Four ways digital works to build brands and relationships

Firms too often fixate on ‘digital’ as a silo entity when there are many dozens of forms that digital can take, each with its own objective, organisational players and digital technology. These digital forms can be organised into four types — support the offering and its use, amplify other brand-building platforms, augment or enable the offering, and create digitally driven or enabled brand-building platforms. These last two, in particular, are often strategic and should be resourced and managed accordingly. One implication of this perspective is that digital should not be in an isolated silo but should be embedded in business and marketing units. Another is that digital capabilities should be broad, in part because there is power and synergy in harnessing multiple technologies, and in part because different programmes will require different technologies. Still another is that success measures should match programmes.