Spiral branding
                                 - A paradigm Shift In Indian Media Advertising
                                                         Rohit Bharti

Spiral is a curve on a plane that winds around a fixed center point at a continuously increasing or decreasing distance from the point.

So now what can a Spiral do in marketing and more so in branding …

These are the days of integrated marketing, where we integrate the different aspects of marketing

Integrated marketing -- the practice of leveraging several forms of media simultaneously is a new and developing business strategy.

However, the concept has undergone a transformation with the explosion of the Internet. Two new things have happened that allow firms to take integrated marketing to a new level. For one, the Web lets companies deepen their relationship with customers (called variously service branding, interactive branding, or rational branding). For another, outbound email allows companies to stay in touch with customers and bring them back to the trough again. So you can imagine a loop forming.

      The Internet has open new possibilities and new dangers for anyone who ignores the signs. The advent of Internet sites and Internet mail make a new set of possible new form of marketing called Spiral Branding.
      
       Spiral describes the accelerating benefits of a positive feed back loop. Spiral

Branding can be explained in three steps:

1 .You use Television, print or radio to get people interested and send them to the web.

2. You use the web to get those customers involved (via specialized content and interactive services). You also collect e- mail addresses.

3. You use e-mail to remind and incent them to return to Television and Web again . E-Mail closes the loop and starts the spiral again.

An example.

The example above explains the concept. STAR TV purchased INDYA.COM and connected interactively to its viewers through it. They logged on to the site giving their mail Ids and played various games on the channel through the Website. The Channel locked these customers.  They either played at the site or visited it to view various game shows schedules and even played on the site. There are also storing these addresses for advertising of future products/services directly to the customer. Thus making a SPIRAL

The same is being replicated by using mobile phones by various channels. The Various games hosed on the channel are being played using the SMS messages. These are helping the channels to create a block of customers whom they can lock for various games /shows or offer them various products or services. There are also storing these addresses for advertising of future products/services directly to the customer. Thus making a SPIRAL

The working can be explained as follows. Going around the spiral a few times, using different words to illustrate the role of each medium.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

The keys to spiral branding are:

Use each media for its best purpose (for instance, don't try to create a TV experience on the Web)

Do it fast (get something up now and fine-tune as you go along)

Iterate constantly (make improvements each time around the spiral)

For spiral branding to succeed, you must use each medium to its best advantage:

Television, radio and print. Unmatched (especially TV) at creating a link between a brand and an emotion.

Online. Takes the customer relationship to a whole new level by delivering branded services inside the browser. Among the hundreds of possibilities: gift registries, online design center, shopping assistant, online games and so on . Don't try to build TV-style emotional advertisements on the Web. Your visitors won't stand for them. They are online to get something done.

Email. You can't afford to hope customers will tune in to your TV ads, or pop over to your Web site. You have to remind, incent and encourage them. Email is the best way to accomplish these tasks. And the best way to maintain a relationship.  One-to-one marketing with email is a growing trend, but don't forget you need to find customers in the first place. That's where TV, radio and print come in.

Submitted By;
Rohit Bharti
MBA - Infrastructure Management.
ABV - Indian Institute Of Information Technology,Gwalior.

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