Once upon a time, big companies made outstanding products. These products were so much better than the alternatives. And in order to help consumers remember that their products were so great and thereby reap the financial benefits, these companies created brands. The brands were a reminder of the excellent products the company had sold to the consumer in the past, and a promise to continue to deliver such excellence.
But somewhere along the way these companies got fat, lazy and greedy. They have forgotten that it was the excellence of their products that drew in consumers and earned their loyalty, not the brand itself. And worse, they have fallen in love with their ability to manipulate human behavior. They spend millions on market research to understand how to tweak this promotion or that advertisement to increase their sales. They throw money at retailers to obtain better shelf placement. They hire armies of smart MBAs dedicated to getting consumers to buy just a little more of their stuff. They spend their time obsessing over their brand positioning, architecture and messaging and nearly break their arms patting themselves on the back for the elegance of these abstract brand concepts they create.
And it isn’t working. The sales of store brands are growing. And they will continue to grow. Big brands are resorting to price cuts or promotions to hold onto their consumers and maintain their sales.
You cannot fool people for very long in the age of the internet and people have wised up.
The big brands used to be real promises made in earnest and faithfully adhered to. Today, they are big lies. They are nothing more than attempts to separate fools from their money. But there are fewer fools these days.
I have a plan to turn this around for big brands. It’s a very simple plan. Just three words.
Make. Great. Stuff.
That’s it. Now fire all your branding consultants and and advertising agencies. And get to it. It’s your only hope.
