Useful Articles from Forrester

These are some great reports from Forrester which will help any marketer on online brand building. Try them out.

Web Site Content That Builds Brands

by Ron Rogowski

with Harley Manning, Steven Geller

Executive Summary

Web content is the backbone of a company's online brand presence. But many firms struggle to provide useful, relevant content that allows users to accomplish their goals and supports the company's brand positioning. In order to hit the sweet-spot where useful, usable content makes a lasting brand impression, firms should use personas to focus the design effort on target users and checklist all content before it goes live to ensure that it reinforces brand attributes.

Web Site Copy That Builds Brands

by Ron Rogowski

with Harley Manning, Steven Geller
Executive Summary

Few companies achieve the proper balance of clarity and color when it comes to the language used in their online content. But some firms have done an exceptional job at describing their products and services clearly in a tone that reflects their brands. In order to enhance brand experiences with language, customer experience professionals should first create clear, concise descriptions of their products and services, then inject the right vocabulary to bring their brands to life, and ultimately review all text and video content for style before sending it live.

Rich Internet Applications That Build Brands

by Ron Rogowski

with Harley Manning, Steven Geller
Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Compared with HTML, rich Internet applications (RIAs) offer greater interactivity, improved user experiences, and better differentiation. But most firms miss out on the brand-building potential of RIAs. To help companies that struggle with this problem, we uncovered examples of RIAs that provide top-notch user experiences and complement key brand attributes. Firms looking to differentiate their brands through online functionality should start with a clear understanding of user goals, maintain a relentless focus on brand attributes, enlist expert help, and test designs for compliance with brand positioning before going live.

Best And Worst Of Brand Building Web Sites, 2007
Forrester Applies Its Web Site Brand Review Methodology To The Sites Of 20 Top Brands

by Ron Rogowski

with Harley Manning, Ross Popoff-Walker, Steven Geller
Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

How good is the overall experience offered by top brands' Web sites today? To find out, we graded the sites of 20 of the world's top brands on how well they cater to user needs (Brand Action) and how well they infuse their Brand Image into the Web experience. Only one site managed to differentiate itself in both these dimensions: Lexus.com. Common Brand Action problems included poor text legibility and confusing category names. On the Brand Image side, sites were guilty of lackluster function and using imagery and layouts that didn't align with offline materials. To improve the online brand experience, top firms should focus first on supporting user goals, distributing brand "cheat-sheets" to designers and stakeholders, and checklisting proposed content and function against brand attributes.