Maintaining Brand Consistency on the Internet - Tridion

A well-managed web presence is critical to a company's brand and business success, but the increasing scale of a typical company's web presence is making it difficult to manage this channel. According to our recent research, companies are losing grip of their brands as web site numbers spiral out of control.

Large companies are struggling to maintain brand consistency on the Internet as the number of web sites they publish increases, according to new research conducted by Tridion.

The research found that the average number of external, customer-facing Web sites that companies maintain has doubled since 2001 to 34. Almost a quarter (24%) of companies said they had so many externally facing web sites, they are not entirely sure how many they have. This figure is likely to triple if internal web sites and intranets are also included.

Entitled "Brand Control on the Web", the research involved 200 interviews with brand managers and senior Internet custodians within large European companies in industries including financial services, manufacturing, retailing, transport and public utilities. Each company had an annual turnover of more than £75 million (€110 million). A similar research project was conducted in 2001, allowing comparison of results.

WEB SITES VITAL TO OVERALL BRAND AND BUSINESS SUCCESS

The research found evidence that the importance and influence of a company's Web presence has become acknowledged and recognised more widely during the past four years. It shows that almost all (97%) companies questioned stated that having well-managed content and a consistent look and feel to their company's externally-facing Internet sites results in some form of business improvement or benefit:

• Over three quarters (78%) of companies said that a well-managed web presence results in a more professional image for the company
• More than two in three (68%) companies said it leads to increased profitability
• Almost two thirds said a consistent look and feel to a company's web site leads to increased customer acquisition (62%)
• More than half (59%) stated that a well managed web presence leads to increased competitive advantage and one in two (54%) agreed that it benefits and increases customer retention and loyalty
• More than half (54%) of respondents said that the web site is an integral part of their brand strategy

BRANDS OUT OF CONTROL ON THE WEB?

But, whilst the importance of web sites to a company's brand and business objectives was recognised, the increased scale of a typical company's web presence is clearly making it difficult to manage the web channel.

To revamp most of the key components of a typical externally facing web site would on average take a single person three months. The research also found that although two thirds (61%) of companies were aware of the need to keep their brand consistent across the Internet, many lack the tools and processes to do this well.

• Only just over half of brand managers (54%) have a key say in the look and feel of the web sites
• Even fewer (42%) have formal guidelines specific to the Internet in place
• For more than half (55%) of companies the web site owners have to manually update and check the web sites to ensure brand consistency across their entire array of web sites
• Only a third (33%) use software to automatically update the content on their web sites and ensure changes ripple through from site to site instantaneously

BRAND OWNERSHIP

Interestingly the research shows that responsibility for brand consistency and image is now more widely owned by a single person at board level. In 61% of companies, a single corporate marketing, e-business or media director takes responsibility for the consistency of the brand image across the organisation's entire array of externally facing web sites. In contrast, for 13% of companies, a single corporate IT director takes on this responsibility. Collectively, in three quarters (74%) of companies, a single person takes ownership of brand consistency across the organisation's entire array of externally facing web sites.

BRANDS ONLINE

Companies clearly spend millions to develop a unique brand and message and the best organisations then ensure that this is communicated to customers consistently across all channels. Companies evidently have more web sites than ever, communicating about more products, in more geographies, to more audiences and in various languages. Ensuring that brand messages stay consistent across the Internet channel is a real headache for companies. With web sites acting as the shop front for so many businesses, it is crucial companies get it right if their brands are not to be eroded in the online world. This makes web site management more important than ever before.

Click here for printable version