands of an age in which everything changes continuously? It is time for a different approach – a new way of working.

Time for a new way of working

For many organisations, working differently is not easy. Where do you start? Let me begin with a suggestion: close the online marketing department. Digital communication leads the way today, and we should no longer treat it as a separate unit with its own channels, messages, audiences and brand promises. Multi-channel marketing starts inside the organisation.

“Stop thinking ‘inside the box’ and tear down the walls of the marketing communications department.”

Stop thinking “inside the box” and tear down the walls of the marketing communications department. Remember that the overall business objective is the focus. Start by defining the message and work out how to take it to market with the resources and channels available. Then set up a content map and start creating the message. The channel managers can subsequently optimise the content specifically for the selected channels.

This shift in the way of working takes courage, powers of persuasion and shared enthusiasm within the organisation. Then let the results guide the next steps you take, and stay flexible and quick in your adjustments. Because you are continuously aligning the message with your customer, you improve customer contact and reach a far higher level of effectiveness.

All in all, these are not small evolutionary changes for the brand. The rise of new digital channels places new demands on brand design and brand management. A major opportunity that brand owners and designers alike should grab with both hands.