If you were in any doubt as to the importance of branding and identity online, search statistics clearly show that brands matter in online marketing.

The best brands all have one thing in common: they become synonymous in customers’ minds with a particular product or service. Some of the most successful brands today have built their reputation online - and enjoyed flow-on success in the offline market. On the other hand, businesses established in the offline market have had to adapt to the increasing dominance of Internet marketing over other forms of media - achieving varying degrees of success.

According to Hitwise search data, some of the most competitive search terms are brand focused - that is, they’re specific rather than generic. Take the New Zealand fashion industry. The top ten fashion searches over the last six months were:

1. pumpkin patch
2. supre
3. glassons
4. just jeans
5. country road
6. lv*
7. billabong
8. bendon
9. cotton on
10. jeans west

* Louis Vuitton

And Kiwis looking for insurance in NZ are similarly brand focused (save for one generic term):

1. state insurance
2. acc
3. travel insurance
4. southern cross
5. ami
6. ami insurance
7. aa insurance
8. nzi
9. tower insurance
10. amp

Whether you’re thinking clothing brands, beer brands, bike brands, car brands or chocolate brands, never underestimate the strength of brand value online. If you need a hand working out your online branding strategy, get corporate identity services from the professionals.

Image from Flickr.