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Build a Better Brand

LESSON 6 – NATURE OR NURTURE? (Brand Development)

‘It ain’t over ‘till the fat lady sings’. Or, to use the phrase in its original form, ‘The Opera ain’t over ‘till the fat lady sings.’ Although, to be fair, the context for this now famous line was from a sports commentator (Dan Cook in 1978) during a close run basketball game so it’s not really an operatic term, it’s a sporting reference. And, in fact, that line originated from an earlier well-known southern states expression, ‘The Church ain’t out ‘till the fat lady sings’. So maybe it’s a religious term? Ok, so what we do know for sure, is that there’s a lady, she’s fat and at some point, she’s going to sing. Now, however sexist, sizeist and all round prejudiced the expression may be, it’s still quite funny and very much in use today over thirty years later. And it’s transcended all known origins to become a generic term that basically means never give up. Fat chick.

Which is a bit like other generic brands that have come to represent the market benchmark – the brand that all other brands are measured against, or indeed mistaken for – Hoover for vacuum cleaners, Xerox for copiers, iPod for mp3 players, Coke for cola, Vaseline for petroleum jelly, Speedo’s for swimming trunks. Actually, forget that last one – it’s only the Germans who wear Speedo’s these days and it’s not a good look.

My point is that whether in general day to day conversation, or for the purposes of marketing, there is an infinite capacity in any marketplace for any audience to absorb, adopt and even adapt their perceptions of the brand messages that they are exposed to. Given a fair wind and a downhill run, those perceptions will be positive, long lasting and will ultimately form the brand’s key defence to competitive erosion and its key weapon in attack and it is the role of the brand to enhance those perceptions and the customer experience of it. ‘Would you like a drink?’, ‘Yes please – I’ll have a Coke.’ It’s become part of our every day lives.

But did that happen overnight? No. Did it bollocks. The Coca Cola Company by way of example, has spent many, many, many gazoolions of dollars in the last hundred or so years making sure that when it comes to carbonated water with vegetable extract and sugar (or substitutes), we all ask for a Coke. They have attempted, on more than one occasion, to ‘buy the world a Coke’, to convince us all that Coke is, ‘The Real Thing’, and not satisfied with reality, they have asserted that, ‘Coke is Life’. Don’t you just love it? They have (successfully in my opinion) associated their cola brand with life itself. Brilliant. I’ll buy that. Actually, I do buy that. I can objectively see exactly what the brand is attempting to ‘sell’, I’m marketing-savvy and resilient to such techniques… and yet I still have a fridge full of Coke. And I like it. And I want other people to know that I drink ‘the real thing’ not the cheap knock-off stuff. And I can still hum the tune to the New Seekers version of ‘I’d like to buy the world a Coke’. Did that happen overnight? No. Will I continue to buy Coke for the rest of my life? Almost certainly.

And that’s because companies that invest consistently and significantly in their brand reputation over a period of time (years not months) will reap the rewards of improved audience awareness, understanding, desire and ultimately customer conversion and hopefully retention.

BMW cars used to be shit before the Second World War – unreliable rust buckets. Ehh, allegedly. Today a BMW is widely perceived as the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’. How did that happen? The answer is, ‘slowly’. And with a lot of investment in the BMW brand. I drive a BMW. I should have seen that one coming too, but actually, I’ve bought four BMWs so far and I’ll probably buy more. That makes me a lifetime customer which is exactly the kind of customer everyone wants. I like the cars and I like the brand. I’ve driven other cars, but I keep coming back to the BMW brand – not least because BMW continues to develop, invest in and enhance its cars (the functionality), but mostly because it does the same thing with its brand (the ‘experience’). I don’t just want a car to get me from A to B (a Fiat could do that. Maybe…). I want to feel good about the experience of driving.

So – with endless examples of historical evidence to demonstrate the long-term value of brand investment, why on God’s green earth do I continue to have conversations with people about whether or not they should continue to develop their brand beyond the initial launch? Beats me. And it isn’t usually the fault of the Marketing Department – we’re usually pushing against an open door there. So I’ve put it down to the blatant ignorance and stupidity of the executive board and managed to get on with my life relatively unencumbered by the asinine mentality of the boardroom.

For a company to reach the point of truly understanding its brand and its customers’ needs and wants (often for the first time) and shape its strategy, positioning and messaging accordingly – but then fail to capitalise on that advantage with ongoing development and delivery is stupider than the stupidest stupid thing. The idea that a company can give birth to a brand and then leave it untended and expect it to flourish is akin to the expectation that parental responsibilities end at childbirth.

Building a better brand places long-term responsibilities on all stakeholders. Brand development isn’t over – EVER. This isn’t a journey from one point to another. It’s a circular track that you should expect to go round and round and round again. Hopefully gathering momentum with each circuit. And yea, verily though I walk through the Valley of Death, I shall fear no evil… etc.

(Rousing trumpet fanfare of ‘Jerusalem’ fading to dry ice and laser light fantasia followed by butt-naked fat bird singing…)

Scot McKee
Managing Director
Birddog Ltd.
www.birddog.co.uk