The Brands of Life
I have recently had time to spare because of Covid -19 and thus undertaken a study of about 400 brands. It started with my son discussing some work he was doing for a client. He is a strategist. I wanted to see what connected them. And what caused failures.
My findings:
Failure is 100% human error. The inability to read the room. No established brand failed because it was a bad product – not even KODAK. Humans didn’t adapt it to life.
Brands are alive. Anthropomorphic. Or dead.
Success is 100% authenticity; 100% quality to begin with; fills a need; sits well with the time it’s in; alive – it can adapt.
Coppertone was initially a brand created to help you get a tan. But morphed into a brand to protect you from the sun’s harmful rays as the mood in the room changed. The product is the same … its message was simply updated to the times it found itself in. If it had not, it would be a Kodak moment. Instead, it invented SPF – sun protection factor. The rest is history!
Brand sustenance is about living in the world …. brand is life, constantly checking how your product is faring in a fast-changing world. So many brands focus on opposition; product or market. Surely it’s more about the world around it… the world it’s in. Brand marketing is to the brand, what packaging is to the product. It holds it safely in place to give the consumer the best possible end product.
Reacting to events in time is unhealthy … primarily because it’s incredibly tiring and totally debilitating. It creates a base of fear which is no basis to live by. Rather create events.
Far better is to adopt a considered view based on your personal goals and aspirations, marry it to the real world you find yourself, and tweak it so it’s not selfish or self-defeating … put it into perspective, and then follow it with all your mind, heart and soul.
We live in a knowledge-based society. Literally, anything you want to know is at your fingertips. The skill is learning and then putting something in motion. My fear for the “ millennial forward “ generations is that they’ll do so much reading, fact-checking and becoming knowledgable that they won’t actually do anything! They’ll become the closed encyclopedia on the bookcase shelf. Full of useful information but nothing more than a decent doorstopper.
Knowledge sans action is entirely pointless. Knowledge is only useful when it’s put to use.
The government accepts now that people will be either happy or unhappy. We are becoming significantly more polarised. Primarily because we don’t dialogue anymore. Opinion equates to facts now … but opinion is not fact – It’s opinion … and should be capable of being swayed!
Instead, they will clap and cheer or demonstrate and march. Democracy has developed this concept of “peaceful protest” …. but it’s been instigated by government. It’s easy to manage a peaceful protest and if you wait long enough …. it goes away …, peacefully. I prefer unreasonable protest. Unreasonable people are seldom popular but they always get heard and usually get something done. There is a huge difference between being unreasonable and being a bully …. do not allow your unreasonableness to be confused with being a bully. In fact … don’t bully, period! But to quote Sam Conniff – be more pirate!
We have trigger words – racist; pedophile; sexist; homophobic; popularism; nationalism etc … be careful these words aren’t used to stifle honest dialogue and change. If Government can stifle discussion they can retain the status quo. We’ve stopped discussing sensitive issues for fear of being ‘Branded’ …. So sad. The world would still be considered flat if current rules were applied centuries ago. Governments love status quo (not the band).
The most valued emotional connection for the next 10 years will be AUTHENTICITY…. it will claim the careers of many politicians and hundreds of business execs and investment organisations. I love this. It will kill influencers …. Not a moment too soon. Influencers are modern day brand cannibals. Anybody will take it if it’s free. The question is would they buy it for value?
People say – “ do your best” …. what rubbish. Doing your best is never sufficient unless your best is actually THE best! Always strive to be better. Find out who the best is and then REALLY find out who they are. Stalk the very best and thus make yourself better. Educational establishments today, at the youth level (but spreading) are about doing your best … and that winning isn’t everything …. Just competing is enough. Try to use that to get into Oxford, Cambridge, or winning Olympic gold at anything or make the All Black Rugby team.
Being told to do your best is a lie perpetrated by people and parents who are protectionist underachievers and don’t want you to strive or be better than them. Being happy has replaced being real! Rather be real happy!
The best instruction I’ve ever been given – “Do it again ….you can do better.” Never take it personally.
The second – always forgive yourself, take time to plan properly, prepare well, and move on. If you look back you are going to trip going forward!
Never value anything in terms of time taken … it will distort. Value everything according to experience and achievement. Be prepared to pay for and listen to experience. One hour with a successful top businessperson who has ‘enjoyed’ failure is worth three years at university.
And be wary of any successful entrepreneur or businessperson who hasn’t suffered a setback … either it’s coming or they’ve not pushed themselves hard enough.
Learn the art of forming habits – have a few bad ones too. And NO is a wonderful response that is seldom used. Never fear sharing and collaborating. Making an omelet is a simple process – very few ingredients, a pan, and some heat. So why are some omelets just so much better … because of focus, experience, and attention to detail. You can’t buy that or take it away. I’m not certain you can learn it … ! Anything I’ve learned I’m happy to share. And nothing I’ve learned is precious! The Coca-Cola recipe is not the secret … the secret is marketing the idea that makes you think it’s so special! You don’t buy into the secret … you buy into the brand because of the perceived value. Perception is highly underrated.
Brand-based companies (marketing; social media et al) have become order takers/restaurant waiting staff. They do the bidding of the client. So who is the professional, the expert – the marketing company or the client? It’s time the agencies listened to the brief and then told the client what’s best.
That’s why so many companies have internalised marketing departments – they learn nothing from the agencies they talk to. Why? Because agencies are afraid of losing the client. In a world smitten with outsourcing … why is marketing going in-house more and more!
They feed rather than get fed. The agencies are so locked into monthly revenue targets that they can no longer be honest or authentic. Paradoxically the very thing that builds a brand. Never forget that the agency is also a brand! Where are the standards? Where is the professional pride?
Finally, can I just say that my area of expertise is food. Market testing is such a waste of time – not only in food branding but generally. Nobody doing market testing is objective nor do they represent the general buying public. Put that ad spend to better use.
Stay safe everyone. And don’t be a covid ‘snitch’ … nobodies perfect.
UveBruce
