Re: Branding?

From: Kim Brooks <kbrooks_at_bardo-brooks.com>
Date: Tue 07 Mar 2000 19:38:20 -0800

LARRY RAUBACH WROTE:
> I can understand Kim's stance as eBay certainly does
> not put a lot of effort (at least overtly) into
> building their brand, but I think they are. And,
> based upon their market cap and popularity, I think
> most would probably agree.

Branding is not the same as recognition. And good
branding is ideally not accidental. So saying that
eBay doesn't try to build a brand, but everyone
recognizes them, doesn't equal a good brand.

Branding is a process: first, you decide what image
you want to project - what the message about your value
will be. Then you communicate that in a very
conscious, repetitive, consistent manner. As your
customer base grows, their experiences with your
company and products will hopefully be consistent with
the promised value. Then your branding is formed and
consistent. So Branding is some continuum of
     
image -> communication -> experience -> reputation.

I don't think that eBay has a strong brand because:
a) there's no image to project.
b) they don't talk about the value of their service in
   any ads; they only talk about the value of the quirky,
   personalized items that are being sold by others.
c) whenever they have run into -negative- PR because
   of fradulent bidding or illegal items for sale, they
   take a very hands-off approach, always rationalizing,
   "hey, we just facilitate; this site belongs to the
   sellers, not us."
d) if you were to ask thousands of eBay customers,
   "what do you think of eBay?", they would talk about
   their experiences, opinions, and perceptions of the
   individual sellers, not eBay. In other words, they
   would report a consistent experience or reputation,
   since each buying experience is different, based on
   whether the customer was lucky enough to get a
   reputable seller, or unlucky enough to get a
   screwball selling vapor.

When I say eBay does not have a strong brand, it's
because of the inconsistency of the experience & image.
I don't mean it as criticism, nor would I foolishly
assert that their recognition is low or their model
isn't working. I just think that it's interesting to
talk about businesses that have de=prioritized the
whole "branding hype" -- it's especially interesting to
present a brandless yet successful concept to
marketers, who sometimes hold branding to be the holy
grail.

Kim Brooks





Received on Tue Mar 07 2000 - 21:38:20 CST