The Internet is a wonderful place for Challenger Brands. It is an easy way to get your message in front of a very specific target market. It’s that simple. Or is it?

The freedom of the Internet is a beautiful thing. It allows anyone who wants to publish information to do so freely. The media does it every day – as rapidly as they possibly can, oftentimes putting out stories before the drama has completely unfolded. Large corporations and grassroots causes do it, too. Individuals have unlimited potential to post messages, images, videos and full-fledged websites about any topic that is of interest to them at that particular moment. In fact, I’m doing it right now.

This freedom opens the lines of communication between Challenger Brands and the marketplace, allowing messages to be dispersed rapidly and affordably. However, if these messages are not consistent with the brand platform, they will confuse the market and do a disservice to your organization. Here are three very basic steps to take prior to entering the online world:

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It’s the first month of football season, and you know what that means! That’s right, Business Week and Interbrand’s annual list of “Best Global Brands” – like Christmas morning for brand geeks. This is a ranking of the top 100 global brands by dollar value, determined through as objective a process as you could use to calculate a brand’s worth.

Before I share my thoughts on the list, a quick football metaphor (non-football fans bear with me on this – it will all make sense shortly).

In football, when a team gets a big lead in a game, they often start playing what’s called a “prevent” defense. This means they play very conservatively, giving up small chunks of yards but not allowing the other team to score quickly with a big play. The idea is, “Just bide our time until the clock runs out.” They stop playing to win and they start playing to not lose.

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