NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> P&G/branding
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> P&G/branding
Rob Frankel (rob_at_robfrankel.com)
Mon, 31 Aug 1998 18:27:25 -0500 (CDT)
At 7:30 AM -0500 8/28/98, Jaffer4_at_aol.com wrote:
>Branding is very difficult, if
>not impossible to measure.
This is true, which is why it is so difficult for the short-sighted to
understand its value.
>Direct marketers rarely try to brand their company
>names...Time-Life Video and Time-Life Books thought that their
>name would save the day...it did not. Direct marketers may
>actually hurt themselves by trying to brand their NAME...
This, IMHO, is not true.
>Anyone ever hear of Ginsu Knives? Now, what company sold them?
>Movie companies also understand this...Everybody has heard of The
>Titanic...now which studio(s) produced the #1 blockbuster of all
>time. I know Dial Soap before I know of the company who makes it.
This isn't true, either. You are restricting the branding issue
to one level of marketing. In reality, Ginsu II knives did well
because the first Ginsu knives sold well. And in the movie
industry, hey, how do you explain Rocky I, II, III, IV, and V?
Lethal WEapon 1, 2, 3 & 4?
That's branding -- weak branding, I admit -- because each sequel
relies on its common element to sell it, instead of selling it on
its own merits. Licensing doesn't exist without branding. What
about all those Titanic t-shirts? Coffee mugs? They are
T-shirts and coffee mugs, but they sell because they bear the
Titianic or Rocky "brand".
Don't confuse clumsy, awkward attempts at branding -- by people
who don't understand how it works -- with ineffectiveness.
Direct marketers can do just fine with branding. L.L. Bean, The
Sharper image and other catalogs bakc their products with their
brand.
Branding isn't easy, it's just often misapplied.
Rob Frankel
"Branding is not about getting your prospect to choose you over your
competition; it's about getting your prospect to see you as the only
solution."
Big Time Branding (SM) http://www.robfrankel.com
Business Opinion Columnist, Ziff-Davis Internet Business Magazine
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