the connected brand

the connected brandThe modern marketplace favors connected brands with three essential components — community, content and commerce. Every week, leading companies make headlines for acquisitions and partnerships that complete this three-part business model.

Think about online auction pioneer, eBay. This innovative brand had commerce (people buying and selling their stuff) and community (a dedicated group of users who posted messages and rated sellers), but they lacked content. So, they bought epinions.com – an online site where people write detailed product reviews and share consumer information about everything from video games to vacuum cleaners. Now eBay’s new marketplace model – commerce, community, and content – is complete. The brand is unstoppable.

content

Content in fresh new formats is the surprising currency of the new marketplace. The Connected Generation wants seamless, 24/7 access to information in print, online, audio, video, and just about any other form you can imagine.

It doesn’t matter whether you make cars or yogurt, sing in a rock band, run a multinational company or manage a tiny non-profit organization, you are now a content company. Brands that present fun, engaging, and useful information will outshine their competitors in every arena.

community

Today’s consumers want deeper connections with brands and like-minded peers. They’re not content to watch from the sidelines. The Connected Generation wants to dive in and express themselves in multiple media.

The hottest brands are not just products or services – they’re full communities with a back-and-forth flow of information and communication. Think MySpace, message boards, blogs, photo sharing, live gatherings. It’s a key principle of the new market: when you connect people to each other in meaningful and easy-to-access ways, you also connect them more closely to your brand.

commerce

Companies that create and sell products and services on both the wholesale and retail levels are realizing that the old model just doesn’t cut it in the modern marketplace. Connected consumers expect to buy from connected brands and they seek in-depth information from both consumers and experts before opening their wallets.

The connected generation also forms dynamic communities gathered around specific activities, products, brands and industries. That’s why the sales process is now incomplete without rich content and a lively dialogue among the brand community.

Even the standard for effective sales people has shifted. Consumers now want sales staff to operate as connected industry insiders and editors who help them sift through the mountain of choices and identify the hot picks.

Content, community and commerce—make up the essential DNA of today’s connected brands. Organizations that embrace this three-part model will experience exponential returns, as consumers and leading companies seek deep and profitable relationships with these brave innovators.