Developing a brand: want to generate loyalty online and off? Create a killer brand. (Web Marketing).

Coca-Cola. McDonald's. Jaguar. Each name evokes a mini universe of things you've come to expect from them. Coke's branding, for example, pervades its product quality, packaging, advertising, the look of its trucks, dispensers, and machines, and it has managed to successfully port its image online. Smart move considering online sales will reach $126 billion by 2004, according to an eMarketer report. Coca-Cola recognized early on that the Web would play an important role in not only cementing brand loyalty but also in attracting new customers to its product.

So what is a brand? "Your brand is the relationship you have with your customers," says L. Kareem Geiger, founder and vice president of client relations at TechnikOne (www.technikone.com), a Charlotte, North Carolina-based digital branding firm. Geiger says branding answers the questions: What do people think of us? Who are we? Who are our customers? How are we extending ourselves in a relationship with them?

Adds Carrie Williams, owner of Williams Creative Marketing in Seattle, "Brand transcends your products. If your brand communicates effectively, it can bring a culture together, whether it's an internal audience (the company) or an external audience (consumers)."

A company doesn't create a brand just for the product or service it sells, it does it for the relationship and trust that go with it. "Brand has a lot of essence; it's not just a graphic look," says Patricia Belyea, president and strategic director of Seattle's Belyea Marketing/ Communication/Design. "Brand is graphics, customer service, quality of product, and dependability of delivery. It is performance, not public relations."

MARKETING THE BRAND

One of the main benefits of the Internet is its cost-effectiveness when compared with other marketing methods such as direct mail, television, radio, print advertising, and outdoor ads. However, this doesn't mean you should abandon traditional marketing methods, just that you should consider using online resources to enhance them. "We believe in a hybrid approach," says Barry Cooper, CEO of the African American online community BlackVoices.com (www.blackvoices.com). "It's important to market to consumers on the Internet and offline as well," he explains.

Like BlackVoices.com, many companies have found that, while costlier than online advertising, traditional advertising is still the most effective way to attract consumers to their Websites. There are several reasons for this. But the main reason is that the Web is a relatively new medium that still doesn't have the reach of, say, TV or radio. So the best way to reach the widest audience is to combine traditional with online media.

There are several ways to attract consumers online using both. Offline marketing gives consumers an opportunity to investigate your Website and get more information about your products and services. In this instance, it can be used to get the consumer's attention and give him or her a chance to consider the product. The Website can then be used to set customers up for the sale by giving them the additional details, incentives, and buying tools they need. You cut spending costs by collecting data from those who visit your site and express interest in receiving more information and samples of your product.

This is more effective than "street" or mall marketing to a mass market, and it allows you to spend less on mailings of brochures and promotional items.

Another method is affiliate marketing (advertising on other Websites), where you target consumers based on demographics (their location) and psychographics (their beliefs, opinions, and interests). One of the most popular methods of online marketing, however, is viral marketing or word of mouth. It's like the old commercial: Satisfied customers tell their friends and so on, and so on....

SEAMLESS TRANSITIONS

Everything must be consistent online and off--the brand design and message, the performance of the product, and your customer service. A Website is as important a medium today as the telephone, whether it exists as a brochure site to refer customers to your phone line or offices, or as a full-blown e-commerce site. If you don't have a Website when potential customers are looking for you at, say, 3 a.m. or from halfway around the world, you're losing your audience--and brand credibility. If someone hears of you, but you don't have a Website, you will seem, at best, outdated and, at worst, fly-by-night.

"It's very important to maintain consistency" says Geiger. "Oprah.com has succeeded in doing this. The Website reflects the same image as the talk show Oprah and O magazine. In turn, these two media [entities] direct their audience to the Website" This consistency in design and tone makes the brand stronger because the consumer immediately recognizes the image, which engenders emotion and brand loyalty.

Emotions aside, consumers are also savvy and time-conscious, so your brand should work hard (and quickly) to develop a relationship and a level of trust with consumers. The key is to understand your audience: Know what they value about your brand and what they expect from your product. And keep them involved.

Again, Coca-Cola benchmarked this technique through one of its subsidiaries, Sprite, by allowing consumers to visit Sprite.com and enter codes found under Sprite bottle tops. Consumers earned points that could then be converted to prizes. And when Nike had only a month to register runners in a 5K to 10K race in London, the company leveraged the value of its brand on the Internet by targeting its core audience with e-mail cartoons encouraging them to register. Nike had 10,000 runners registered in two weeks.

Games, contests, viral marketing, interactive icons that can be downloaded to your desktop, and product giveaways are other methods that allow customers to interact with a company. Unlike television commercials, which are passive, games and viral marketing techniques allow you to capture the viewer's interest and allow them to learn more about the product. (For more information on marketing your site, see "Spread the Word" May 2001).

It is important to understand that branding cannot be done overnight. Like any relationship, it takes years to develop and must be well coordinated to be effective. Cooper points out that online consumers are all looking for the same thing: convenience, savings, and service. If their needs are not satisfied, they'll simply go elsewhere.

Protect Your Brand

defending your brand on all fronts takes vigilance. But every time you defend it, you also strengthen it. There are things you can do to make it easier such as choosing a business name unlike someone else's in the same field, and making sure there's a simple domain name available when you're ready to go online. Once you're online, follow these tips to secure your identity:

* Post a copyright notice on each Web page and set up rules for the use of your logo and company name in print.

* Search the Web for instances of stolen logos, art, or text, and ask your attorney to send cease and desist letters to thieves.

If your domain name has been bought by someone who simply wants to resell it at a higher price, consider the following: Under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, a person or company can't, in bad faith, register someone else's trademark or personal name as a domain name. The best way to defend your brand, however, is to provide quality products and customer service, and to deliver on what the brand promises.