Re: Google a brand?

From: Rob Frankel <rob_at_robfrankel.com>
Date: Thu 18 Sep 2003 09:38:23 -0500

At 10:34 AM -0500 9/17/03, Nick Wreden wrote thusly:
> >>Ask any two people why they choose Google as their solution. Betcha
>you get two completely different answers. If you do, there's no
>brand there.
>
>Disagree. In the mass economy, that might have been true, but not in
>today's customer economy. Brands today are defined by the customer on
>their terms.

This is so wrong as to actual cause physical discomfort. Brands are
based on leading, not following. The trick to creating an effective
brand is balancing that leadership with a customer resonance. When
it falls over into customer pander, there is no brand.

>Whether I go to Google because of its clean interface or
>organized search results, it's still a brand to me.

It's an identity. But hardly a good brand. It's not definable, and
therefore, cannot be evangelized in an articulate manner. The worst
thing that can happen to a brand (besides failure) is having its
followers unable to communicate effectively as to why others should
use the brand.

>And while I'm not a
>big fan of Interbrand, a Feb. poll indicated that Google was one of the top
>five brands worldwide, along with Apple, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, & Ikea.
>

It's a bizarre survey, presented by yet another agency that
misunderstands and miscommunicates what branding is and what it
should do. Those listed may be among the top awareness brands, but
awareness is not what makes a good brand. Cancer has high
awareness, but it's not something everyone wants.

Interbrand may have presented a list of successful brands, not
necessarily good brands.

--
Rob Frankel

"Branding is not about getting your prospects to choose you over your
competition; it's about getting your prospects to see you as the only
solution to their problem." (TM) -- Rob Frankel, consultant and
author of "The Revenge of Brand X: How to build a Big Time Brand on
the web or anywhere else."
Big Time Branding (SM) http://www.RobFrankel.com
818-990-8623 or 1-888-ROBFRANKEL
AIM: ROBFRANKEL




Received on Thu Sep 18 2003 - 09:38:23 CDT