Guest post by Sarah Sidney.
Whatever you learned about the definition of “branding” in your marketing courses is wrong. The proliferation of digital channels has significantly altered the meaning of the word, and it continues to evolve.
25 years years ago (when the oldest Millennials were in junior high, and the youngest still in diapers), branding was quite simple. Businesses would run TV commercials, advertise on billboards, play radio jingles, buy a big listing in the Yellow Pages, and create a pleasant shopping experience.
Today, brands need to continually reach out and engage customers and prospects, who have much higher expectations of them. They need to focus on the customer experience, monitor the web for brand mentions and respond promptly, and leverage digital channels deftly.
