User Generated Content, RSS Feeds and Community Development Lead to Strong Online Brand

Remember the days when a brand simply meant creating an eye-catching wrapper for a product or a creative logo for a company? Those days may be gone for the most part, but not entirely. Many companies are reverting back to the “simpler” days and maturing in regards to online branding by creating a less cluttered and more simple feel to their brand identity.

Clickz.com reports long-standing gardening company W. Atlee Burpee has enlisted applications based on current successes of trends like online communities, user generated content and RSS feeds. The gardening cataloger hopes to build a community—
and thereby, a stronger online brand--through product reviews and other forms of submission.

Visitors’ photos (of gardens and plants) have proven to be a simple, yet effective way to encourage online visitor interaction, which translates into a more open and adopting environment for users. The article notes the company has received more than 2,000 user-contributed photos and a subscriber base of more 10,000 for its RSS feed).

Although not entirely new, the idea of adopting interactive content such as user generated content, online communities and RSS feeds as a way to build an online brand is reinforced by success stories like W. Atlee Burpee’s. It not only engages those individuals already interested in the product, service or content being offered, but it creates a loyalty to your Web site.