Rules of Engagement: Online Brand Management & Market Research

Online Brand Management

Case Scenario/ Task

Q1. Brand(s) to Deliver Unique Online Experience With the world being squeezed into drawing room each day online retail experience is growing wider and popular. According to a survey made by Forbes in 2014, e-commerce industry is likely to achieve a mountainous height in terms of online sales. A survey made by Forbes magazine in 2014 also declared Amazon to be topping the list of most loved online brands. Amazon has differentiated by developing a giant online platform with huge product listings, customer engagement ads, videos, review system, etc. the company focuses on quality service, and offer huge product basket to their customers (Tice, 2014). With continuous acquisition and mergers of aligned business partners Amazon has multiplied its product and service offerings in manifold. Amazon’s “one stop shopping destination” is the key to retain customer’s brand loyalty, and prohibiting them to switch the brand easily by quality service (Mortel, Wu. & Chan 2012). With the help of having a huge database, and continuous product line enhancement Amazon is likely to foster in online retail market more and more. Q2. Online Brand Experience Model The online brand experience model is based on nine components: The website experience and appearance, i.e. downloading of the site and user friendliness, Personal support such as customer interaction, customer care assistance, navigation quality from one page to another, service quality-delivery of products, and returns etc. (Timmers, 1998) . These systems enable to create unique customer experience which consists of promised value service, emotional attachment and rational value. Amazon uses the online brand experience to maximum level. Since its inception Amazon has focused in designing a simple yet attractive website to create a unique one stop shopping destination for its customer. With acquisitions of several internet and technology companies amazon has been able to create an easy to download and user friendly website which houses a wide variety of products (Pereira et. al. 2000). Amazon has also mastered in reaching to the customer in minimum time possible with continuous customer support system, on time and quick delivery, easy return policies (Mortel, Wu. & Chan 2012). With the development of widespread distributed network quick delivery, easy return and payment options has made amazon a unique shopping experience creating maximum customer delight. Q3. Developing Online Brand Experience Model Apart from the online branding model many online portals uses Google as an advertising platform because of its broad reach. Ad ranking in Google is thus important and may be included in on line brand experience model as more and more customers are reaching to the internet for various needs every day (Pereira, et. al. 2000). Ad ranking in Google depends on call to action, i.e. if a customer clicks the ad, it should display what the customer was looking for and directly lead to the required page; relevancy of the landing page, i.e. the ad should lead a customer to a relevant page in the website and not to unwanted page or links; click through rate; i.e. how much the online portal is paying to Google for per click, and speed of the website. A higher ranked ad in a Google page will be easily visible to customer and thus tract new customer, and also prohibiting an old customer from switching to a different brand. For an example, if a customer searches for a pair of denim, amazon’s ad can be displayed first with the help of a high ad ranking. Q4: Consumer Engagement through Social Medias Consumer engagement through various social media is of utmost importance. Social media campaigns can go viral in a minute and attract a huge set of audience in a short span of time. Keeping on mind the analysis of social media engagement rules discussed by Simon McDonald and Steven van Belleghem, it can be said that companies need to spend more time on social medias like Facebook, twitter, YouTube, instagram, tumblr, etc. (Verhage, Mc Donald , Bellegham, 2012). to see what intrigues people most, and what are the thoughts and emotions behind a particular brand or a product that takes people in unison. This also involves looking into consumer’s minds and searching what people search and care about. Social media platforms are of exclusive importance to communicate with customers and build a strong brand loyalty.