"... a brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; ...it refers to the concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme. Brand recognition and other reactions are created by the accumulation of experiences with the specific product or service...directly relating to its use, and ...the influence of advertising, design, and media commentary. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, product or service. A brand serves to create...expectations among products made by a producer..." © 2006 Wikipedia.com.

A positive end-user reaction has a direct connection to your brand image. The impact of the quality of the end-user experience on a company's brand is an essential issue for any product launch being planned by IT/MIS.

Financial service IT/MIS departments have done a stellar job rolling out automated services and products to B2B and B2C clients - end users. Every day clients, such as traders, analysts, fund managers, bankers and brokers, interface professionally or personally with some form of IT/MIS-based service or product. Banking, loans, credit cards, research, trading, and clearance are just a few examples where a quality end user experience impacts a brand positively or negatively. VoIP and IPTV are two of the newer examples.

As you prepare to offer VoIP and IPTV products and services, does your IT/MIS department's planning and rollout process address the connection between the quality of the end user experience and branding - its potential brand impact? Should it?

The above definition advocates the importance of IT/MIS departments' taking branding into account. An IT/MIS unit's development and rollout efforts play a key role in your branding program along with marketing, sales, public relations, and advertising.

Reaching successful levels of product or service acceptance is a key part of the branding process. While the quote below comes from an article on media content, it applies here.

"While consumers will accept some compromises in quality in exchanges for expanded content and/or flexible choice of time, place, and setting (similar to the trade-off a cell phone represents between voice quality and mobility), history establishes that consumer acceptance does not take off until quality of experience reaches a minimum acceptable threshold, at which point acceptance skyrockets." Excerpt taken from "First Things First: Audience Experience Matters Most" by Michael Gordon, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Limelight Networks, Inc.

In the above quote the quality of the end-user experience leads to successful product/service acceptance, which is part of the branding process. It also supports IT/MIS's need to consider the potential impact to the company's brands prior to rolling out VoIP or IPTV to internal and external clients - the end users.

Towards that end here are a few questions for consideration:

• Is the product's look and/or feel, as seen by clients, compatible with your overall branding efforts?
• In what environments will the products be used?
• What are the acceptable standards for voice or picture quality in those environments?
• Can you meet or exceed those standards under worst case conditions?
• If your VoIP or IPTV product's quality level decreases, what is the impact to the brand in the eyes of end users? Are you prepared in advance to deal with negative issues?

In summary, be sure your IT/MIS department thinks 'brand' in conjunction with a quality end-user experience and emphasizes branding, if it has not already done so.

Michael Vallone is the Deputy Director-Head of Marketing for TELEHOUSE America. His previous experience includes key strategic and tactical marketing and branding roles at ABN-Amro and Merrill Lynch. He can be contacted at Vallone@TELEHOUSE.com. Please visit www.TELEHOUSE.com for more information.