Re: Move from branding

From: Melinda Robinson <melinda_at_dragonspiritcomputing.com>
Date: Wed 12 Mar 2003 08:42:50 -0600

Hello...

I am a fairly new, though not active, member here. I do read the threads
and very much enjoying the list thus far.

I've been closely following the discussion/debate on branding with a lot of
interest. Branding is a particularly fascinating subject for me; I love
everything that goes into a branding strategy.

I've quoted two different messages here, one from Rob Frankel and one from
John Gaskill.

Rob Frankel wrote:

> The test would be, if both Ford and GM make macho trucks, what
> differentiates one from the other? I suspect that few people could
> answer that without looking up the specs.

To test this theory, I asked my 17-year-old son the above question. Given,
he IS a nut about anything with four wheels and a motor and knows the specs
by heart, but he had an interesting point to make in this case.

Most people wouldn't buy a vehicle without checking the specs first, anyway,
so perhaps the difference isn't the important part.

Both GM and Chevy have factions of people who either love them or hate them.
Advertising for them not only brings in new customers but strengthens their
brand among those who "love" them. In the case of the latter, nothing has
to necessarily differentiate. I wonder how much of those campaigns are
undertaken with that idea in mind?

John Gaskill wrote:

> The fact that the "Like a rock" campaign was successful for
> Chevrolet does not make the tagline "like a rock" a
> meaningful branding statement. More likely, the brand
> effect came from the music track and the voice over
> readings by the late James Coburn.

I would have to agree with you, John.

Granted, I am not a branding expert to the extent that many here are (which
is part of the reason I'm not an active poster here), but my understanding
of branding is that it encompasses, if you will, a personality. This goes
beyond any tagline and includes such components as the logo, music and/or
narration used (if applicable), style, etc. A lot of research goes into
this before any advertising team comes up with a tagline.

Take care,
Melinda
Dragon Spirit Computing -- http://www.DragonSpiritComputing.com/
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Received on Wed Mar 12 2003 - 08:42:50 CST