The idea behind broadcasting, or at least the visual metaphor, is the act of throwing out a big net with the intention of catching a lot of fish. The net that is cast for marketers usually comes in the form of a television commercial during a primetime show or, if you want to catch a lot of fish, during a big event like the Super Bowl.  So if broadcasting is capturing a large audience with a really big net, what is “brandcasting?” Brandcasting is the distribution of engaging online content that raises brand awareness as well as  “findability” on the web (see Brandsplat at brandsplat.com).

While broadcasting is more like a one shot deal (or at least a short term deal) that costs large sums of money, brandcasting works in a more cost-effective and cumulative way; the longer you brandcast with good content, the greater the results.  The strategy embraces all the metrics of an ROI (Return On Investment) approach.  However, unlike other bottom-line methods, brandcasting content can be a valuable and informative resource for potential customers.   And, at the same time, it distributes a company’s brand and establishes its expertise.  Branding is, after all, just another way of telling a company’s story and, with brandcasting,  that story itakes the form of engaging articles, quality blog writing, and even online video.  It provides potential customers with worthwhile information and engages them with the company brand.

Pay Per Click (PPC) models, commercials, banners and pop-ups all have their place and can be quite effective.  But they work like a hammer, banging away at the viewer.  Brandcasting is a more positive and organic way to get the word out.  Search engines like Google and Yahoo now give more weight to brands.  According to a recent blog post by UK digital marketing consultant Tom Simpson, “Google has recently updated it’s algorithm to give more weight to strong online brands in the organic search results” . He goes on to say, “Brands are a safe bet in terms of relevant results for a given keyword, and that’s great in terms of usability.”

When asked about this change on a recent YouTube Moderated video, Matt Cutts, a well-respected Google software engineer, explained the change in terms of putting more weight on things like trust, authority, reputation, page rank, and high quality.

Mr. Cutts and Mr. Simpson are saying the same thing. Solid brands do a good job building on those attributes that Mr. Cutts says Google recognizes”“ trust, authority, reputation, etc.  It’s intrinsic to building a brand. So naturally the better established brands will be given more weight in search results. That’s very good news for companies that engage in brandcasting.

Enzo F. Cesario