Unconventional branding in the new-media environment
October 1, 2008 by marek.miller
Dieter Rappold, the CEO of Knallgrau, speaks during the INMA’s pre-seminar about branding in the new media environment (Web 2.0)
Dieter Rappold
Dieter Rappold based his speech on 3 thesis:
1. Web 2.0 – is a perpetual conversation
2. Brands and mainstream media are not in the drivers seat anymore
3. Users believe now in others people opinion more than in the company broadcasting!
The last thesis seemed as one of the most important ones, as media companies and advertisers should realize that nowadays search (and search engines) play the role of the gatekeeper. Search is yet the most frequent action of the internet users – 72% of all following clicks are based on search engine optimization (and that is free). The other argument to focus more on search engines is the fact that it helps to bring pre-qualified audience to the website, people visit the sites which are exactly within their areas of interests.
Dieter Rappold proved that thanks to the unconventional media practically any news can make its way to the mass media. As an example, a small message from Twitter about Google possible creating a data center in Austria made it first to a well read blog (that took 1,5 hours), next to a tech-site (24 hours) to finally, after 3 days, be published as a large material in a national newspaper.
This helped Dieter Rappold create an interesting definition of the Web 2.0:
Web 2.0 is a bunch (millions of millions) of people themselves who are now able to publish content on the web in a very easy way
The companies should realize that Web 2.0 are people who create the content and not their content itself. Different companies have however different needs concerning the unconventional media:
- Media companies need Web 2.0 to keep their readers, and that seems natural as Web 2.0 is media.
- Telcoms try to avoid being bit, and Web 2.0 is tech and infrastructure.
- Brands – non-media companies can now build their own platforms based on the brand and get in touch with their clients directly.
For companies interested in building their brand in the unconventional new media environment, Dieter Rappold brought a 4 steps plan:
P – for people. A company should know what is its target group doing with Web 2.0 tools.
O – for objectives. A company should know what it wants to achieve.
S – for strategy. A company should realize how it wants to change.
T – for tools. A company should know what tools it needs to implement.
Unfortunately, most companies start (and end) only on the last point of this plan, trying to introduce tools as wikis or blog platforms to their services. According to the speaker, that kind of strategy would be never enough.
Dieter Rappold reported the key factors of the success of the media company that publishers should never forget about while implementing new tools. The success factors are:
- high credibility (a must)
- authenticity
- direct communication
- coverage of new target groups
A newspaper should also be always able to listen to the community and to cover the local needs and discussion in order to build a strong brand among its readers.
Dieter Rappold is the CEO of Knallgrau, a company that specializes in developing websites, portals, communities, weblogs, wikis, social networks and other forms of social media for companies to help them build brand reputation.
Tagged: brand extensions, conference, INMA, Outlook 2009
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[...] Rappold, the CEO of Knallgrau, proved there are unconventional ways of bringing audience to the brand and therefore building its better recognition especially among young consumers. By [...]