Decades ago, in the annals of advertising agency history, BBDO had an approach to creating winning communications. It was called The Four Point Process. The Four Point Process was a really big deal because, at the time, ad agencies had the best, most innovatively profitable research departments in town. The Four Point process made use of BBDO’s groundbreaking – and since widely-copied – Problem Detection Study.
Recent brand news is full of brand value chatter. Chatter, not serious discussions. Why? Brand executives still seem disconnected from how customers perceive brand value. Consumers understand that value, not price alone, is the priority. Consumer-perceived value is based on the total brand experience relative to the total brand costs (price, time, and effort). Brand executives also misunderstand customers because they believe their brands have a specific segment, which is the “value customer.”
Last week, I discussed the new brick-and-mortar Amazon entry: a big box store with a large helping of Amazon logistics, data mining, and merchandise expertise. As part of that Amazon discussion, two brand stumbling blocks came under scrutiny. One: Amazon’s continued lack of understanding of customers in brick-and-mortar grocery stores. Two, Amazon’s lack of designing and articulating brand-relevant differentiation.
Once again, Amazon is startling the retail landscape. Now, it is the arrival of a big brick-and-mortar store: 230,000 square feet. The reporters say this square footage is about the size of two Target stores and larger than an average Walmart. This new Amazon megastore is headed for an exurb of Chicago, IL.
New Year. Same tendencies for trouble. Not a surprise. The lack of understanding of brands and the disregard for brand-building growth and maintenance principles continue to plague organizations, leading to unprofitable, short-term performance.
