Part 1 of digital media branding published in November on the journal of Kenya Institute of Management. Follow up article on the power point deck presented in Atlanta.

1. TECHNOLOGY
Managing your brand in
a digital environment
Kinoti Gituma
BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE, ALTHOUGH What is in a brand? will understand your message. A
silent, is necessary and evident in an A brand is collectively what people say, television broadcast is a good example of
environment that is rapidly incorporating feel and think about your product, service push marketing. Pull marketing has more
digital technology in all aspects. With or organisation. to do with inbound marketing where
the deployment of mobile and internet For instance, Usain Bolt of Jamaica is you are pulling your audience to come to
communication, how information is an individual brand that has propelled your repository of information. A case in
disseminated has changed drastically his own value and that of his country. point is sending out e-mail messages that
in terms of reach and speed. A Jamaica is no longer famous for its fiery encourages your audience to visit your
revolution occurs when society adopts jerk chicken but also for its exceptional website to get more information about
new behaviours and it is imperative sprinters. Similarly, the brand ‘Kenya’ is your products and services.
that organizations come up with synonymous with long distance running, The core characteristic of any digital
strategies in line with the new modes of as was confirmed in the just concluded environment is that it is electronic and
communication for their brands. If not, world athletic championship. therefore dynamic. Subsequently, this is
they will be caught flat footed using In this new era of digital media probably the most exciting time to be
outdated media and consequently, their communication therefore, your brand will marketing and selling your products.
brand message will not resonate with increasingly be about what is searched The shift from push to pull marketing is
their audience. for digitally. creating both challenges for marketers
The launching of internet broadband and opportunities to engage consumers
comes with the expectation that access Digital environment in new ways that start lasting, profitable
will be faster, more reliable and more Media communication is now moving relationships.
affordable for the Kenyan community at away from push marketing to pull
large. Anyone who is managing a brand marketing. Push marketing refers Battle of the three screens
therefore needs to anticipate and react to to messaging that is disseminated This battle in the digital arena has
this tectonic shift in the digital arena. outwardly in the hope that the audience been taken to the three screens in
42 NOVEMBER 09 MANAGEMENT

2. TECHNOLOGY
of being a static monologue.
It is static in the sense that
you cannot change the write
up or recall the article in case
of errors. Instead you will
have to correct the errors in
the following publication.
However, the same article
published online can be
corrected quickly since it is
in digital format. The article
on the internet also has a
forum that creates a dialogue
in that people can give their
feedback and comments
directly to the editors, and
developed countries. The three screens on the caption and he is taken to a
those reading the article can see the
are television, computer and mobile wonderful web page where he is given
various feedback and comments. If they
phone. The television is a vestige of old more information on fishing for marlin
like the article so much they can even
media whereby communication is in in Kenya. This process of ensuring your
forward the article to their friends using
monologue. A message is set up and information is relevant when people
various forms of digital media. They can
broadcast to the masses without an search for information related to your
e-mail it, publish it on their Facebook
interactive process. core business is helpful in terms of sales
profile, or even use twitter to disseminate
The dawn of a new era comes and branding. If more companies and
the information. From that one article, a
with new media communication that institutions in Kenya embraced new
dialogue is created where the reader of
is in the form of a dialogue with the media to disseminate their information
the article can give immediate feedback
intended audience, thereby eliciting about their core business, they would
to the article, share it with friends and
direct feedback. In the context of Kenya, gain by improving their sales and
discuss the article with their peers,
new media is led by cell phone usage. branding. thus creating a viral component of
Broadband technology will hopefully communication. This example shows that
expose more people to computers and
laptops, thereby encouraging a more
“If more new media has various touch points and
is fluid and dynamic in engagement.
interactive process. companies and That begs the question: if you had
In terms of old media, think of a bill an advertisement or message in this day
board advertising Watamu in Kenya as a
institutions in and age, wouldn’t it be better to craft a
tourist destination for Marlin fishing. This Kenya embraced message and leverage the reach of digital
billboard is placed in the middle of New media? Think of old media as using the
York’s Time Square, the busiest street in new media to shotgun approach where you shoot out
the world. This is all very well and good disseminate their the message and hope it reaches as many
as there will be traffic that will pass by, people as you want without knowing the
and, depending on their level of interest, information, exact metrics of your target audience.
New media is more like a rifle gun where
people will read and act on the message they would gain you pick out your target and are able
and perhaps book a trip sometime in the
future. The characteristic of the billboard by improving to aim your message to your intended
audience.
message is that it is static. The message
their sales and
will not change during the time the bill Kinoti Gituma is the Managing Director
board is out there. The messaging is not branding." at KinConsult a new-age digital media
targeted and will only be broadcast to company in the US. He has extensive
whoever passes by the billboard. experience in managing large e-Commerce
Conversely, with new digital media, Evolution of media projects for Fortune 500 Companies in the
think of John Smith, an American in To examine the evolution of media, let Silicon Valley. He has sold everything online
Ohio who is on his computer and is us look at a Daily Nation article that is from rugby jerseys on eBay to servers,
doing a search on “Marlin Fishing” on published both in print and on their computers and software on Google and
Google. Let us suppose an ad-copy on website. The article in print will represent Yahoo.
the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) old media whereas the web article will kinoti@kinconsult.com or on twitter @
pops up showing Watamu in Kenya as a represent new media. The article on the kinconsult for any feedback or comments.
destination for Marlin fishing. He clicks nation print media has the characteristic
NOVEMBER 09 MANAGEMENT 43