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The false religion of brandingPosted by Ray Ulmer on September 4, 2009 Why do marketers still do “branding,” asks respected Internet strategist Augustine Fou. Don’t they realize that branding today is “irrelevant, ineffective, irritating and impotent?” This will come as a shock to college presidents, board members and others in higher education who remain devoted to the concept of crafting and communicating a brand identity. “It’s not their fault, really,” writes Fou, a top executive with MRM Worldwide. “They’ve been led astray by agencies practicing the false religion of branding.” For many years, companies and institutions have spent enormous amounts of time and money making up what they want consumers to think or believe about them, says Fou. Then “digital” changed everything. “The house of cards that is modern-day branding can no longer stand in an environment where consumers can talk to each other and their conversations are spread far and wide and are even archived and available to inform future users. A brand shouting its message is no longer the only source of information; consumers have many other sources of trust and objective opinions.” So, asks Fou, what should organizations do in this new world of empowered consumers? Create the best product you can for the right audience and continually improve its quality. And instead of branding, practice brand stewardship. “Brand stewardship is constantly being aware of what your customers think of your product and what they need,” he writes. With this knowledge, you can be innovative while remaining authentic to who you and who you serve. That’s how you build your reputation — your brand — over time. To read Fou’s article on “Branding Today,” visit:  5 Responses to “The false religion of branding”Leave a Reply |
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September 4, 2009
Mr. Ulmer’s title is appropriate. You get false branding when you try to be something you aren’t. Branding is all about authenticity and digital helps guarantee authenticity. Mr. Fou may not be the best reference to note if his concept of branding is based on the premise of “making up what they want consumers to believe.” That’s practicing false business period. It has nothing to do with branding and everything to do with authenticity.
September 4, 2009
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September 4, 2009
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October 4, 2009
Thanks for the reference Ray. Indeed “branding” has come to be a bad term because of the violations of trust, exaggerations of the truth, or downright lies committed by advertisers and their agencies in the past. No wonder consumers no longer trust advertisers. However, what John mentions above about authenticity can be summarized as proper brand stewardship. The best brands do this well; and it is not about tooting false claims about themselves. They spend their efforts on making really really good products and services instead of on telling people how good they are. Too many advertisers try to shortcut true innovation by doing branding — and agencies are all too willing to help with carefully crafting the message (when was the last time an agency actually helped shape and improve the product or service). Zappos, NetFlix, JetBlue, Apple, etc. all shape their own brand by backing it up with great products and services and they earn reputation in the eyes of the consumer by doing so consistently. This is brand stewardship, not “branding” as advertisers and their agencies have come to do it.
January 2, 2010
Branding is more substantive than just a logo, tagline or colour. Rather, effective branding is about answering the question: What story do you want to tell?
The ideal story is one that sits at the intersection of what’s credible, what’s relevant and what’s differentiated.
Most importantly the story needs to be embodied in everything the organization does; from admissions to picking up the garbage.