It’s astonishing that it’s 2025 and I have to bring this up, but:  Why are certain brands even online, anyway?

It’s not new technology…sure, everybody has a website and if you don’t, it kind of looks fishy.  Can you think of any major brand that’s not online?  (Pause here for a flood of responses and unexpected examples, okay, okay.)  I remember when the Internet was new (like, say the late ’90s or so?…okay, technically it wasn’t new then, Mr. DARPA, but it was new as a marketing tool.) and the rush to have a website was accompanied by admonitions that if you’re not there you’re behind the curve.  So saying so now is pretty obvious to the point of sounding silly.

But honestly now:  Some shouldn’t even be there.

If you’re a brand and your website simply doesn’t work well, take a minute and fix that please.

If you’re an airline and I can’t easily search for flights and browse fares; or if I can’t buy those tickets online with a credit card stored within my account, then you’re failing big time.  I don’t know that an airline that doesn’t allow purchasing tickets (with delivery of a mobile boarding pass as well) even exists anymore.  And if it does, I don’t think I’d want to get on their planes.  But what about that search mechanism?  What about simply being able to see where you fly?  Can I look at your aircraft seat maps?  Can I check the balance of my frequent flier miles?  Sure, I may prefer to speak with an agent when I book or look for flight choices, but I should also be able to get that all done online if I choose.

If you’re a product (direct-to-consumer or via retail partners) manufacturer, can I see pictures of your wares?  Can I compare last year’s model to what’s improved or changed this year?  Can I find (if it’s part of your business model) local retailers where I can buy or at least look at your product in person?  Is there a price list?  Sizing?  A place to lodge a complaint about the quality or experience I’ve had with a purchase?  Again, I may prefer to have a phone number to call (oh, and is that prominently displayed?) or a brick-and-mortar building to visit, but if I can’t do these things online, why are you online?

If you’re a utility, can I check my bill and usage online?  Can I report an outage and check its status?  If I need to change my plan, can I make that happen from your website?  Or at least can I see what the implications would be with a rate chart?  Good heavens, can I even pay my bill from your website?

By the way, each of these instances aren’t simply notional… I’ve had problems with each of these over the past few months and I’ve been astonished by it.  What’s up with brands that hand-wave their websites and don’t even seem to be considering how their Customers would want to interact with them?  It’s almost as though (circa 2002 or so) they were late to jump on the everybody’s-got-to-get-online bandwagon and threw something together and now decades later they still haven’t thought about why they should be online and what that experience should look and feel like.

Naturally my overall perspective on your competence is brought into question if you’re a huge brand and can’t bother to invest what it takes to have a good digital presence (what are they spending their marketing budget on, after all?).  And no, I’m not talking about my fellow consultants or mom-and-pop situations who might likely have a website simply for that reason to have a presence (glass house, here!) or post their articles.  I mean big brands who clearly haven’t considered why they should be online and that that presence is (or at least should be) an extension of their brand.  And that’s the point:  If your brand is that cavalier about its presence online, I wonder where else you’re cutting corners, or at least not considering your Customers’ experiences and their alignment with your Brand Promise.

The other, more frustrating, thing that usually crosses my mind; a kicker, if you will:  I’m sure they’re making full use of whatever information they’re able to gather from my visit to their site.  Sure, they’ve got that part of ‘being online’ down to a T.  They know just how to scrape my info from cookies, categorize me, track my clicks, know where I came from, how long I stayed, and all that technical jazz.  Their website is a treasure trove of information…for them.  Their Customers?  Meh, that’s not what it’s there for.

If your website isn’t an extension of your Brand Promise, there’s a great improvement opportunity!