The product dies. The factory shuts down. The shelves become empty. The shops forget it. The mind stores in memory. The mind recalls. Such is the languishing power of a brand that once was. Such is the nostalgia that surrounds a brand that was born and bred with you but did not grow with you.
Products are made in factories and brands are made in memories. The investment in the name is the first decision that is made while divestment in the product is the last. If the product had served the market well, the product might fade away but the brand endures.
The three questions that irk most minds are: Why did the product fade away? Why were the required changes not done? If the brand is alive, can the product be revived?
Brands and products are made on intuition, science and art, preferably in that order. The innovator gets hold of an idea where he has this hunch that this is it. Whether this hunch is verified through scientific data is another debate. In Pakistan product ideas, launching and marketing are usually dependent on the whims and fancies of the owners.
GP formula sets the tone. GP is the Grandpa whose picture you will see in every office that is now run by the Grand offsprings. He was the originator. He was the innovator.
He was the leader. He left a legacy behind. The legacy is a mixed bag. While the products and assets accumulated by him have served the family well, the mindset and the approach left behind in many cases does not serve the family well. That is the reason many good brands fail in their aspiration of becoming mega brands. The two common failure points are:
1- The brand misfit— Some brands just remain aliens in the market. Brands are personal to people. When they buy a brand they buy not just value for money but values that match their personality. Brands that have strong loyalty are those where the customer feels that this is me. Perfumes, clothing styles and food have strong brand loyalties where brands become part of the customer’s life.
The temptation to differentiate and beat competition sometimes makes companies bring in products that are unique but do not have the brand-market fit. When iced tea was first launched by multinational company in Pakistan it did not do well.
Yes it was unique but the larger market associated tea as a hot drink and thus did not feel that this was part of their way of beverage consumption. This could be due to lack of research before launching, or just a pre mature assumption of drinking habits.
2- The success complacency— Sometimes the bigger a brand gets the more it becomes self-obsessed. Instead of the customer obsession it gets so carried away by its huge market success that it assumes whatever they will offer the market will accept.
The famous sagas of Nokia and Blackberry in the mobile phone industry are case studies of this marketing myopia. The fact that McDonald entered the Indian market with its famous hot selling brand of beef burger shows how the biggest can be the blindest. What followed was an attack on its outlets in Delhi.
This is obviously the story of most brand/market misfortunes. What about those brands that are retained in the minds of customer but still fade away from the market? In Pakistan this is not uncommon. Brands introduced by a family become mega sellers.
As the family goes into the second and third generation the brand gets lost in family conflicts and the second generation desire to pursue their own passion. These brands become more of a brand/family misfit. That is why despite neglect they remain in the minds of the customers. If they are in the customer’s mind they have a chance of a comeback.
You have the example of Marvel Comics that had X men, Avengers and Spiderman comics as huge sellers. In 1993 the comic market went bust and the company went into wilderness for years. But the brand and sub brands were alive that resulted in it making a great comeback into films.
In Pakistan we have had some larger than life brands that linger on way past their decline. Some brand icons became history.
Brands are manifestations of self. People buy brands that are in congruence with their beliefs. Brands are thus not trademarks but trust marks. People pay for the brand worth in their minds and hearts.
Try putting a brandless beautiful shoe and ask the customers what they will pay for it, and then put the Nike Swoosh logo on the same shoe and then ask the customer what he or she will pay for it. Studies show that from not buying at all to a few dollars is all what people will pay for the same brandless shoe.
The minute the same product is branded with Nike Swoosh logo people are willing to pay over a hundred dollars. This jump from 20 dollars to 120 dollars is the brand value that the customer affiliates with. A true brand is a timeless love story of aspiration, emotion and passion.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and an analyst and can be reached at [email protected]
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