Syndicate Your Brand

Today's brands need to be distributed to numerous consumer end-points, not unlike content. They need to be "slippery" as opposed to "sticky." Funny how this is really the opposite of the thinking that occurred even a few years ago.

I remember launching clients' websites at the very beginning - when the Internet was just an infant (Keep in mind though that the Internet is still a young child). In the beginning, the strategy was to use marketing resources to make sites sticky and do everything possible to get audiences to come to your one website and only that site. There was no such thing as "microsites" or "widgets." The thinking was that getting the brand "downstream" away from your online property (or portal) was a very bad thing. After all, once your audience went away from your site they might find your competitors' brands. And although some brands still try and maintain a foothold in this kind of strategy, the ground is crumbling beneath them.

Today, we should be striving to have less control over our brands - we need to take this approach to let our consumers make our brands feel more like their own. Think of 2010 as the year of the personalized brand. In order to do this effectively, consider how you can syndicate your brand. Yes, social media strategies will help, but also consider partnerships with other brands that already successfully reach your intended audience. What added-value might your brand deliver to these? Are Porsche consumers a right fit for you, or does your brand speak more to Jeep owners? How could your brand deliver a better experience if bundled with the sale of a Porsche? Etc.

If the Internet is like that tempestuous teenage child, think of your brand as that same child leaving home for the first time to go to college. You might shutter to think of the things that might happen to it, but you know that the time has come for your child to learn some lessons on their own.

So, don't be afraid to syndicate your brand downstream to those unexpected places. Hand your brand off to your target customers and let them shape it for themselves. They will reward you with a new level of purchase and retention that your tight gripped competitors cannot match.