Branding is BS…Yup, You Heard Me.
By Abe Kasbo
I met my friend Jim Barrood for lunch today. Jim is the Executive Director, Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies Silberman College of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Jim is one of our nation’s brightest business minds, and an expert in innovation. We were talking about a mélange of business topics when the conversation took a turn down Interesting Street. We got on the topic of marketing and branding and that’s when I blurted “Jim, branding is bullshit!” He bit through a French fry and gave me a skeptical stare, a “Wachu talkin’ bout Willis” kinda look.
Jim asked for an explanation. “Look,” I argued, “companies invariably approach branding as an activity. ‘We’re embarking on a branding campaign’ or ‘we’re rebranding our product line’ and what they really mean – usually – is a new logo, collateral, website…that is not branding. And this is especially acute in companies that range from $5 million to about $500 million in revenue. It’s reality.” Jim was intrigued and so I continued explaining my position.
A brand is a result of integrated activities that happen over a period of time bringing together various parts of the enterprise to achieve consumer preference, affinity and ulitmately drives growth. Launching a brand is one thing, but becoming a brand is entirely different. I believe that when businesses talk about branding, they mean “becoming a brand” but act as if they are “launching a brand.” And so team are mobilized, resources allocated…launch, then what? It’s the “then what” part where brands are built and real value is made.
Charlie Rose recently Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and Jeff spent a good potion of the interview talking about his obsession with his customers. Specifically with customer experience. Think about it, Amazon got most of its press because of its high flying stock in during the internet boom. Very little advertising, very little “branding,” The internet bust came, and Amazon continued its course – very little advertising, very little “branding.” How did it attract customers? First of all, Amazon.com kept refining its customer experience and understood that by building a superior online shopping experience, customers would return and new customers would be had. It’s that simple. Think about it, when was the last time you’ve seen an Amazon commercial or received a direct mail piece. Yet, time and again, when I think about buying books online, I go to Amazon. That is a brand strategy.
Yes, branding is about your image, the look and feel of your stuff, but more importantly, branding is about the total experience your customers have with your company, and it’s that experience that will tell them to choose you, recommend you, or not. A brand is about forging an emotional connection between you business and the customer. And that takes long-term commitment and vision…we all know these days business is largely driven by short-term expectations, quarter to quarter.
Moreover, branding has now been entrenched in the corporate dictionary and has become essential to anyone conversant in corporate lingo. So you want to impress your boss and your peers, say this in the next meeting “we need deliver on our brand promise,” and you’re on your way. Unfortunately, everyday good businesses stake fortunes on what they believe are branding campaigns (becoming a brand) that turn out to be nothing more than glorified advertising campaigns.
I will discuss how to businesses can work their way into becoming a brand in my next post…
Tags: Branding, consumer marketing, marketing, marketing strategy
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