Chris is Right

16 Jul 2009

Business, Making Money, Personal Branding, Social Meda

Chris Brogan mentioned that he prefers McDonald’s coffee to both Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts…this I do not think he is right about. However, in the rest of the post he argued that branding is more than just communication. In what he referred to as “owning distribution,” Chris made a wonderful point that addressed the need for brands to move beyond marketing.

Sure, being the “Kleenex” of tissues is great, but what if you can’t find a place to sell the tissues? More importantly, what if your competition is keeping you from being profitable? On the internet, the competition is increasing every single day. It is a cheap and easy medium to delve into, which means you have to work harder in order to control the distrubution of your product and not just the branding portion of it.

McDonald’s brand isn’t necessarily coffee, but since they have a shop on nearly every busy intersection, they own a large majority of the real estate capable of selling coffee. That means, when they try to brand their coffee, the transition is simple because people were already going there anyway. Why make an extra drive to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts if you are already at McD’s?

To bring this to the internet realm, think about the products you buy and sell online. I bet that many of them are from the “known brands” in that niche. Amazon was known for books (talk about owning a HUGE stake in distribution), but now they are moving steadily into other territories. Media (digital and physical) for starters, but to prove my point, consider the Kindle. With that device, Amazon not only pioneered the “official” format of the digital book, but owns the medium in which it can be purchased and read. Sure, you could argue that other readers can be found for cheaper (such as Kindle on iPhone), but where do you go to buy the books? Amazon of course!

So while this was not an original idea of my own, I think that studying distribution methods in your niche might help you improve your brand presence and as a result, your bottom line.

What do you think?

Also, are you a social media bore?