Brands are Forever

Brands are forever

“All our factories and facilities could burn down tomorrow but you’d hardly touch the value of the company; all that actually lies in the goodwill of our brand franchise and the collective knowledge in the company.” Roberto Gonzueta, the late CEO of Coca-Cola:

Brands still matter, but not as much. Only 32% of respondents to an America's Research survey said that brands are extremely important for choosing holiday gifts, versus 48% three years ago, according to a recent New York Times article. This correlates with a report in the Wall Street Journal indicating increased demand for monogrammed or otherwise personalized items, suggesting some people may be more interested in branding themselves than adopting and promoting commercial brands on their clothing and personal effects. They may be of less importance, but they still are important.

In the meantime, brands still do have value, as proven not only by the continued willingness of consumers to pay more for names like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, but also the potential willingness of the likes of Donald Trump to invest in a scheme to save the FAO Schwarz -the major toy retailer in bankruptcy. The company failed, because it embarked on risky expansions outside of the FAO Schwarz umbrella and undercut the unique shopping experience and product selection that let FAO Schwarz charge a little more. The brand, however, still has value, as it is synonymous with unique items at the high end of the toy market.

A recent survey by the Henley Center indicated that the public trusts brand names more than government, the police, and the legal system. This research highlights the importance of the relationship that still exists between consumers and trusted brands. Three trends support this belief: individualism encourages self-identification through consumption and the brands you buy/wear/eat; globalization allows brands to become a worldly phenomena for consumers; and symbolic experiences are increasingly in demand—consumers are buying experiences, whose contents are largely image driven, intangible, and symbolic, rather than commodities.

Branding creates attachments between customers and the product: the stronger, the attachment, the better the branding. The brand creates awareness of your product and above all, differentiates it from other products (if you cannot provide differentiation to your product, you do not have a brand!) Make your brand/product come alive. Give it history, perspective. Give it a life of its own. Provide your audience with details of the product, its history, its development, the people behind the story, designers, engineers, support staff. Put the human touch on it. Bring it to life. Make it personal. Remove the all too often assumption of it being a commodity, one of millions coming off the assembly belt every day. Attach the product to real people (not just celebrity endorsers), the real people behind the story and people will see it as real, not just a thing. Caveat, though. Avoid over-slickness. Consumers are smart and becoming smarter every day. As cynical as they are, they will easily see through such puffery and your brand and brand image will suffer as a result.

Branding is all encompassing. Even the smallest of details goes into the branding. It is also a 24/7 endeavor. Employees wearing the brand or brand logo even on their off-hours or engaging in activities whether representing the company/brand officially or not can impact the brand and its position. For example, a Disney employee still wearing his Disney attire can harm the brand by uttering un-family like vocabulary or engaging in public activities that would go against the spirit of that brand. If your brand is belly button rings or tongue piercings, perhaps those forms of expression would equate to the image you desire for your brand. But certainly not for Disney, as well as most other brands in the world.

And remember, the brand is only as good as the product: it requires constant vigilance on your part to maintain the quality and functionality of the product, any lessening provides the consumers with reasons to breech the contract between you, the brand/product, and themselves. A brand should be focused on the long-term relationship between it and the consumer; any short-term gain you may attempt could well hurt the long-term value of the brand.

Brands can be forever. Don’t dilute its brand equity just to make next quarter’s numbers.