In many ways, building a Web site is like building a home. To be successful, each must begin with a solid implementation strategy that will closely guide-and serve as the foundation for-the entire process. In the building industry, months of careful planning ensure that those desiring a Spanish Revival home do not end up cooking their breakfast every morning on an Early American antique stove. Essentially, the choice of home style guides every decision made about each detail of the home’s construction, giving the architects and builders a solid framework to work within. Additionally, this initial choice of style creates a framework for long-term decision-making, guiding homeowners in the selection of new furniture and providing parameters for updating decor and making repairs.

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Online community can be an important tool in differentiating and de-commoditizing brands. The notion of “community” is the through-line between many of the most successful online brand experiences, a driver of the current Web commerce resurgence, a basic tenet of the “Web 2.0″ concept, and is giving many brands a new way to create one-on-one dialogues with their customers. In any discussion of the role of online community, it is important to distinguish—first and foremost—between brands that live and breathe exclusively online and brands that use the online medium to extend a traditional brand experience.

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Aaah, the Fourth Quarter. The time for frantically spending every last dime of this year’s budget, while planning for what to do next year. If developing or revisiting your brand strategy is among your goals for 2007, following are five tips to consider during planning that can help you avoid making costly mistakes at launch.

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3M: Innovation
Disney: Magic
Nordstrom’s: Customer service

At the core of the world’s most valuable brands lies a single strong idea that serves as the compass for everything these organizations do.

The traditional approach to brand positioning has been to analyze consumer needs, evaluate the competitive landscape, and establish a positioning that takes advantage of gaps in both. However, that approach is fraught with dangers—consumers change (and don’t always know what they want, anyway) and markets shift. In the end, by following this approach, you are likely to be left with a positioning that requires continuous reinvention and redefinition—leading to lack of consistency, a confused corporate culture and, ultimately, increased costs.

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