If You Can’t Be Good, Be Strong

Pitchero.com is a great case study in online brand loyalty.

As an agency client, its growth is very satisfying to me personally but – like most valuable web brands – the secrets of success are the proposition itself and the technical execution. If you’re considering a new web venture or you’re looking at taking your offline business digital, then it’s worth a look.

Like many online businesses, Pitchero started life as a drawing board concept and its user base on day one was non-existent. In other words, it didn’t have a brandname it could trade on, or a customer base it could leverage.

Similar businesses are founded every hour but very few enjoy the rapid and wide-reaching brand success enjoyed by Pitchero. Granted, it’s far from being in the same league as Google, YouTube, Facebook etc. but it does share some characteristics with these online giants.

I’ve listed below four useful pointers (not intended to be an exhaustive analysis):

1. Keep it simple

When Google first went live, it did a better job of indexing web pages than any of its competitors. At the outset it was simple and easily understood. Sergey famously said, “when users come to Google.com all they want to do is search. And that’s our product”

Like Pitchero, a good proposition is often a simple one. Countless web ventures demonstrate a user-experience whose simplicity belies the power of the underlying technology and possibilities. From LinkedIn to Twitter, simplicity helps: users just ‘get it’ quickly.

Of course, the Pitchero backend is complicated and the architecture is cleverly designed to encourage data transfer and interaction – just as Google’s algorithms and search applications are hugely diverse – but the user experience is simple.

2. Do it well

The Pitchero proposition is clear and compelling: build a free, customisable website specifically designed for sports clubs. The proposition works and works well.

When you’re good, the advocates and early-adopters are happy to sing your praises. The bloggers and commentators (on and offline) will help spread the world, endorsing and raising awareness in the process. Early adopters are critical to building a company’s reputation.

3. Be good

Google also tried to be ‘good’ in the moral sense. The original, informal company motto was “Don’t be evil”. Cast aside your cynicism, because – whether you believe this approach is genuine or long since lost – this perception was critical to Google’s success.

Similarly, Pitchero have maintained their belief throughout that every new feature or functionality, every aspect of the club sites they help to create, must be in the sports club’s interest.

For example, by making the core product free, Pitchero recognise the financial constraints most grassroots clubs operate under. The temptation of course is to litter the club sites with display advertising, pop-ups and intrusive promotions. Instead, Pitchero took the long view: advertising is kept to a minimum and is designed not to be intrusive to the point that it detracts from the club’s message and focus. Advertising is also appropriate and, where possible, relevant to the audience.

For the premium features, the revenue model was also based upon clubs’ interests in the first instance. Most advisors recommended that when introducing a club shop service, Pitchero should either attempt to sell their own goods or at the very least take a small commission on all transactions using their platform. Management chose to do neither, instead offering the technology at a price lower that most clubs were used to paying just to host their old website.

This approach isn’t simply altruistic. Pitchero is a commercial venture and needs to make a profit. But the management team insist on the “club’s interest test” for every decision they take because this builds trust. The Pitchero brand is no longer undefined and anonymous – it is reliable and trustworthy.

Very quickly, Google built up a loyal following of users who felt they could trust the new kid on the block. The simple, stripped down design and the almost childish logo were reassuring to new users. They didn’t feel they were being manipulated or channelled into the ‘walled gardens’ that AOL and Yahoo! were hellbent on creating. Search results appeared fair and reliable – not exploited or skewed. Trust is an incredibly powerful determinant of success.

Once you have a large, captive audience, it is tempting to introduce clumsy new initiatives aimed at exploiting your users and increase your share-of-wallet. Be warned: online customers are used to having lots of options and they can quickly switch to a competitor if they feel they are being manipulated. First time users typically expect a good deal online: sites which require a credit card transaction without having earned a customer’s trust are likely to fail.

Online users, particularly Generation Y, are cautious of “empty brands”.

4. Embed yourself

Once you have established trust, brand familiarity should be promoted. Once a user knows what to expect from Pitchero, in terms of reliability, responsiveness etc, they are more willing to grant brands further access into their life. So, they welcome Pitchero widgets on their desktop, they download the latest i-phone app to keep abreast of results and news, they follow Pitchero on Twitter and they join the Facebook page. All the time, the Pitchero brand is becoming more and more embedded creating a virtuous cycle of acceptance and reward.

If you have an existing brand and customer base, be realistic about its worth and your users’ inclination to follow you online. Don’t overestimate their desire to purchase or interact digitally: you must be solving an offline problem or shortcoming for the online approach to be worthwhile.

However, when an existing strong brand is combined with a clever online strategy and effective execution, you create a very powerful proposition. Unlike web startups, you have the trust and the recognition of a strong brand already. You don’t have to be good or to work as hard to win users; you need to ensure your online presence continues to deliver on the existing brand promise.

Andrew McCarthy is Fantastic Media’s Strategic Planning Director
a (dot) mccarthy (at) fantasticmedia (dot) co (dot) uk – www.fantasticmedia.co.uk

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