Who needs a Web site anymore?

I use an iPhone app to handle my banking transactions. My sister follows her favorite restaurant’s menu on the restaurant’s Facebook page, which is their only digital destination. My friend, someone who never bought a Tivo, now loves ABC’s iPad app that enables him to watch any TV show at any time in beautiful HD-like quality.

I can’t wait to see Wired magazine’s upcoming iPad publication, which might prove to be the future of publishing. Penny-pinchers eagerly await their daily Twitter coupons. A former colleague of mine views shared imagery from his various friends on his Apple TV. Our walled and password-protected worlds of social environments and content are available to us on a myriad of devices but often are unavailable to search engines. One friend of mine told me a few weeks ago he unsubscribed to all his e-newsletter subscriptions and gets fresher content via RSS feeds on his mobile device.

The digital world is experiencing a dramatic change. People are going to digital destinations to share and receive content on a variety of devices. Forrester ably labeled this phenomenon, which has crept into our world over the last few years, “The Splinternet.” And that is just what it is; the fragmentation of online destinations. For me, it is typified by clients asking: “Should I be spending my allotted Web budget on the corporate Web site, or Facebook?”

Do brands still need Web sites? Yep. One foot in the old world and one foot in the new world will serve most brands well. The time is now to embrace all these new platforms, but only if you are clear that your users/customers/prospects are already there or will be soon.

What has your brand created for me lately?

Every once in a while a product comes along that sells itself. (Think of Apple's iPhone. All you had to do was hold it and you were sold right?) And sometimes there are brands that transform customers into admirers, followers or even advocates. (I'm told once you drive a Ferrarri you never go back to a Volkswagen. Or once you own a Leica you’ll sell your Nikon etc.)

But for companies who fight the tough fight, trying to gain market share by convincing prospects of a superior brand, features, benefits or better differentiated solutions, there might be hope.

Increasingly brands can provide something that is useful, usable and desirable to the customer that does not happen to be either their product, services or solutions.

Think of these examples:

1. Nike sells shoes and clothing. And with “Nike +” they also provide a utility platform that allows runners to connect socially.

2. BF Goodrich sells tires but recently created a social community called “Nation of Go” the heart of which is the Web site and App that allow drivers to share, contribute and create their favorite driving tours.

3. Hasbro needs to sell “Monopoly City Edition” game sets and creates a 3D Monopoly inspired online game attached to Google Maps and Google Earth that allows users to compete for big prizes.

4. Nokia sells phones among other things.They created a mobile App called Nokia Money to do basic financial transactions through their mobile device.

You get the idea.

Think of it like this. Marketers have always given stuff to customers and prospects to keep them interested in their brands. And it used to be good enough to offer a coupon, a whitepaper or more recently watch a video of a white paper as a means of connection. But now brands need to try harder to become more customer-centric and connect in more meaningful ways. We need to be asking: “What do my customers need, want and desire? What would make their jobs easier, their lives more fulfilled and maybe more fun?”

Combining that customer insight with creative and engaging solutions, is the key to creating usable, useful and desirable experiences that ignite your customers and your brand. Activity like that keeps your brand alive and well considered for the slam dunk purchase.

The Feedback Loop

Analytics, measurement, social media, CRM, and direct marketing all have in common one thing. It is all about the feedback loop. Brands or people try to engage and connect a customer, audience or prospect, listen, learn or respond to their actions or communications and finally, make a decision to determine the next most relevant communication or engagement. It is a loop. Sometimes it goes on and on, sometimes it stops immediately, sometimes the communications remain the same, sometimes they change. But it is all about communication and conversation.

In rock 'n' roll music a feedback loop can be both bad and good. Feedback during a live show can be annoying, piercing and physically hurt or at least turn away your audience. It disconnects the listeners from the experience. But feedback loops of tonal, beautiful musical notes can become a bed of beautiful music that accompanies a song. Bands like "The Beatles" and "U2" come to mind as music that has leveraged this technique.

So what kind of feedback loop is your brand engaged with? Putting out screeching and obnoxious experiences that turn away customers and prospects? Things that "sound" like marketing spie and offer no chance for reciprocal dialogue? Or something that people connect with, want to engage with over and over again and appreciate? SOmething that people want to dialogue with and respond to?

Use the feedback loop to make good experiences better .