In Part One of this series we explore how digital tools and technology can help unlock brand value.

We believe a brand is an organization’s most valuable asset. This idea was demonstrated when a chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola said if the company lost all of its facilities and people he could rebuild the company provided he retained the rights to the brand―this is the kind of power brands have. This power can be amplified through web technology and systems, which provide significant value to organizations on many levels―from strategic and mission-critical to tactical―and it can also help build the brand.

GE Monigle identiyManager Brand Center
One example of an online brand resource, the identityManager Brand Center for GE.

A practical example of this amplification is how digital technology can assist with managing and implementing brands. Effective use of an organization’s brand identity and assets can be a messy, difficult business, especially for large, complex, decentralized, and geographically spread out businesses―but web technology can help. Think about your organization for a moment and how challenging it is to manage and deliver these brand resources to employees, agencies, and various other external suppliers. Imagine the hundreds, if not thousands, of people each day implementing something that represents your brand to target audiences and how much more efficient and effective the process would be with a comprehensive brand portal where all brand communications assets are current and accessible.

Online brand resources can help you build your brand in the following ways:

  • Communicate brand strategies and objectives
  • Provide best practices and guidelines
  • Manage and distribute assets used to support the brand
  • Track activity to inform site changes and justify investments
  • Re-engineer costly processes
  • Build consistent implementation
  • Demystify brand and identity systems
  • Function as “the brand portal”
  • Reduce the time marketing spends responding to requests

According to Alina Wheeler, the author of Designing Brand Identity, there are many good ways to illustrate the possibilities for web contributions to brand excellence. In her book, she identifies organizations doing the best job in brand building and the key communications tools they are using. Wheeler says websites lead the list of top brand-building methods and she verifies how organizations are employing “best practice” opportunities to quickly implement web technology for brand building.

The brand management technology Wheeler discusses in her book doesn’t necessarily need to be externally facing. In fact, organizational policies, guidelines, legal requirements, assets, and best practices that contribute to excellent brand management can all be systematized through a web portal. This is a real advantage when you think about the damage done when brand standards and features are poorly executed.

identityManager® is an online brand management software created by Monigle. To find out more visit our website or contact us.

Mike Reinhardt is Senior Director, Brand Sustainability at Monigle.

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Mike Reinhardt
June 30, 2014 By Mike Reinhardt