At the ExactTarget Connections07 conference two weeks ago I received a question that continues to stand out in my mind. “As a brand marketer, the trend toward the use of less images in email (due to image blocking, lower response, etc) is a real problem. Do you have any recommendations for dealing with this?”

This is a profound question that gets at the heart of a fundamental change going on in marketing. Questions about changes the internet is having on the way we approach marketing are common and several people addressed different aspects of this during the conference. As such, it seems appropriate to address the question by considering what is going on at a broader level.

The entire concept of “brand” and “branding” is shifting. “Brand” is becoming more about authenticity than it is about image--more about real experiences with your organization than about the emotion we convey through our marketing messages. By giving customers an outlet to respond to our brands, Web 2.0 has started to fuel a grass-roots movement against our “brand” affectations. Consider some of the recent missteps by major companies:

Verizon’s customer service department that can’t do basic math:

Or, the humiliating revelation of Sony’s viral marketing ploy:

In light of the reality that our brand can be destroyed on the internet faster than it can be built, the question becomes, “How do we create a valuable brand experience through email and the internet?” I think the answer is fairly simple. Be real. Be authentic. Set expectations and meet them. Have integrity.

Delivering on your promises goes a long way. Nordstrom says they have great customer service… and then they prove it. Apple claims to be innovative… and they are. WalMart says they are about low prices… they deliver low prices. The happy face logo has nothing to do with why I shop at WalMart. I shop at WalMart because I believe I will find what I want at the lowest price available. Consider Southwest Airlines, their color scheme is a creative director’s nightmare. Their emails don’t look great, but they are functional and they let me know about cheap flights, which is exactly what I expect from them.

So, deliver what users expect! Typically, email subscribers expect content, they expect information, they expect to be treated to special information not available elsewhere. In a few cases, creative is undoubtedly critical. For example, with high fashion brands, image is everything. For them, the issue of image blocking is something that warrants a lot of attention. However, even for brands where image is everything, brand is not just about imagery, it is about living up to your identity and establishing your company as being credible. And credibility does not ever come in the form of an image, it comes in fulfilling expectations. To me, this sums up branding in email.