Interaction Branding | Lesenswertes

Branding and Usability by Jared M. Spool

Many web sites exist primarily to create or strengthen the brand for a product or service. We're finding that a site's usability can dramatically affect branding. And the graphical aspects of the site — such as logos or evocative pictures — have much less effect on branding than we expected.

Ford vs. Edmund's
Try this experiment: go to the Ford site (ford.com) and try to determine the estimated miles per gallon for a Ford Windstar van. Then go to the Edmund's site (edmunds.com) and look for the same information.

Most people quickly find the information on Edmund's and have a tough time finding it on the Ford site. But here's the surprise: Edmund's does a better job of strengthening Ford's brand than Ford does. We've found that users have a better impression of Ford and the Windstar after using the Edmund's site than they do after using the Ford site.

What's going on here? The two sites convey information quite differently. Edmund's has long pages of textual information about specific vehicles and few graphics other than pictures of the vehicles and a couple of banner ads. The Ford site has lots of images of smiling people, beautiful scenery — along with many Ford logos and slogans. But the site doesn't make it easy to get concrete information, such as vehicle specifications.

Based on our experiments, we believe that the Edmund's site is more successful at branding because it gives users a more successful experience.

A Bit Of Marketing Theory
Branding is more than just ensuring that customers recognize a logo or product name. Branding means creating an emotional association (such as the feeling of success, happiness, or relief) that customers forms with the product, service, or company. There are two basic techniques for branding: direct experience and indirect messaging.

With direct-experience branding, users attribute emotions directly. For example, when customers test drive a car or eat a restaurant meal, their direct experience influences their feelings toward that vehicle or establishment.... read on!

(Excerpt taken from http://www.uie.com/articles/branding_usability/) 

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