When Crisis Looms, Make a Video!

In recent years, companies worldwide have implemented many branding techniques and strategies to create awareness and gain recognition. From television advertisements to newspaper ads and free samples, companies have continuously tried to communicate their superiority over other brands to consumers.

But what happens when a branding strategy goes wrong? Past mishaps in branding have led to information leaks and plummeting stocks. If a branding strategy goes from a process to a fiasco, what is a good way for companies to redeem the message they’re communicating to consumers?

Video Marketing and Brand Management Online, by Andreas Roell of Clickz.com, the largest resource of interactive marketing news, information, commentary, advice, opinion, research, and reference, shares an idea that will help spread the message to the masses—online video. According to the article, online videos are the best way for marketers to reach consumers, especially when word needs to be spread quickly!

According to the article, these are the top reasons why online videos can ease branding mishaps:

Video content drives news. Journalists and news outlets continue to cover and incorporate popular viral videos into their broadcasts. If marketers post a video in response to a crisis or release a brand-flattering video, they can potentially generate news online that could translate into primetime broadcast coverage.

Search engines can pick up the video. If there's video content posted on the aggregators about your brand, it will be included in search results. Marketers have a better chance of reaching target audiences if they can get their video messages included in search results as it will be evermore important for advertisers to diversify their marketing efforts to attract user's attentions.

It's what people are watching. When it comes down to it, people watch videos online. A December 2007 study by Burst Media found that 76 percent of men and 67 percent of women watch online videos. By spreading pertinent brand messages through online video, marketers have a chance of benefiting from the content being syndicated on other formats. If a marketer can get a message out through video, there's potential it will be distributed on iPods, homepages, mobile devices, and social networking sites. That's good coverage. Video posted on a brand's Web sites will arguably garner more attention than text.

Video goes viral. Every marketer wants their message to be what people are talking about, and utilizing video is a great way to reach this goal. Video is easily dispersed amongst peers and can be accessed and posted on a plethora of platforms. Online video also makes a nice side dish to any news story or blog posting. So if someone is commenting on your event (good or bad), it's easy to include your video along with that commentary. The idea here is to make it easy for others to get pass along your message for you.

After reading the advice from the article above, it is clear to see why companies should utilize this marketing avenue even if there isn’t a branding crisis looming overhead. The old adage “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” has lost it’s luster in today’s business world. Consumers now have higher expectations than ever before, and with so much competition most companies don’t have the luxury of not paying attention to social trends such as viral marketing. Out with the old and in with the new—fix it before it’s broken!

A Democratic Approach to Online Marketing

Recently, many companies have been letting consumers create advertisements for them. This gives the consumers more of a bond with the brand, so they are more likely to purchase it. Also, the ads they create are more likely to appeal to people like them, which will create new customers. This recurring model is unbeatable.

Now, consumers want to have even greater interactions with the brands according to an article from AdAge. Some companies, like Frito Lay, are providing customers with the ability to have a say in packaging and products. Companies use an online community to tap into what their customers are really thinking. This strategy benefits both parties involved. It empowers customers, and provides the company with much-needed feedback on its actions.

Giving control over to consumers is the best way to learn from the past and add or delete products or services based on that feedback.