Protection of a brand in a digital world is something that has become increasingly apparent over the past year or so, sometimes at a disadvantage to the brand. As brands look to change/reinforce their identity or reposition themselves, numerous have in turn become too hesitant to wholly sell in their brand out of fear it will be picked up by the ‘wrong’ type of publication.

Old-fashioned attitude
Although there are places that can categorically be said are not aligned to the brand or its direction, in the digital space, it’s almost unavoidable for a story or content to be sold into a specific place and not be picked up elsewhere. Thinking this can genuinely be avoided is an old mentality to have, and can be a detriment to the brand particularly if they have peak seasons or a larger news story.

Limited reach
With luxury brands, for example, many have become more inclined to only sell their stories or product offering to higher tier publications such as the Telegraph and Guardian, staying away from the likes of the Sun and Cosmopolitan which ultimately are equally well-read and have fantastic reach.

Regardless of the fact they are likely also to be consumed by the brand’s actual target audience, in digital PR we have found a lot of luxe brands not competing in the noise, and not wanting to. In- house luxe brands need to realise they cannot fall back on the laurels of a big brand anymore, as loyalty slowly declines while customers look for better value or the ‘next big thing’.

Expert advice
Agencies should offer their clients a multi-layered approach highlighting key areas essential for success in a now extremely busy space. Ultimately all PROs needs to be strategists, traditional, digital and even the in-house designer PROs, to ensure brand awareness stays high and the brand continues to thrive, especially during a difficult time such as these where we are seeing more brands going into administration and having financial difficulties.

Written by Jodie Harris, head of content and digital PR at digital agency MediaVision