How to Wikify Your Brand

As positioning fades as a marketing tactic because of its lack of measurement and demands for greater marketing accountability, branding strategists are adopting "wikification." Wikification, based on the fact that customers define brands today, incoporates measurement and today's branding imperatives. Suggestions to wikify brands include adoption of Six Sigma techniques, consolidating customer information and "living with customers."

(PRWEB) June 16, 2005 -- Marketing professionals often complain that top executives no longer listen to them. Thats increasingly true, partly because many CEOs have put on branding hats themselves and partly because top executives have grown weary of spending money on marketing activities without measurable return. Indeed, the research consultancy Forrester even reports that some organizations are thinking about folding the marketing function into other operations, such as sales.

However, a well-known branding expert projects that an emerging trend called wikification" will once again give marketing the power seat in executive suites.

One reason for the decline in marketings credibility has been an over-reliance on the dated tactic of positioning," first promoted in 1979 in the landmark book by theorists Jack Trout and Al Ries. A key concept in that book was mind share is more important than market share."

Positioning died because its DNA lacked a vital component prized in boardrooms -- measurement," says Nick Wreden, international branding expert and author of the forthcoming ProfitBrand: How to Increase the Profitability, Accountability and Sustainability of Brands." Because it elevates 'mind share over 'market share, positioning can never be quantified in a spreadsheet. Since organizations today are driven by Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecards, KPIs and other measurement systems, this means that marketing is severely handicapped when it attempts to make its case in boardrooms."

As the positioning tactic fades because it lacks relevance to todays branding imperatives, brand wikification is taking its place. Wikification, which takes its name from wikis, the companion phenomenon to blogs, is based on the fact that brands are now defined by customers. How companies position" brands is irrelevant to the only force that matters -- the experiences of prospects and customers. Brands today are collectively defined by customers, based on the economic, experiential and/or emotional value received. This means that companies focused on branding must devote resources to defining, delivering, measuring and sustaining value that customers seek.

Wikification, sometimes called brand co-creation, represents good news and even better news for marketers. The good news is that it incorporates two elements that no boardroom can ignore -- measurement and knowledge of what customers value. The even better news is that wikification forces everyone in marketing to value metrics more than mind share," creativity" or any other eye-of-the-beholder concept. It also leads to greater marketing involvement in databases and operational issues that deliver customer value.

Admittedly, wikification is not as easy as positioning yourself as 'a leading provider of..., says Wreden. But anyone who has read reviews on Amazon, consulted comparative price portals, or listened to a friends recommendation before purchase knows both the power and reach of wikification."

So how can companies wikify a brand? Wreden suggests three tactics:

The first suggestion is to incorporate Six Sigmas VOC/VOTC (voice of the customer) program. Six Sigma, of course, seeks to eliminate variability in products and processes. This improves quality, reduces cycle times, and increases throughput, which leads to lower costs and higher profitability. Six Sigma has been widely adopted by manufacturers and is spreading into other areas, such as HR and finance.

A lack of customer input can be costly. More than 80% of products fail to become brands, according to major consultancies. By contrast, 80% of products based on customer suggestions succeed, according to New Product News. The National Institute of Standards and Technology estimates that not incorporating customer requirements costs U.S. corporations nearly $100 billion a year in failed projects.

To ensure that products reflect customer priorities, the Six Sigma VOC process includes collecting customer input, primarily through customer surveys. The process not only identifies problem areas but also their costs and revenue implications. For wikification, customer input must be used to increase customer loyalty and profitability. Additionally, marketing can expand the repertoire of VOC-collection tools, including customer councils, help desks, etc.

Another ProfitBrand suggestion is to become the organizations data central. The power of marketing departments is directly proportional to the amount of customer data owned. Today, most marketing departments own little more than unqualified leads. Marketing will start ruling the corporate roost when it controls a centralized and consolidated database that incorporates all customer information, including sales data and acquisition and contact history. Other vital data includes warranty information, returns, complaints, retention rates and referral rates.

Additionally, live with your customers. When was the last time you met with a customer? More important, when was the last time your purchasing, HR or other manager met with a customer? If it hasnt been recently, then you are losing touch with the most powerful force involved in your branding," argues Wreden.

The Wall Street Journal recently wrote about A.G. Lafley, the chief executive of Procter & Gamble. The reporter accompanied Lafley as he climbed the steep stairs of a small Venezuelan apartment with peeling yellow paint to listen to Maria Yolanda Rios describe how often she washes her hair. The one-on-one session symbolizes a new approach at P&G that has doubled the stock price and increased earnings 17% since Lafley took over five years ago.

P&G used to develop products in its labs and market them based on the products best technical feature. These days, employees spend hours with women, watching them do laundry, clean the floor, apply makeup and diaper their children. They look for nuisances that a new product might solve. Then, they return to the labs determined to address the feature women care about the most," the reporter wrote. Other successful companies also demand that employees live with customers. At Cisco, for example, top executives must be in customer offices at least 50% of the time.

* Finally, listen to the Internet. Your brand is being shaped less by advertising than by the thousands and even millions of discussions occurring in blogs and newsgroups and emails and chatrooms and other peer-to-peer communications. An emerging class of tools and services allow you to both track and analyze these communications. Finding out what customers and prospects are saying about your brand is easy. The hard part is listening to them. But the payoff will be marketings ticket back into executive councils of power.

The forthcoming book, ProfitBrand: How to Build the Profitability, Accountability and Sustainability of Brands," discusses the metrics required to measure the value of customers and brands. ProfitBrand" will be published by Kogan Page in the UK in July and in the US in September. The book is a follow-up to Wredens FusionBranding: How to Forge Your Brand for the Future," which was named as a best business book" of 2002.

Wreden is managing director of FusionBrand, a brand consultancy that helps customers find, grow, measure and profit from the best customers. He has more than 20 years experience in branding, and has worked with such companies as IBM, Cisco and other large firms. www.fusionbrand.com

Review copies will be available to the media.

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