In all disciplines, in all mediums the issue is emerging: should we focus more on the transaction - that is, getting people to actually purchase, vote, contribute to the cause, fundraise - and less on the brand?
Brand management has been around since the 1930s when Procter & Gamble invented it. In this second decade of the 21st century, conversion action is becoming the objective in communications. And that happens in a very different way than it does via the branding route. For example, price point counts a lot, so does creating immediate value instead of the perceived value of the brand identity.
Head of the Electric Sheep Company Sibley Verbeck looks at this in an interview in the book "The On-Demand Brand: 10 rules for digital marketing success in any anytime, everywhere world." The book is by digital marketing expert Rick Mathieson.
In professional services, micro businesses are getting to pitch for accounts toe-to-toe with the establishment brands. This is happening in management consulting and the legal sector. Increasingly, ads for services state they don't want an agency but just a player.
Things change quickly. In pitching to a software company I mentioned that my legal blog http://lawandmore.typepad.com was housed in the Library of Congress [Download LibraryofCongress]. A sign of the times, the company president asked me what purpose did that service. I answered: enhance the brand. I should have said and now do: it brings in business.
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