Re: Branding and marketing

From: Larry Raubach <larryraubach_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Wed 10 Jan 2001 10:18:31 -0500

Ahhh, this is indeed becoming a lively debate. I love it.

GERI STUNZ KONSTANTIN <geri_at_virtualadv.com> WROTE:
> I think this Digest needs to go back to basics. The
> reason why so many dot coms are failing (including
> priceline.com) is their failure to understand basic
> marketing. This talk about "branding" is apparently the
> latest misconception.

Actually, the main reason so many dotcoms are failing
isn't because they do not understand basic marketing
(although many certainly do have a problem in that
dept) - it's because they don't understand basic
business. Most were started by greedy entrepreneurs
and funded by even greedier VCs who were hoping to
flip a half-baked idea before the markets realized that
the business models they were investing in were highly
flawed and stood no chance of survival.

> Firstly, you do branding for products, not services.

No way jose. Granted, many products, especially FMCG,
are ideal candidates to be "branded" because of
frequent purchases and lifetime value considerations,
but in theory, branding for services is arguably even
more important than it is for products. With products,
customers tend to have the opportunity to see them,
touch them and try them out. Not so with a service.
Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) is in the
process of spending gads of money to rebrand
themselves. Is this branding necessary? You bet. Not to
mention that because of the many customer points
service businesses often have, it's crucial that
service delivery be effectively managed and
consistently delivered - and that is a key component of
branding.

> Branding for a product (hence a "brand") encompasses
> doing advertising/marketing whose strategy is purely to
> establish or strengthen brand awareness of a product.

A product is not a "brand." A brand transcends the
product or service. And branding is much more than
establishing or strengthening brand awareness. So much
more. How else then could entire text books have been
written on the subject? Not to belittle the importance
of advertising in developing brand awareness, however,
as admittedly that is to a great extent a key metric in
determining a brand's equity.

Now let me give an example of a service business that
understands wholeheartedly, the concept of branding -
even though the proprietor may never had heard of the
word before. Don't laugh...my hair stylist. Let me
explain.

This business has no advertising and as far as I know,
no money devoted to marketing. Yet, the place is
packed all the time. When you walk in, you are
welcomed by a smiling person who always greets you by
name - everyone there knows your name. The floor is
spotless as are the chairs, counters etc. You will be
asked everytime if you would like your hair washed too
- yet there is no extra charge. Periodically
throughout the year, you will be given product samples
of various sorts. They will always try and work around
your schedule and not their's, even if it means
staying a little later than usual or coming in a bit
earlier. Most importantly though, the price is
reasonable and the quality of the cut and style is top
notch. This my friends is what branding is all about.
Needless to say, to this business I have referred many
people.

'Nuff said. Keep the good stuff coming.

Cheers,

Larry Raubach
Strategic Planner
Spire Wired, Inc.
Ottawa, Canada





Received on Wed Jan 10 2001 - 09:18:31 CST