BC NA December 2020

“Is it even possible to be
a ‘non-digital’ brand in
today’s environment?”
—
Jesko Perrey,
Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company
prioritisation of digital, emphasis on
the UX and UI and integration of digital
platforms in customer service and
products. This all equates to simplicity
for the consumer. For instance, with
digital, you can open a bank account
quickly to secure the best interest
rate online. The offline method seems
obsolete and laborious. The benefit
is clear: the better and easier it is for
consumers to do business with you,
the more market share you gain.
However, for all digital brands,
customer service is challenging and
must be a top priority. If you need to
reach an actual person at Facebook
or Google to fix a problem or answer a
question, good luck! Customer service
doesn’t exist for some of these large
digital brands. Amazon got this right.
AM: A major benefit is the ability to
compete against well-established
brands in reaching potential customers
on digital platforms. Another benefit
of being a digital brand is the ability to
turn on, turn off and change strategy
quickly based on data and insights
gathered through digital channels.
Being able to dynamically and at
reasonably low cost produce and
iterate creative, product messaging
to what works is a huge advantage.
However, building consumer confidence
and brand credibility without a
physical retail presence is a challenge.
Can your brand be trusted to deliver?
Does it actually exist or is there risk of
an online scam?
Many small businesses establishing
themselves as digital first brands
are bootstrapping and don’t have the
deep pockets to compete with more
established brands. As with any small
business, people are wearing many
hats and might be the HR, marketing
and logistics person in one. However
the ability to find talented contractors
and online tools to help has never
been easier. Many online brands outsource
key functions like shipping and
logistics and never actually house the
physical product.
77
businesschief.com