In Defense of the Brand
After reading David Kapell’s opinions on “Why Branding Stinks” (January promo), I found myself re-examining the basic principle that guides my professional existence: branding.
We live in an environment where the brand is king, so it’s hard to accept the notion that there’s a stench in our business emanating from the “fantasy” that branding offers. While I may share Mr. Kapell’s belief that a brand shouldn’t be a substitute for a good product, I disagree that branding is a glorified smokescreen that dupes ignorant consumers into buying inferior products.
The art of branding gives consumers more than heartless hype. A good brand offers a relationship and a personality that fulfills a promise. In our cluttered environment, branding cuts through the endless circus of SKUs, giving consumers confidence in the product. It’s that consumer confidence that feeds the brand’s life. Branding is not simply about badging. It’s about erasing doubt and creating an identity that can be shared with customers and peer groups.
When I was helping Frito corn chips expand its core user group in the mid-’90s, we didn’t ask Frito-Lay to just wave the Fritos banner. The brand was elevated to a place where it could address its core users in a way that was relevant to their lifestyle. We took the profile of the audience and created a campaign starring Reba McEntire. It captured the brand’s essence, and set Frito eaters amidst good music, good people, and good fun.
We can envision a world in which product quality and creative good taste are costs of entry for a new product, but that would be the real fantasy. Low-cost providers have powerful brands, too. Wal-Mart and E*Trade may not offer the upscale products of Neiman-Marcus or Merrill Lynch, but that doesn’t mean their brand propositions are inferior.
Kapell praises brands such as Lego, Lilith Fair, and Oprah Winfrey. No one questions the motives behind these brands’ marketing, but few consumers would recognize that they’re being branded in the first place. Good branding is seamless. Kapell calls it seductive, criticizing The Gap for its distinctive ads. Why is it any less seductive to use the Lego brand to sell toys than to use The Gap brand to sell khakis?
Branding is good business. But it’s also good for consumers who want to feel connected to what they are buying – and buying into: a toy that won’t break, a show that won’t disappoint, clothes that are cool.
Not every product is good for you. Critics argue that marketing’s slippery slope starts with snacks, candy, and soft drinks and slides down to beer, spirits, and tobacco. We may disagree on whether these are “good” products, but I’ve helped drive relationships between consumers and brands for Doritos, M&M’s, Pepsi, Miller Beer, and Jose Cuervo. It’s not exploitation. It’s a confirmation of trust and an extension of how that brand fits a consumer’s lifestyle.
ONE MAN’S MEAT
The slope gets even more slippery – and controversial – when it comes to brands that many people think are in poor taste. Marlboro, WWF, Howard Stern, and Pokemon have been vilified for their irresponsible offerings. But good taste is infinitely subjective, and the branding of these products has been far from misleading. Their outlaw personalities are part of their appeal.
These brands cross some people’s lines of good taste, but they all deliver on a consumer promise. Just ask any WWF fan, or any Pokemon collector. They’re as loyal as the day is long.
The controversy that Kapell raises isn’t about whether branding seduces uninformed consumers. It’s about individual beliefs on what makes a product socially acceptable. That’s the great thing about having so many brands to choose from: We each get to define “good” products for ourselves. Branding works.
Yes, Marketing Continuum’s clients sell products and services, but everything we do promotes the brand. We’ll help move boxes, drive traffic, recruit new users, and generate databases. But we won’t do it without building a relationship as part of that sale. The brand is the critical element of a long-term customer relationship. Marketers must nurture their brands and their customer base to keep relationships alive.
Kapell’s basic intuition is dead-on: Let’s not let branding dominate to the point where the product is a bystander to the brand. If we recognize that any product which can’t support its brand proposition will die, we can fully embrace branding, and let it help us to get the most out of products – and out of life.
