"Whether you're targeting new business leads, investors or a dealer network, your Web presence provides you with the opportunity to deliver a personalized brand experience.Is your Web working hard enough for your brand?      Thank you, Introworks, for providing your branding expertise in this month's article."

Trevor Olson
President / CEO, Aware Web Solutions, Inc.

Put on your brand goggles.

Do you have brand goggles? Better get some. On your lunch break stop by your friendly local convenience store and get yourself a pair of those three-dollar-and-fifty-cent shades. They're your brand goggles - magic spectacles - and they let you see everything as a brand. A brand is carefully constructed, driven by differentiated message and image to own a unique place in the minds of your audience. Good branding helps shift perception, drive sales, establish reputation and build value in your company.

Now with your brand goggles on, even a casual stroll through the office reveals your business in a brand new light. "These are some shades," you think as you glance at your business cards, thumb through your annual report or lend a smile to a co-worker. It's all becoming crystal clear - your business is a brand! Your brand is made up of everything in your business, mixed together like a magical recipe with a flavor all its own.

Every time your business comes in contact with the outside world it's a "brand episode." Your goggles make that clear. Do you notice anything inconsistent? Are your proposals as quality as your quality reputation? Does your Web site reflect the innovation that you're known for? Do your customer service reps answer the phone with a smile, like it says in your brochure? If you detect serious discrepancies between what your brand stands for and what you're projecting, make a change. Remember, you are a brand.

Understand the power of the Web.

The Web is one tremendously powerful tool to communicate your brand. In fact, it is likely the most valuable element of your brand mix. Here’s why: The Web enables a personal brand experience. Right there, online, is where customers intersect with brands and information. The Web is the opportunity to provide the ultimate representation of your brand. It is a platform for a powerful blend of sound, motion and message to help you stand for more than facts and figures, features and functions. Seldom do prospects and customers have such freedom to interact with your brand, and seldom are you able to make such indelible impressions on their minds.

Determine where do you fall on the tell-show-experience continuum.

Keeping those goggles on, log on to your Web site for a brand episode. With more scrutiny, what do you see? Are you letting words do the brand legwork, telling the audience who you are and what you stand for? Are you showing brand promise by letting the site do the brandspeak for you? Is your audience experiencing your brand with approaches that encourage greater personal involvement?

If you need to, take a look at the chart below to help you evaluate where you stand.

View the tell-show-experience continuum chart.

So, is your Web working hard enough to communicate your brand? If not, we suggest the optimum web experience is found in the synchronized partnership of Branding Experts and Web Developers who can make your brand come to life.

Introworks is a marketing and branding communications firm that partners with Aware Web Solutions to deliver personalized online brand experiences.

If you have any comments or questions about any Aware InSites, feel free to contact us at info@awarewebsolutions.com or call 800-783-8919.