How Digital Marketing is Moving Towards Brand Management

“Try and resist thinking about digital in terms of the tools, the platforms, the QR Codes and all of the technology coming next…Try and see it for what it is, which is a tool for engaging people with fresh, creative campaigns … the era of digital marketing is over. It’s almost dead. It’s now just brand building. It’s what we do.”

— Marc Pritchard, Proctor & Gamble’s global brand building officer, in a talk at Dmexco, an international exposition and conference for the digital industry

This comment, coming from one of the industry’s most influential marketers, represents a groundswell shift in the way marketing is conducted.

We’ve talked about the Ron Burgundy Effect, the way that you can make an impact, not with what you say, but how you say it.

In a similar manner, digital marketing has become less about what tools you use, than how you use them.

Stop Thinking About Tools. Start Thinking About Insight.

It’s easy to talk tactics and tools. You hear Pinterest is a good way to market — or Reddit or Buzzfeed or Instagram. Maybe you decide to use SMS marketing, or QR codes.

But those are just window dressing without good old-fashioned brand management. Who is your target audience? Where do they hang out? What do they like? How do they feel? And what’s the hook that connects your company to them?

Whatever that hook is, that insight, that’s what’s going to drive your digital marketing decisions. No campaign can ever be conducted without first knowing these basics.

Digital Marketing IS Marketing

The only reason we ever got these strange views about digital tools is because they upended the traditional mass-market model. Before viral videos, targeted ads, and rafts of research about the habits and interests of online consumers, marketing happened mostly in newspapers and on billboards, through snail mail or TV commercials.

That old model has been replaced by the new model. Digital killed analog, and in ten more years, no one will call it “digital” marketing anymore. It will just be “marketing” again. And companies will continue to use the best tools and strategies at their disposal to reach the customers who resonate with their brand vision.

If you’re ready to develop your brand, building engagement with customers and driving sales, contact us today to discuss your marketing strategy and the best tools for the job.