The digital retail boom of the past two years has sparked a debate over how valuable a brand is in the online consumer journey. The conclusion? Stressing brand value is fundamental to a successful digital marketing strategy.
During the pandemic, marketers have been cutting brand marketing budgets in favour of stimulating short-term sales. Research by WARC, the sister company of Edge by Ascential, shows 51% of marketers with major brands expect to increase investment in performance, with only 29% planning to increase investment in brand. This is a short-sighted approach because a strong brand helps in influencing purchase decisions.
Brand building vs Performance
Brand budgets in the digital retail space should be three times performance budgets, and the ad spend to maintain a brand presence at key points in the consumer ecommerce journey is effectively "digital rent", an unavoidable cost of selling online, and should be covered by a separate budget.
But "easy to buy" is becoming as important as "easy to recall", so while brand still matters, consumers can still be won over by competitors, particularly close to the point of purchase, and "digital rent" should be paid to keep the consumer on the track created by the pre-existing positive brand image.
Listen: ShiLing Koh, Edge by Ascential APAC Senior Insights Manager, Chad Widdison, Edge by Ascential Senior Insights Manager, and Gabey Goh, WARC Asia Editor discuss the drivers of brand advantage in digital commerce, and ways to maximize a brand's influence at every touchpoint of the consumer's journey. Fill out the form below to get a full recording of the webcast and PDF presentations.
