Branding: A Day in the Life

My typical day uses a lot of different digital medias. I start at work by checking my email through Outlook, and my company uses Microsoft 365, so no matter where I am I can log on to the Microsoft site and gain access to my email as well as Microsoft Office applications. I also use Salesforce frequently, a customer relationship management software designed to give all departments access to accounts with different applications and platforms designed for different departments. Salesforce also has a Chatter application where employees can socialize and follow each other much like social media. Our company does not use Chatter much because I think it is seen as unprofessional for too much socializing to take place on the work software. I use Google as a way to fill in missing information, most often address information because I work with many customers that are not from the US originally and are unfamiliar with how our addresses are formatted. Finally, I use social media sites, particularly Pinterest or Facebook, to reach customers through marketing campaigns or to contact them directly.

When given the preference, I would rather not use Facebook as a direct contact for a company but rather a tool for advertising. Facebook seems too personal or casual, and the type of sales leads garnered from it do not feel like they reach the level we strive for. Pinterest on the other hand seems to be a very easy way to slip an ad into someone's feed because all posts are images, and sponsored ones are not so obvious. Sponsored posts fit more seamlessly into the Pinterest experience. For direct communication, I prefer email much more than social media or telephone calls, although my company does not participate in mail marketing campaigns. I use email only for intentional contact to respond to an inquiry.

In my professional life, I receive correspondences from individuals within companies, but often they are acting as an individual and do not reflect the needs of their company as a whole. Personally I receive company emails that are geared toward stores I have visited or sites I have subscriptions to. I prefer emails that have some level of personality and are not too stiff and formal. One of the best examples of an email I have seen recently is from the company Native Deodorant.

Here is an example of their customer care email after an order is placed:



(This particular example was retrieved from https://bkwpartners.com/natives-awesome-e-mail/)

The email has such over-the-top uniqueness and personality, it makes me laugh and look forward to more emails from them in the future.

It is hard to imagine more digital content than already exists. Already the current state of research, marketing, shopping, and interaction is so technology based, I wonder where it has the opportunity to grow in the future. I suspect there will be a backlash of those demanding privacy, however it is hard to remove information once it is so readily available, and we have become accustomed to instant gratification.