wouldn’t care if 74% of the brands we now use disappeared, say Havas in a recent report about meaningful brands, but we increasingly buy from brands that offer not just functional bene- fits but also improve our personal and col- lective well-being. Nike recently re- minded Americans how powerful brand can be when it’s personal. It promoted a football player called Colin Kaepernick who had divided opinion across the country. Some of those who considered him unpatriotic destroyed their Nike logos in public. Meanwhile it is surely not a coincidence that the top 3 global brands in the Havas report (meaningful-brands.com) are Google, Paypal and WhatsApp – all digital, all leaders in the fast- growing intangible economy where physical assets are minimal compared to the value of the assets you can’t touch: research & development, expertise, algorithms, services. The devastating consequences for traditional sectors like hotels JAMIE PRIESTLEY, correspondent London. T here is a nice ad campaign in London at the moment. It’s for a challenger brand called Brewdog that makes beer. It compares itself favourably with other beers based on taste, and uses its rivals’ ad lines to mock the contrast be- tween their brand and – according to Brewdog – the unexciting truth about their product. The ad is interesting because it expresses Brew- dog’s solidarity with a large and growing num- ber of consumers who think branding means lying. I want to suggest why brand still matters. First, though, some thoughts on why it has made so many enemies. Sticking it to the man Brewdog’s strategy is not new. Twenty-five years ago Coca-Cola put its weight behind a large-scale attack on capitalism through “OK” soda, an anti-corporate soft drink brand that laughed at marketing hyperbole. There was a Brand Still Matters KOMMENTAR | Insights from a Small Island
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
wou
ldn’
t ca
re if
74%
of t
he b
rand
s w
e no
w u
se
dis
appe
ared
, say
Hav
as in
a re
cent
repo
rt a
bout
m
ean
ing
ful
bran
ds,
but
we
incr
easi
ngly
buy
fr
om b
rand
s th
at o
ffer
not
just
func
tion
al b
ene -
fits
but
also
im
prov
e ou
r pe
rson
al a
nd c
ol-
lect
ive
wel
l-b
eing
. N
ike
rece
ntly
re-
min
ded
Am
eric
ans
how
pow
erfu
l br
and
can
be w
hen
it’s
per
sona
l. It
p
rom
oted
a f
ootb
all
play
er c
alle
d C
olin
Kae
per
nic
k w
ho h
ad d
ivid
ed
opin
ion
acr
oss
the
cou
ntry
. So
me
of
thos
e w
ho c
onsi
dere
d h
im u
npat
riot
ic
dest
roye
d th
eir
Nik
e lo
gos
in p
ublic
. M
eanw
hile
it is
su
rely
not
a c
oinc
iden
ce
that
the
top
3 gl
obal
bra
nds
in t
he H
avas
repo
rt
(mea
ning
ful-b
rand
s.co
m) a
re G
oogl
e, P
aypa
l and
W
hats
App
– a
ll d
igit
al, a
ll le
ader
s in
the
fas
t-g
row
ing
inta
ngib
le e
cono
my
whe
re p
hysi
cal
asse
ts a
re m
inim
al c
ompa
red
to t
he v
alue
of t
he
asse
ts y
ou c
an’t
touc
h: re
sear
ch &
dev
elop
men
t,
expe
rtis
e, a
lgor
ithm
s, s
ervi
ces.
The
dev
asta
ting
co
nseq
uenc
es fo
r tr
adit
iona
l sec
tors
like
hot
els
Jam
ie
Prie
stle
y,co
rres
po
nden
t
Lond
on
.
The
re is
a n
ice
ad c
ampa
ign
in L
ondo
n at
the
mom
ent.
It’s
for
a ch
alle
nger
br
and
calle
d B
rew
dog
that
mak
es
beer
. It
com
pare
s it
self
favo
urab
ly
with
oth
er b
eers
bas
ed o
n ta
ste,
and
us
es it
s ri
vals
’ ad
lines
to
moc
k th
e co
ntra
st b
e -tw
een
thei
r br
and
and
– ac
cord
ing
to B
rew
dog
– th
e un
exci
ting
tru
th a
bout
the
ir p
rodu
ct. T
he
ad is
int
eres
ting
bec
ause
it e
xpre
sses
Bre
w-
dog’
s so
lidar
ity w
ith a
larg
e an
d gr
owin
g nu
m-
ber o
f con
sum
ers
who
thi
nk b
rand
ing
mea
ns
lyin
g. I
wan
t to
sug
gest
why
bra
nd s
till
mat
ters
. F
irst
, th
ough
, so
me
thou
ghts
on
why
it h
as m
ade
so m
any
enem
ies.
stic
king
it t
o t
he m
an
Bre
wdo
g’s
stra
tegy
is n
ot n
ew. T
wen
ty-fi
ve
year
s ag
o C
oca-
Col
a pu
t its
wei
ght
behi
nd a
la
rge-
scal
e at
tack
on
capi
talis
m t
hro
ugh
“OK
” so
da,
an a
nti-
corp
orat
e so
ft d
rin
k br
and
that
la
ughe
d at
mar
keti
ng h
yper
bole
. T
here
was
a
Bran
d St
ill
Mat
ters
ko
mm
en
tar
|
In
sigh
ts f
rom
a S
mal
l Is
lan
d
and
taxi
s sh
ow t
hat
cons
umer
s ha
ve n
o tr
oubl
e se
eing
the
valu
e of
bra
nds
like
Air
bnb
and
Ube
r .Pe
rhap
s th
e be
st e
vide
nce
for
the
valu
e of
a
bran
d is
wha
t it
offe
rs w
hen
thin
gs g
o w
rong
. A
cris
is re
pres
ents
the
gre
ates
t d
ista
nce
betw
een
real
ity
and
wha
t the
bra
nd h
as p
rom
ised
. It i
s th
e m
omen
t of
low
est
cred
ibil
ity
and
the
one
the
bran
d sc
epti
c m
ost e
njoy
s.
KFC
/Ken
tuck
y F
ried
Ch
icke
n ha
d a
big
sup -
ply
prob
lem
ear
lier
this
yea
r in
the
UK
. Non
e of
it
s st
ores
had
ch
icke
n. O
ver 2
4 ho
urs
the
mar
ke-
ting
team
ago
nise
d w
ith it
s ad
age
ncy
abou
t how
to
resp
ond:
how
to li
mit
the
dam
age
to it
s br
and.
T
he o
bvio
us a
nsw
er w
as t
o sa
y “W
e’re
sor
ry”.
B
ut h
ow?
It t
ook
over
a w
eek
to c
ure
the
supp
ly
prob
lem
, and
just
two
days
to s
ave
the
bran
d. T
he
solu
tion
was
to re
arra
nge
its lo
go o
n a
pres
s ad
so
that
it r
ead
FCK
. The
res
ult
– tw
o C
anne
s Li
ons
gold
s th
is s
umm
er. T
he n
eo-M
arxi
sts
wer
e un
-im
pres
sed.
The
rest
of u
s ju
st s
mile
d .
by
Jam
ie P
ries
tley
gra
nd l
aunc
h in
199
3 bu
t tw
o ye
ars
late
r th
e br
and
was
kill
ed o
ff b
ecau
se it
did
not
str
ike
a ch
ord
with
eno
ugh
cons
umer
s an
d, m
ore
impo
r -ta
ntly
, the
y d
idn’
t lik
e ho
w it
tas
ted.
Sta
rt-u
ps
borr
ow f
rom
pos
tmod
ern
thin
king
to
atta
ck t
he
mar
ket t
hey
plan
to d
isru
pt, i
nclu
ding
its
mar
ke-
ting
pra
ctic
es. I
t’s a
str
ateg
y th
at a
llow
s th
em to
de
fine
them
selv
es b
y de
clar
ing
“Tha
t is
not w
hat
we
are.
” T
his
is
an o
bvio
us t
hin
g to
say
whe
n yo
u’re
a n
ew a
rriv
al, b
ecau
se in
deed
few
kno
w
who
you
are
, and
it e
xplo
its t
he r
ecog
nitio
n th
at
othe
r br
ands
hav
e bu
ilt o
ver
man
y ye
ars.
A
nti-
esta
blis
hmen
t cam
paig
ns h
ave
been
inte
rest
ing,
w
itty
and
even
suc
cess
ful b
ecau
se t
hey
feed
off
wid
espr
ead
cyni
cism
abo
ut b
rand
s an
d br
andi
ng.
But
the
ir e
ffect
ten
ds t
o be
sho
rt-l
ived
bec
ause
co
nsu
mer
s ev
entu
ally
see
tha
t al
l m
arke
ters
, in
clud
ing
the
subv
ersi
ve o
nes,
just
wan
t to
dif-
fere
ntia
te t
heir
bra
nds
so a
s to
gro
w t
hem
. Rag
e ag
ains
t the
mac
hine
lose
s so
me
of it
s ed
ge w
hen
you
put i
t in
your
bra
nd s
trat
egy.
T
he o
rig
ins
of c
onsu
mer
dou
bt g
o w
ay b
ack.
T
wo
hund
red
year
s ag
o G
erm
any’
s m
ost f
amou
s ex
port
to
Lond
on w
as b
orn,
and
Kar
l Mar
x st
ill
influ
ence
s th
e st
udy
of m
arke
ting
from
his
gra
ve
in H
ighg
ate
Cem
eter
y. C
onsu
mer
cho
ice
– th
e ra
nge
of c
hoic
es a
vaila
ble
– is
pre
dete
rmin
ed,
say
neo-
Mar
xist
s. C
onsu
mer
s m
ay t
hin
k th
ey
exer
cise
free
will
whe
n th
ey c
hoos
e be
twee
n th
e iP
hone
X o
r Y
or
betw
een
App
le, S
amsu
ng a
nd
Hua
wei
. But
a n
etw
ork
of i
nsta
nt, i
nter
con
nec -
ted
“cir
cula
ting
con
tent
” m
akes
su
re t
hat
they
ne
ver (
or ra
rely
) hes
itat
e be
twee
n a
smar
tpho
ne
and
no p
hone
at
all.
Dat
a pl
anne
rs c
reat
ed p
ro-
gra
mm
atic
to
cut
thro
ugh
all
this
cir
cula
ting
co
nten
t an
d g
ive
peop
le w
hat
they
rea
lly w
ant,
bu
t th
ey w
ill n
ever
win
, say
Jod
i Dea
n, D
enn
is
Mu
mby
and
oth
er s
chol
ars,
bec
ause
we’
re a
ll ca
ught
in a
cap
ital
ist w
eb. A
s fo
r act
ivis
m, p
ost -
mod
ern
ism
, iro
ny: t
hey’
re ju
st t
he la
test
too
ls o
f ne
olib
eral
cap
ital
ism
. The
y ch
ange
not
hin
g an
d on
ly m
ake
us fe
el t
hat w
e’re
inde
pend
ent.
Bra
nd is
nec
essa
ry
Bac
k in
the
mar
ketp
lace
of
real
th
ings
bou
ght
and
sold
, pu
rcha
se d
ecis
ions
dep
end
on m
ore
than
the
tan
gib
le b
asic
s of
pro
duct
fea
ture
s,
pri
ce a
nd d
istr
ibu
tion
. B
rand
con
nect
s th
e pr
oduc
t to
a bi
gger
idea
. A lo
go is
the
sym
bol (
or
sig
nifi
er)
that
inv
okes
all
the
mea
nin
g ve
sted
ov
er t
ime
in t
he b
rand
(the
sig
nifi
ed).
Ove
r th
e ye
ars,
bra
nds
have
cre
ated
rat
her
mor
e va
lue
than
wou
ld h
ave
bee
n th
e ca
se i
f co
nsu
mer
s h
ad o
nly
com
par
ed f
unc
tion
al b
enef
its.
We
Br
ew
do
g c
hal
len
ges
th
e
esta
blis
hed
bra
nd
s.
ok
so
da
, Co
ca-C
ola
’s b
rief
exp
erim
ent
wit
h p
ost
mo
der
nis
m. T
he
man
ifes
to s
aid
:
“Wh
at’s
th
e p
oin
t o
f O
K?
Wel
l, w
hat
’s
the
po
int
of
any
thin
g?”
nik
e A
ng
ry p
atri
oti
c A
mer
ican
rem
ove
s h
is N
ike
log
os
Related Documents
