6 years ago
Brand Platforms, The Challenges & What We Have Learnt.
Marcel van den Boogaard
As Brand iQ celebrates it's 5th year, we reflect on some of the challenges our customers raised back then and whether they still hold true today.
Brand Consistency
Number 1 on the list 5 years ago… Number 1 on the list today, no surprise!!! This was our calling and reasoning behind building Brand iQ. No matter the size, organisations big and small can find it difficult to keep their brand message consistent without a central resource. A place where users can login, access content and assets that are already “on brand”. Sounds like a simple enough request, you’d be amazed at the number of organisations that choose to stick with a silo type approach, each department guarding a library of assets unknown to the next. It’s little wonder that assets get duplicated, go missing or worse still get created completely free of any brand guidelines.
Cost Control
Giving end users the power to order themselves can create a fear amongst potential clients. Users spending their way into oblivion, over ordering on items, 10 boxes of pens instead of ten pens, the fear of running out or running low. Luckily when we set out to build a platform we ensured that we addressed these concerns from the beginning. By being able to restrict what is available to each user whilst keeping a reign on spend levels through pre-set budgets or agreed cost centres, we are able to reassure potential users, think of it like a form of parental control. Fancy yourself as the last line of defence and defender of the brand, we can even go so far as to set up authorisation requests, nothings getting through without your say so!!!
Security
A question that’s always raised, especially with the deadline for GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) looming, May 25th .It’s a topic that’s on everyone’s lips and rightly so. Behind the scenes at Brand iQ we work very hard to keep our platform as secure as possible. We are delighted to hold ISO 27001 accreditation for data security along with Cyber Essentials for hardware security.
Access
Cloud based, mobile friendly… ready to go when you are. Brand iQ was originally conceived as an idea around the same time as remote working and the birth of the “smartphone”, accessibility was high on the agenda then and remains so today. Who could have predicted the “instant” society that exists today, you only get one chance to engage a user, don’t let access be the reason that they don’t engage in your brand. Choose wisely!!!
Visibility
Who ordered…how much they spent…what items are being used… whose using them… great questions that you may not be able to answer currently, without digging out the files. Short of doing a research doctorate, wouldn’t it be nice to see how your brand’s assets are being used, make informed decisions, refine content and materials. Share successes on what’s working and more importantly what isn’t. Brand iQ allows real-time reporting and live analytics from an intuitive dashboard. Create and customise reports to suit your requirements. Don’t be left in the dark anymore, make sure you use your “Brand iQ”,I know we do.
Integration
Vying for the top challenge spot along with brand consistency, it has to be the “putting all my eggs in one basket” phobia. What do we mean by that… the perception can be, that by placing all of a brands assets in one place, it restricts the user’s ability to order from a particular supplier or contracted provider. With over forty years in the communications sector behind us, we used our knowledge, experience and expertise to make sure this wasn’t the case. It was essential that Brand iQ could integrate with a client’s existing supplier base. Now, integrations are not just limited to suppliers, we can do some very clever stuff with other software providers, from finance, crm and cpd to mention a few.
I think it’s fair to say that since we started building Brand iQ , most of the challenges that were around then are still with us today. Sure, they have evolved and developed with the environment around them but then so have we. Do you have your own particular challenges, then get in touch, you never know they may make our next list.
