One of my current favorite blogs is the The Ad Contrarian. His popularity is based on being cranky and negative but at the same time stripping away the BS that surrounds marketing and advertising. Occasionally he succeeds in his blog’s goal, to get you to think by disagreeing with his posts. Today he hooked me with his post titled, “Everything You Need To Know About Branding On One Little Page.” Here’s a small excerpt:
1. Make sure you’re selling excellent products.
2. Make sure you’re taking good care of your customers.
3. Make sure your ads demonstrate how your product is different from, and better than, your competitors.That’s what builds brands, and that’s all you need to know. The rest is chitchat.
And that’s where we disagree. To say that those 3 bullets are the only thing that matters also says that creative design doesn’t matter. It says that brand image is irrelevant to building a brand. I agree that his post makes a good point, substance is important. I have no problem with that. But to say that substance is all that matters and that style and image does not oversimplifies the challenges company’s face. You can’t simply have good content and not worry about your brand. Just look at Hyundai and BMW.
The Hyundai Azera has more horsepower, more leg room, more standard airbags, more cargo space, and has a better warranty than a BMW 5-series. Oh yeah, and cost $23,000 less too. You can nearly buy two Azera’s for the price of a 528i, but which brand would you prefer to have for a client lunch or first date? The ALG, the authority for vehicle resale values, also rates BMW to retain is value longer, because more people want to own them. You can’t simply build a better car and expect people to want it more than “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” Owning a BMW makes a statement. Owning a Hyundai does not make that same statement. Both are great cars, but BMW can demand a near double premium partly because of its brand image.
But that’s me. I’m biased. I own a creative agency. What do you think? Is substance the only thing that matters to you when choosing a company, or do you think brand image and style influence your choice as well?
Fri, May 30 2008
typos corrected
bob hoffman
Sun, June 1 2008
Jay:
I appreciate your comments. Of course, you are right, brand imagery is alive and well and very influential.
The point of my blog was, first-things -first. Unfortunately, many marketers today are obsessed with branding. The most important element of branding, however, is a good product.
Sure, BMW and other luxury brands succeed to a substantial extent by presenting an attractive image. But there are very, very few of these and the ones that succeed generally do so on the basis of first having established a reputation of producing quality products.
Mon, June 2 2008
I understand where you are coming from Bob. You can’t simply buy a Terrell Owens jersey and then market yourself as an NFL star. You’ve gotta worry about performance first. Good post.
MediaMisfit
Wed, June 4 2008
Great post and reply. I think Jay’s statement is more true with commoditized products.
I like Bob’s view on product quality and customer service. Those are the first two things I look for when looking at a brand when purchasing a product such as an electronic device.
Even with a trusted brand, all product lines are inevitably going to have their bad apples. It’s the support and customer service that saves the company’s reputation at the end of the day.