This happens when children watch cartoons on TV. There will invariably be toys, cereal and candy the child just can't live without. Savvy marketers have taken the whole idea of branding to a fan club status by developing online gaming locations where children can sign up for free, play games for free and encourage their friends to come and join – for free. In some cases children can send messages to other friends through the system and enjoy all the benefits of membership.



Of course, the reason children go there is the marketer has been successful in web branding their product. By providing a fun environment in which to play the child finds the product represented to be synonymous with an enjoyable time.

Children will take the information about the site to the schoolyard and share the ‘fun' details with other children. Students might even help each other establish a free account while the visual impressions continue to work their magic.

This herd mentality should be a lesson to ecommerce websites. Make your site something people want to come back to. Provide a members-only area (make it free) that has information or a members-based forum that allow your members to view your site as a desired destination.

Perhaps the best way to describe what I am talking about is to work toward having your website viewed as a fan site. Make the end product about more than the product you're selling. Make the website an experience that is tied directly to a product.

This happens in video advertising where an interesting ad doesn't completely play out on the small screen, but the viewer is given a website prompt to entice them to come to the website and find out what happens next. This is another good example of web branding and one which combines multiple media elements to create positive impressions for lasting recall.

Imagine a cup with about a half-inch of paint on the bottom. You watch as the pain tips into a paint-by-number set. The only problem is the paint doesn't confine itself to the section of the painting that was supposed to be the color that spilled. This is a picture of what it is like to tip your cup of web branding – it never stays in one place, but uses every area it touches as a means of positively impressing consumers with your product.