Digital branding – the law of slow and fast branding
Let’s face it: we don’t really know yet what digital transformation is doing to us and what it will do to us in the future. That’s why we don’t want to join the long line of cosmopolitans and masterminds who think they’ve already explained the impact of digital transformation. Nevertheless, some things have changed for brand management as a result of digitalisation and should not be ignored.
Let’s first take a look at whether and how Swiss companies and their communications departments have arrived in the digital age. According to last year’s study by HWZ, Zurich School of Business, 74% of Swiss companies believe that digital transformation will have a great or very great impact on their industry, and 72% believe that it will become even more important in the future. But what goals have companies set for themselves as a result of the opportunities offered by digital transformation? “Improved customer analytics” and, most importantly, “improved customer experience” are ahead of “cost reduction” and “increased productivity”. Corporate branding, marketing and communications departments are therefore faced with a new challenge. The heads of communication of the largest Swiss companies, surveyed this spring by their professional organisation, the Harbour Club, are aware of these expectations and see them above all as an opportunity. 83 per cent of the Chief Communications Officers say that digitalisation has given them more influence over company management in the last three years. In terms of content, communications leaders are convinced that issues such as honesty, credibility and transparency will become at least somewhat more important (45%) or even significantly more important (25%). But are they ready for digital transformation? They are self-critical: only 20% believe they are ready. 40% believe they have recognised the signs of the times and are working on it, and 30% admit that they do not yet have a dialogue strategy to help them counter the loss of control caused by digitalisation. One thing all communication leaders agree on, however, is that the pace of corporate brand communication is clearly increasing.
Speaking at a management forum in Germany, Franz-Rudolf Esch, professor and “brand pope”, put the challenges of digital transformation succinctly: business models and culture need to be put to the test. Customer expectations and behaviour would change, but needs would not. And brand identity provides orientation. That is more important than ever.
So what does this mean for branding? We recognise two new rules for branding that have long applied to team sports. Let’s take football as an example. Rule one: When you have the opportunity to score a goal, you can’t think for a tenth of a second, you have to pull the trigger immediately. You rely on the fact that the right movements are in your blood. You shoot quickly and “automatically”. Rule two: Talent alone is not enough – constant preparation is required. Preparation in the form of clear positions, constant repetition of sequences and training in a wide variety of possible play variations. This is done slowly and deliberately.
We also know this from the American psychologist Kahnemann. He called them the brain’s two ways of thinking: System One: Fast, automatic, always active, emotional, stereotyping, unconscious. System two: Slow, laborious, logical, calculating, conscious.
In brand management, the system means one thing: if you don’t keep up, you lose. Communication has to be fast, automatic, emotional and targeted to achieve results for the brand. The fast pace, the many communicators and communication channels lead to a loss of control for brand and communication managers. There is no alternative to fast brand management.
But there is a perfect complement to fast brand management: slow brand management. Slow brand management is the preparation for high speed. Its development is time-consuming, exhausting, logical, calculated, deliberate. It involves the elaboration and continuous development of an absolutely coherent brand personality. But the most important thing is to communicate it to all communicators. And you have to do it so intensely that the brand personality becomes flesh and blood – until the actors can’t help but behave intuitively in line with the brand. Slow brand leadership is not about the “how” but the “what”. It is brand leadership, not brand management. It does not give brand and communications managers back full control, but it does give them back control of brand management, even in the digital age.
And what does it look like when that happens? A small, funny example from the police of the city of Zurich. The city police define themselves as follows: “Security as the basis of a tolerant and free society is one of our central concerns. That is why we are committed to protecting and safeguarding the citizens of Zurich around the clock.” Two Zurich police officers recently demonstrated how this brand promise can be put into practice in the digital age. They produced a video about the dangers of Pokémon hunting. The video is really badly made and would probably not have passed the scrutiny of a communications officer. But it was watched over 26,000 times on YouTube, shared 369 times on Facebook, liked by 762 people and commented on 140 times. The web community had a great time. Of course, there were a few grumblers among the comments: “Nüt bessers ztue !!!! Aja stürrgelder und so.” or “U de fragt me sich wieso dpolizei nüme ernst gno wiirt”. But the positive voices were in the majority: “Super gmachts video, isch au full so #yoloswag wiiter so” or “Cool di 2”. The web platform “Watson” called the film “great cinema”, while the “Tages-Anzeiger” and the “Bund” ran with the headline: “Die Stadtpolizei tries slapstick” and called for a vote on whether a prevention video from Texas would be better. Oscar J. Paddon from Oxford, who lives in Biel, found: “The Swiss police are giving us attention lessons with Pokémon Go. Hahhaa, this country is amazing”. Not the way it was done in the book, but effective and authentically conveying the values of the police: Mission accomplished!
Very similar to the prevention of the Street Parade, which would probably have been worded differently by a head of department, and therefore would not have achieved anything. To be read last Saturday on the Facebook page of the Zurich City Police:
Tips for an unforgettably lousy Street Parade visit
Tomorrow is Street Parade. If you want to have the most miserable day possible, here are a few tips: Travel by car and leave it somewhere in a no-parking zone. We’ll tow you away, the cost is considerable. Go dancing barefoot, cuts on your feet will take you straight to the ambulance instead of the party. Take drugs, but never get them tested. Drink lots of alcohol, but stay away from the water! React aggressively to any kind of provocation and do not care about others while partying. Do not follow police instructions and do not obstruct the work of the emergency services! (Irony OFF) But if you want to have an unforgettable day, which we highly recommend, do everything the other way round 🙂 Happy Street Parade!
The reaction on the web: over 930 likes, 112 shares.
Our conclusion: Fast and loose is good if the brand is carefully and accurately managed beforehand. Ongoing investment in strategic brand management and behavioural branding pays dividends, especially in the digital age.