Digital Brand Romance: How to create lasting brand-buyer relationships
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Find out what all the buzz is from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Regional Director, Glen Murphy
In 1999 I got my first real education into online commerce when the marketing lead and the technology lead of the company I was running let me know, as a side-hustle, they’d been experimenting with selling wine online. At the time, I thought it sounded like an interesting idea that would make them earn a little extra cash and would help us all to learn more about the mysteries of online commerce. The business grew rapidly, became a significant player in the industry, generated millions of dollars for its owners, and is still operating successfully 22 years later.
Why is that story relevant to Digital Brand Romance? Because in 1999 I can remember the most significant learning from my colleagues’ wine business was that the key to success was not the technology, and it wasn’t the wine quality — the key to success was their consumer base and the extent to which they understood and exceeded their needs.
many of us… make the mistake of seeing digital commerce as something so dynamic and magical that we simply can’t keep up
Reading Digital Brand Romance brought that learning back to me as I reflected on how many of us, including me, make the mistake of seeing digital commerce as something so dynamic and magical that we simply can’t keep up. In this book, Anna Harrison brings us back to the reality that through looking at the data available, applying a systematic process, and making simple improvements to our digital approach we can remove the mystery and deliver an experience that exceeds our customer expectations and helps our companies succeed.
Unsurprisingly, given the COVID pandemic, we’ve been living through I first met Anna Harrison via Zoom while I was in lockdown in Auckland. Anna had recently started working as one of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s (NZTE) private-sector advisors and was specifically working with our customer companies to help them improve their digital commerce capability. Even over Zoom, it was easy to be infected by Anna’s enthusiasm for the work she was doing and not long after that call I started…
