Re: Branding and marketing

From: John Gaskill <gm_at_info-central-usa.com>
Date: Thu 04 Jan 2001 11:27:21 -0500

MARK MYERS <mmyers_at_loislaw.com> WROTE:
> I strongly disagree with John about what "brand"
> advertising is about. You mention the Lexus ads. The
> "Brand" IS luxury at a great price. Ephemeral Zen-like
> ads are cool, but they are not brand building in the
> end.

Lexus' brand is "The Passionate Pursuit of Perfection."

Their early ads were direct sellers. Any brand effects
were secondary to the ad messages themselves which were
to test drive a Lexus.

> IMHO, branding is about creating the "I use X"
> loyalty that makes everyone else go "ahhh...
> he/she uses X!"

"Envy marketing" is only one of the possible techniques
used in creating a brand image.

While it works well with goods targeted to "wannabes"
it turns many people off.

The strongest brand virtues seem to be high quality,
affordability and great service. And products/services
with those attributes last a long time when properly
maintained.

At least that's my $ 0.02 worth.

Regards all,

John Gaskill
gm_at_info-central-usa.com





Received on Thu Jan 04 2001 - 10:27:21 CST