TECHNOLOGY
Managing your brand in a digital
environment
In last month’s issue of MANAGEMENT, Kinoti Gituma
highlighted the difference between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media
and how those differences affected individual branding
messages.
TO CONTINUE WITH the topic of
managing your brand in a digital
environment I shall tackle the
characteristics of digital media and some
of the best practices any company should
be looking into in engaging with new
digital media.
The era of user generated
content (UCG)
User generated content refers to
various kinds of media content, publicly
available, that are produced by end-
users. Roughly 75% of online users are
content creators. As people spend
more time online it is clear that more
people have an avenue of engaging
in conversation and as a consequence
everyone becomes an “expert” and
gives their feedback on any topic that
piques their interest. When people go
online to review a web site, they have an
opportunity to review and comment on
any brand or company. They can choose
to communicate with the online entity
by way of email and if the company has
an array of products they can participate
in reviewing and giving feedback on
product ratings. If they are excited about
what the saw online they will go to their
online community messaging boards
and spread the news about brands they
are excited about. However if they had
a negative experience about a brand
e.g. broken links, lack of e-mail follow
up, the same online forum can be used
to damage the reputation of a brand.
This is because the executives of that
organisation have no clue in managing
their online media.
Characteristics of user
generated content (UGC)
The speed with which people discover,
42 DECEMBER 09 - JANUARY 10 MANAGEMENT
process and share information has
changed dramatically. To be able to take
advantage of this, you should understand
that:
• The digital environment is evolving
and your current vehicle for branding
will change
• You are not in control even when you
think you are
• Your brand does not need for you to
be online; others will put it there
• If you do not define your brand
someone else will
• Accept the loss of complete control
and become part of the experience
and conversation
How to gain control:
Watch your brand. Any company should
watch their online brand and there are
tools that you can use to monitor the
conversation about your brand.
Participate in new media. The era of
new media is here. If you have no clue
what is going on, turn to the younger
generation who engage actively in
digital media in their day-to-day lives. If
you do not have in-house experts seek
professional digital media agencies who
can advise on how to manage your brand
in an ever changing digital environment.
Empower the knowledge workers
who understand the direction of new
media i.e. online and mobile media. Give
them the necessary support for new
initiatives. No one has completely figured
out digital media but it is growing and it
will be an on-going experiment.
Engage with end users. Have a
culture of having a conversation with
user generated content providers. This
could be bloggers and those who use
twitter to micro-blog. Brands and
companies should take advantage of
online media to conduct surveys to
encourage participation and feedback.
Finally don’t be the conversation; be
part of the conversation. You cannot wait
for others to drive your brand “equity” in
a digital environment. If you are slow to
engage in digital media others will move
quickly and exploit opportunities and
your competitors will be eager to exploit
this new media to discredit you and win
acceptance in this new space.
Tools for your digital presence:
Have a clever digital presence. Create
a cool and exciting web site and make
sure that you create content for your
website that is fresh and it does not have
rendering issues on mobile phones. You
website is the first impression people
have of your brand online. This is the
opportunity to tell your story. Make your
site look clean, enticing and memorable.
Have clear calls to action don’t stack it up
with a lot of useless content such as how
many degrees your CEO has. Talk about
your products and your messaging and
the benefits of your product and services.
Be visible on search engines such as
Google or Yahoo. Having good results
on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
increases visibility, manages your
reputation and generates sales leads.
There are millions of websites and
you must stand out and make sure that
your site is searchable and can be found
easily. It is critical that your brand is
found on natural listings and where
possible augment your natural listing
through paid placement on the major
search engine vendors.
Conduct rich html e-mail campaigns.
The intended message has to reach
the target audience and reach it at
the right time. To that end, e-mail

has become critical for distribution of
company messages. However as e-mail’s
popularity has grown as a cost effective
communication tool so too has the
volume of unwanted e-mail or SPAM.
E-mail, despite the problems with spam,
can be a very effective tool if managed
correctly.
Use online display advertising. This
consists of using advertising space
on websites to reach a desired target
audience. Sites may include web portals,
blogs, social networks, instant message
applications, widgets, RSS feeds,
and more. Online banners can also
incorporate rich media functionalities
which include interactive elements
such as banner expansion and data
submission. Other types of display
advertising include things like site skins,
fixed sponsorships, and video.
Mobile is a rapidly growing sector
providing brands, agencies and
marketers the opportunity to connect
with consumers beyond traditional
and digital media and directly on their
mobile phones. Over three billion people
have mobile phones, with that number
TECHNOLOGY
expected to reach four billion by 2010. If interact, watch listen and communicate.
you compare this to only 850 million PC Consumers are creating content and
users worldwide it is quite obvious that watching what others have made.
the mobile web demands attention. You They’re listening to online media and
cannot afford not to engage in mobile recording their own. They’re creating
media. social networks, subscribing to and
delivering digital media and taking
"Information their media with them using their
mobile devices. It is critical to note that
is delivered information is delivered and developed
and developed outside of the company – organisations
no longer have the tight control they
outside of once did. No company in this day and
the company – age can afford not to have a digital
media strategy.
organisations no
longer have the Kinoti Gituma is the Managing Director
at KinConsult a new-age digital media
tight control company in the US. He has extensive
they once did." experience in managing large e-Commerce
projects for Fortune 500 Companies in the
Silicon Valley. He has sold everything online
In conclusions consumers are from rugby jerseys on eBay to servers,
participating in creating brand messages computers and software on Google and
and expressing themselves using Yahoo.
brands that resonate with them. They kinoti@kinconsult.com or on twitter @
are personalising the way they shop, kinconsult for any feedback or comments.

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DECEMBER 09 - JANUARY 10 MANAGEMENT 43