Digital+Destination

= = = = = = Digital Destination



Overview:
Digital destinations are websites that exist to create or enhance brand awareness and desire (Azzaro). The Internet addresses of these websites are tied directly to their recognized brand character such as Tide.com, Saturn.com, or ESPN.com (Azzaro). These sites offer information, entertainment, and editorial about the brand (Azzaro). They may also offer information about related, co-branded products and topics (Azzaro). Even broadcast television shows are getting in on the action by allowing consumers to download shows they may have missed off of their website (Azzaro). The main goal of these sites is brand enhancement rather than actually selling the product (Azzaro).

Advantages:
Digital destination websites create many jobs. Someone could be involved in front-end work of a webpage dealing with the look of the website, or one could focus on back-end work which creates the technology to be able to submit data and the actual content of the webpage (Fenech). Because the Internet can now be accessed on mobile devices, people can view your digital destination site when they're on the go and need the information about your product. It may even cause the consumer to stop and purchase the products they saw on your site while they are already out. This advertising media can also attempt to change the perception of a brand or just build on its already strong awareness and equity. In 2008, Sears used their digital destination website to promote the brand perception change that they are fashion forward with the tween market (Zmuda).

Limitations:
While using a digital destination site to advertise your brand and create awareness has many advantages, there are also a few disadvantages to watch out for. For example, you must make sure that your website is easy to find in a search engine. This involves using specific keywords and embedded keywords in order to make sure that your site is one of the top coming up on a Google, Yahoo , Bing , etc. search engine considering most people don't go past the first page when conducting their searches. Also your website, once found, must be simple and easy to navigate. An advanced layout may make the webpage look cool and sophisticated, but you must remember that there are also less experienced Internet users out there who will be visiting your site. If someone can't get to the information they need quickly they may soon give up and go on to searching other competitors' sites to find what they need.



**Costs:** The cost of making a website is not a set range of amounts. Depending on what package and whom you decide to package with depends on how much you will pay. Also, you must pay for the domain name (websitename.com) registration, hosting, server space and set up which can be from $75- $150 a year ("A-Z"). Your website design and development can be broken up into three different sizes: Small, Small to Medium Multi-page, and Large to Extra Large Multi-page ("A-Z"). The costs for these run as follows: Small, $75- $125; Small to Medium Multi-page, $200- $600 (most websites are in this category); and Large to Extra Large Multi-page, $600+ ("A-Z").

Reach and Frequency:
Reach and frequency for digital destinations depends on the consumer. It can be hard for them to get reach because usually someone wouldn't visit their website unless they were actually searching for that product. The Internet however offers the ability to get a reach of many people all over the world, not just in the websites home country. Frequency will depend on how loyal the consumer is to the product and whether it is a high risk or low risk item. For example, when shopping for a car the consumer would look at many websites, adding to their reach, but once they decide on the brand they wish to purchase from they would be visiting that site more often, giving the brand frequency. Another example would be the Tide website. Brand loyal consumers are more likely to visit this website more than once, because it is a product that is purchased on a more daily basis than a car or washing machine would be.

Scheduling:
Digital destinations take advantage of a continuous advertising schedule. They pay for the website all year long in order to keep it running so that consumers may visit it at any time of the year. This is just another way that shows digital destinations are good ideas when it comes to advertising because it is one of the cheaper mediums that can be run all year long unlike @3D Billboards (while having many other advantages) has a time limit for how long the ad will appear on that billboard, while digital destinations will remain in place as long as website costs are paid for.

Impact:
Almost everyone uses the Internet nowadays. One company in particular (Fleming's Ultimate Garage) uses @Blogs, @YouTube, and @Facebook to advertise his company as well as the company website (Robb). Fleming's Ultimate Garage is a company in Rockville, Maryland that specializes in the selling of "classic Camaros, Mustangs, corvettes, GTOs, Road Runners, Trans Ams--even Grandpa's souped-up 1928 Ford street rod (Robb)." Tony Fleming and his team of employees flawlessly restore these old street legends and sell them to consumers (Robb). Many of their customers (over half) are too far away or too busy to even set foot in the showroom so they use their website to get all the information they need about the Fleming products (Robb).



Responsiveness:
In using a digital destination advertisers are hoping for a few different responses from consumers. One hope is to increase brand loyalty. They may do this by offering coupons or discounts for special rewards members. For example, American Eagle sends out discounts for members with the "AE Pass" and the amount depends on how much you spent at their store that month. These discounts are redeemable either in-store or online which allows them to make a bigger profit. Another response advertisers hope for is to recruit new members to their brand in the hopes that they may become loyal. One way they may attempt doing this is by offering consumers who visit their website the opportunity to print different coupons off for some of their different products in the hopes that the new customer may try the product and then come back for more.

Audience Qualities:
The characteristics of the audience for digital destination vary widely on the basics of demographics (age, location, sex, etc.), but psychographics (thoughts, behaviors, etc.) are somewhat similar. The audience for digital destinations can vary from any age, location, or sex of those consumers who know how to use, and have access to the Internet. For example; a teenage girl is more apt to visit the Cosmopolitan website, while a middle-aged male would be more likely to look at the Mercedes-Benz digital destination site. The demographics for digital destination audiences will differ depending on the content of the website. However, the psychographic patterns of those more likely to use these websites would be those who are more tech-savvy.

Success to Advertisers in Digital Destination:
There are many different websites that have seen success through the use of digital destinations. They include:
 * Tide
 * Mercedes-Benz
 * ESPN
 * Monster.com
 * BMW
 * Toyota
 * Nabisco
 * Sears
 * And many more...



Works Cited:
"A-Z WebSite Creation." Access Computing- Our Community Entrance! Web. 08 Apr. 2010. .

Azzaro, Marian. //Strategic Media Decisions// //.// 2nd ed. Chicago: Copy Work shop, 2008.

Fenech, Stephen. "Net Gains for the Tech Savvy." Lexis Nexis Academic. Reed Elsevier, Inc., 22 Jan. 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. .

Robb, Matthew. "Fun, Fun, Fun: Wheeling and Dealing with the Help of the Web." //Costco Connection.// Apr. 2010: 28-29. Print.

Zmuda, Natalie. "Sears Tries to Alter Image, Co-opt Cool in Web Push." //Lexis Nexis Academic.// Reed Elsevier, Inc., 18 July 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 20 10. . 