Week three of the subscription version of MadisonAveNew.com. If some of you missed the fact that we were going to close public access to our pages you can click here to get the scoop. We are up to 81 of 100 available subscription memberships. Once we reach 100 the curtain comes down. Until that point we will remain open access, but in our new question and answer format. This weeks question is from Darin F, in Chicago, This Weeks Question: How would you define a brand in this Post-Advertising Era? Thanks Darin. When I started this Q&A jag there were questions I was hoping would not come up. This was in the top five. Oh well. Do the worst first. The best traditional description of "What is a Brand?" that I've come across came from former Ford CEO Jack Nasser. Mr. Nasser defined a brand as "A product that got famous for delivering on its promise over time." Hence, "Avis Tries Harder," "Winston Tastes Good Like A Cigarette Should," "Ford Has A Better Idea," "GE Brings Good Things To Life," and on and on. I believe that to be maintain a sustainable advantage going forward, a brand will have to deliver far more value and far more relevance than currently offered in advertising or consistent corporate design.As we navigate the population shifts, social turbulence and technovelocity of C21 the successful brand will have to focus its attention on standing for something meaningful to its various audiences. For example, we have recently witnessed that it is not enough for Wal-Mart to stand for "Everyday Low Prices." Not when it comes at the expense of its employee's well-being or incompatibility with its host communities and their more traditional values.  |
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In C21 the brand will have to work harder than ever to deliver value...meaningful value...to the variety of audiences that make up the brand's potential brand franchise. Traditional tactics alone will be hard-pressed to deliver on that difficult equation. And traditional brand boundaries will no longer apply. In the Post-Advertising Era, the brand will have to be defined by more than just product attributes or service deliverables. As products become more and more commoditized, the qualities that define the brand will need to be more and more in keeping with human values instead of commercial ones. And those values will be diverse enough to make the term "consistant brand voice" as out-dated as the buggy whip. Brands will come to be known for the roles they play in society instead of the position they occupy in the marketplace. For example. Visa, which has made a significant investment in the Olympic Games will have to become known as more than the alternative to American Express. To my way of thinking, the Visa brand should become known as the standard for "Fair Play" around the world. And American Express, which, at this point stands for nothing of note, should become known as "The Means To Prepare For Change In An Ever-changing World." The differences in this approach and today's traditional thinking about brand are vastly different. They allow for Adaptive Branding to take place in the value perception of the various audiences who constitute a given brand franchise. Meaning, as the values and lifestyles of the audience changes the definition of the brand must be broad enough to adapt to those changes and accommodate the resulting unmet wants, needs and desires generated by those new values and lifestyles. And the current simplistic descriptors like "Peace of Mind", "Hope", and "Confidence" will become more and more meaningless as the variety of audiences that make up a given brand franchise are driven to seek out "solutions" rather than "products" to accomplish the tasks that are required to maintain and advance their increasingly complex lives. Key to these emerging definitions concerning brands will be the replacement of "Brand Equity" with "Brand Genetics." An example of this change is evident in the case of the Exxon brand. The New York Times wrote, " Even amid the general discontent over oil company profits, Exxon Mobil stands out as a special case. In recent times, it has managed to turn itself into a Wal-Mart-size target for the environmental set: the energy company all right-thinking people love to hate." But in the Financial Markets it's a different story. "Exxon Mobil continues to execute exceptionally well in just about all facets of its business," wrote Arjun N. Murti of Goldman Sachs in a note to clients after the earnings report came out. "The company's strong performance is in sharp contrast to almost all of its so-called super major peers." Fadel Gheit, the oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Company, said, "They have inherent efficiencies no other company can touch." "Exxon Mobil," Mr. Gheit said, "is the gold standard of the industry." All of this means that Exxon management is astute enough to realize that Adaptive Branding tactics most certainly indicate that these changing times required the brand to replace one audience for another. In terms of Brand Genetics this was the equivalent of removing a kidney. Now the brand descriptor for Exxon is "Astute Management In Tune With Change." All of these elements mount up to a major difference in the brands of yesterday and today and the brands of the Post-Advertising Era going forward. Unfortunately, most of today's brands would rather die than change. That's why my money is on Exxon instead of Budweiser. Budweiser just spent a Gazillion dollars on a "Welcome Home" spot featuring our troops coming into an airport and being applauded by well wishing travelers. The only copy is a "Thank You" at the end of the spot and a Bud logo. Very emotional, but obviously staged. The stewardship of branding in the Post-Advertising Era will become too important to be left up to the half-baked sensibilities of the current crop of creative practitioners at the ad agencies. They will more often then not wind up shooting their foot off like the creator's of the Bud "Thank You" spot. They are just not equipped for the level of sophistication required to think beyond their lust for Golden Lions and Clios. Branding in the Post-Advertising Era will require inspired thinking. The return of Genius to the world of marketing. Every year the stakes get higher. Every year the players get weaker. Now is the time for legends to be made.
Stay strong.
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