Branding that Thrives in an Era of Digital Platform Risk
Key points for how modern brands should respond to digital platforms:
While digital platforms such as Amazon provide brands with an ready made infrastructure, they also provide significant brand risk
Excessive reliance on these digital platforms risks commodifying the brand, losing control of the customer journey, and diluting the brand personality
To rise to these challenges, modern brands need to think strategically about how they partner with these platforms, and should consider other means of reaching and interacting with their consumers
A giant asteroid - roughly the size of Manhattan collided with Earth and destroyed 75% of plant and animal life, including the total extinction of the dinosaurs. This event, the KT extinction, was devastating.
You might be wondering, What does any of this have to do with branding? This is why: The world of business and the world of branding are going through a very similar transition. Brands too are facing their own proverbial asteroid: Platforms.
What kinds of risks do digital platforms provide, and how should modern brands respond? Let’s dive in
What Digital Platforms Mean for Modern Branding
Historically, companies have had symbiotic business partnerships that enabled them to distribute their products and communicate their ideas. Want to advertise? Hire an agency. Want to sell your goods? Get them into a store. Go direct to the consumer? Partner with a fulfillment company. But now, all of these roles have been subsumed by a few key platforms, which have also, in many cases, become competitors.
The biggest shift the industry has seen is in the distribution of products, and the rise of e-commerce. Retail brands, from clothing to electronics, to bookstores, have been completely upended from the likes of Amazon.
At the same time, the proliferation of digital technology means that companies can now deliver value more directly to the consumer than ever before. Social commerce has exploded. Fast Fashion and customized clothing, can be manufactured, shipped, and delivered at the press of a few buttons. Consumers can listen, watch, or read almost anything online with just a few clicks, or a quick shout to their smart speaker.
From the perspective of the consumer, this is great. They can now get what they want, quicker and more efficiently than ever before. This means it's never been more challenging for your specific brand to be actively sought out. Brands matter when, and only when, they matter to consumers. To be actively sought out, they must hold a special place in the heart and mind of the target market. If not, those needs and wants can easily be fulfilled elsewhere by technology, or through a dominant platform. This platform risks are only expected to increase as Generative AI becomes more integrated with the business world.
How Brands Should Respond to Digital Platforms
There are two key considerations here to rise to this challenge: The first is general: The brand is either excellent, or it’s nothing. In the current climate, there can be no such thing as a mediocre brand.
To matter, the brand has to matter more than ever before - above and beyond the sheer utility delivered by the product. This means, above all, a strong emotional connection, which is integrated into the minds and lives of the consumer. If you’re forming a brand for the first time, you should keep these stakes in mind. At the core of the brand is a strong internal understanding of not just what it does, but who it is. What does the consumer think of when they think of your brand? What are these associations? These can’t be lukewarm; they need to be strong and bold.
Secondly, more thought than ever should be put into your distribution and your communication partnerships. Of course, Amazon and other e-commerce giants will help you deliver your products, and of course, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media channels will help you advertise to your customers.
But while these are great tools for performance marketing, they also carry a risk of commodification: when you appear on these large platforms, you look like everyone else who utilizes them. The medium is the message. This is why for example, strong brands like Nike, Birkenstock, and Warby Parker have pulled their stock from large e-commerce sites. This allows these brands to own the customer journey, enabling them to infuse their own unique brand personality at every stage.
This is not to say that these partnerships should never be utilized, and there’s no one-sized-fits-all approach. But now, more than ever, deep thought needs to be put into how these partnerships are chosen and maintained. In order for consumers to seek out your brand, it must be special.
Final Thoughts on Branding amidst Digital Platforms
The dominance of these digital platforms presents modern brands with both challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, they’ve made certain things very easy for new brands. These platforms provide a ready-made infrastructure that has reduced barriers to entry, and made it much easier to put your product in front of your customers.
But on the other hand, it's never been more challenging to go beyond this stage. The challenge of these platforms is that, when operating within them, it's very challenging to create and maintain an enduring impression, and etch a deeper connection with the consumer. Overall, these platforms are great for products, but place huge challenges on the brand: Either you’re beloved, or you’re noise. In the era of digital platforms, where consumers are constantly tempted by an abundance of product value, only the strongest brands can survive.
And here’s the thing - even though the KT extinction meant the end of the dinosaurs, it also produced the era of the mammals, and ultimately, human civilization. Those that survived, thrived.
Photo by Lucas George Wendt via Unsplash
About the author
Matt Johnson, PhD is a researcher, writer, and consumer neuroscientist focusing on the application of psychology to branding. He is the author of the best-selling consumer psychology book Blindsight, and Branding That Means Business (Economist Books, Fall 2022). Contact Matt for speaking engagements, opportunities to collaborate, or just to say hello
References for How Modern Brands can Thrive in a Digital Platform Environment
Johnson, M., & Misiaszek, T. (2022). Branding that Means Business: Economist Edge: books that give you the edge (Vol. 1). Profile Books.
