Whatever dismisses your brand

Kellogg’s and Kodak, two of the world’s best known examples of branding, were born in the 1880s and 1890s. One good, one not so good, you might say. But both stumbled on something only verified much later: that guttural sounds (like ‘k’) seem to exert significant influence. As do repeated consonants…Coca Cola, Google, Kit-Kat, Quaker, Tesco, Rolls-Royce. Roll out of the showroom and off your tongue, don’t they! I’m not sure how that sits with Mercedes or BMW or HSBC, but I’m working on it.

We all know that brands do all sorts of valuable things from promising quality to providing reassurance and delivering a differentiated and positive experience. They’re also a platform for developing new products and brands. Out of the top 50 packaged goods brands in Britain, fewer than ten have been created in the past 20 years, apparently.

It’s understandable, I guess. After all, there’s only one ketchup — sorry, I mean tomato sauce — for me and that’s not an own brand. Ditto baked beans. It’s a Marmite choice, as they say.

That’s why advertisers spend so much money on brands, of course. Like you didn’t know that, either! Yet, yet..I had to wonder the other day when I experienced two distinctly different but similar takes on the same theme.

Out shopping, in Sainsbury’s, I couldn’t find my favourite baked beans. Asking one of the shelf-stackers who now kindly hand-hold you all the way to the item, there were indeed none on the shelves. She was just as surprised as I was but suggested I should take their own brand as “they all taste the same anyway”! The horror…

Then, overheard in a restaurant the very next day, the lady on the table next to me: when the waiter asked what she’d like to drink, she quickly replied “Coke.” the waiter apologised, explaining they only had Pepsi. “Whatever,” she said immediately.

Zillions (probably billions) of pounds spent on advertising and “they all taste the same” or “whatever”… Quality, differentiation, superiority, better experience….? Nah. Whatever.

So is a brand about advertising, imagery and awareness? Or is it something a lot less sophisticated. Like about doing? When the brand looks after you, makes you feel good, it’s a great brand. When awareness translates into great experience, it’s a great brand. So when Ryanair let’s you know it’s dirt cheap so don’t you dare complain, you don’t answer back saying ‘but who wants dirt, cheap?’. You know they’ll ignore you.

But when BA looks after you and makes you feel good — despite the fact they’re not you’re favourite airline — you love ‘em.

For me, if branding has to have value it has to do something that demonstrates payback. Whether on the web, in-store, at work, at home or on the move. If the user-experience ticks the ‘really nice / good / useful / enjoyable’ boxes, it’s a great brand. Even if the ‘k’ letter is absent.

Perhaps that’s where Cadbury’s went wrong: starting up shop in 1824 predates most of the above brands. Sadly, Kraft now seems to have the edge. Is it all because of their significant capital letter?  Doesn’t seem to be the case for Chemistry…

Whatever…kkk!

Tagged as: advertising, brands, Cadbury, marketing, Sainsbury's, user experience