Branding and Traffic

© 2001 Ann Schlosser, University of Washington Business School

Agenda

• Branding– Impact of the Internet for brands– Building brand loyalty and trust

• Traffic building– Generating traffic– Monitoring performance

The Internet: The End of Brands?

Internet

• Cost transparency

• Ease of switching• Information overload• Trust (protect privacy, deliver

on terms of agreement)

Death of brands Raises importance of brands

The Battle of the Brand vs. the Shopbot

• 51% of shoppers did not choose the shopbot’s cheapest offering– Pay 3.1% premium for brand name

– Pay 6.8% premium at places where they had prior shopping experience

VS.

Source: Brynjolfsson and Smith, M.I.T. working paper

How do you build loyalty on the Internet?

Strategies

Fresh content

Email newsletter or announcements Bookmark

User Registration

Frequent-browser points

Personalization from unobtrustive observation

Risks

How do you remain top-of-mind?

Requires opt-in procedures to avoid spam

Although people rarely remove sites from the bookmark folder, they also rarely use their bookmark folder

May impede visit to site, especially if they forget the username/password

Extrinsically motivated to get reward rather than intrinsically loyal to the site

Risk intruding on consumers’ privacy

Tools to Create Loyalty

Effectiveness (1-5)

4.03.83.63.43.23.02.82.6

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f fir

ms

that

use

too

l to

crea

te lo

yalty .7

.6

.5

.4

.3

.2

.1

Affinity credit card

Preferred shopper benefitsBuyer's clubs

Points programsIncentives (online or offline)

Customer surveys

Direct mail

Free merchandise Price discounts

Targeted email promotions

Source: Shar VanBoskirk (2001). Forrester Report.

Frito-Lay: Building Loyalty Among Kids

Business NeedFrito-Lay, Inc. sought to build brand loyalty by providing a unique experience for kids through the Internet. “We wanted a web site that is empowering and fun for kids and creates a positive association with our brands,” said Kristin Creed, Product Manager, Frito-Lay, Inc.

Solution?

The Solution: ePloids.com

Ploids Defined

How do you establish an image of trust?

• Fundamental “forms” to communicate trustworthiness– Brand– Navigation– Fulfillment– Presentation– Up-to-date technology– Logos of security– Address security and privacy concerns

• Clearly-stated policies• Limited information requests• Guarentees• Communication channels

Source: Cheskin Research and Studio Archetype/Sapient

Conveying Trustworthiness

Generating Traffic

Average Internet Usage Statistics

Seasonal Spikes

Top Web Site Properties

Tools for Traffic Building

Source: Shar VanBoskirk (2001). Forrester Brief.

effectiveness (1-5)

4.54.03.53.02.52.0

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usin

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rive

traf

fic1.0

.9

.8

.7

.6

.5

.4

.3

TV

Sponsorships

PR

Newspapers/Radio

Magazines

Email to opt-in list

Email to customers

Direct mail

Banners

Affiliate programs

Projections for Promotion Budget Allocations

2001

2%

44%

54%

online

offline

email

future

43%

52%

5%

online

offline

email

Search Engine Positioning

1. Define your business

2. Set targets for your campaign

3. Translate your business definitions into search phrases

4. Structure your site around your search phrases

5. Design your pages to attract search engine traffic

6. Submit your site to Directories and Search Engines

7. Get your site linked from other sites

8. Monitor the results

Source: Sofer, 2001

Source: www.bruceclay.com

Interrelated Search Engines

            

Keyword Prices Based on Demand

Internet Marketing – top position = $2.27

Computer hardware – top position = $0.54

Top Search Terms at GoTo

Search Engine Inclusiveness

% of Search Engine Traffic That Came From Each Engine

Monitor Performance: Across Sites

Monitor Performance: Within Site

Monitor Performance: Referrer Logs• b105.bendnet.com - - [12/Jun/1999:23:05:56 -0400] "GET /bc/index.html

HTTP/1.1" 200 11097 "http://howto-central.com/CookieCut ter/CC-Sitemap.htm" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows 98)"

• user-2ivf8hl.dialup.mindspring.com - - [12/Jun/1999:16:14:42 -0400] "GET /set/set06.html HTTP/1.1" 200 445 " http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=n200&kl=XX&q=web+design+tutorial" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Windows 98)"

• lbates.ne.mediaone.net - - [12/Jun/1999:19:39:07 -0400] "GET /spp/pets11.html HTTP/1.1" 200 9836 "http://infoseek.go.com/Titl es?qt=pet+photos&col=WW&sv=IS&lk=noframes&svx=home_searchbox" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Windows 98; DigExt)"

• ip49.thecitylofts.com - - [12/Jun/1999:20:38:35 -0400] "GET /set/setsimjr.html HTTP/1.1" 200 17962 "http://search.yahoo.com/b in/search?p=Meta+tag" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Windows 98; DigExt)"

Resources on Search Engines

• spider-food.net

• searchenginewatch.com

• www.bruceclay.com

• www.searchengineshowdown.com