Brands are defined as much by their market and competitors as their own unique characteristics. Just consider what happened recently to the airline industry where the problems of a single carrier shaded the whole industry. This means building and maintaining a brand must include paying attention to the market as a whole.
Brands are all about customer experience. Great brands deliver great experiences regardless of whether that experience is the taste of a freshly baked pizza, an exhilarating ride in sports car, or a refreshing night’s sleep on a firm mattress. Products that fail to deliver are rarely on the market for long.
As a professor of business and management consultant I find myself in a variety of organizations. One of the questions I often ask both senior managers and line personnel is how their organization makes money. Another way to ask the question is to ask for a description of the firm’s business model. In many organizations the answers are a best superficial. In the worst cases the answers are misleading. The answers frequently take the form...
Marketers and market driven organizations have long had a strong appreciation for the value of brands. Jim Mullin, Scottish businessman and CEO of Reach, PLC, expressed this value well: “Of all the things that your company owns, brands are far and away the most important and the toughest. Founders die. Factories burn down. Machinery wears out. Inventories get depleted. Technology becomes obsolete. Brand loyalty is the only sound foundation on which business leaders can build...
John Wanamaker, a successful retailer and merchant, is reputed to have said that “half of my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” Such sentiments have oft been repeated in the years since Wanamaker’s death. There is no doubt that advertising, with its strong focus on creativity and the use of ever evolving media technology, remains a bit of a mystery. Yet the things that make advertising effective are well known. They have...
