With sales down in almost all categories, businesses are wondering: what makes a difference to customers? Businesses talk about their brands and brand recognition. In times like these I wonder: what makes a brand?
In 2004, Al & Laura Ries wrote a book called
The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands
, in which they talk about what builds a brand and what keeps it going. They have interesting thoughts. One is called divergence: take an existing brand and look for opportunities to create new categories by diverging existing ones. I think this is something for flooring retailers, many with long-term brands that haven’t changed one bit. Another interesting point in the book is that a brand dominates, and that name alone can represent the primary reason for the brand’s success. Think about Coca-Cola - the world’s most valuable brand because it dominates the cola category. It has since branched into water, sports drinks and the like. Why do we buy these new “names?” Because we know Coca-Cola stands behind it.
Think about Starbucks. This company started out as a “coffee brand” which was able to launch into music, coffee “stuff,” gift cards, etc. Is this a mistake? Well, we know that if you are going to branch off into new brands you had better keep the old brand solid. If Coca-Cola became tainted with salmonella, there wouldn’t be anyone drinking Dasani water. This may be where Starbucks made some errors: moving away from their core brand. Anyway, I decided to go out and explore some brands, both living and dead, to see how what makes those brands big brands.
Last weekend, two big brands were in town: Elvis Presley and the Temptations. Both brands were big in the 1950s, and continue to bring in audiences. One of those big brands, Elvis Presley, actually died in the 1970s, but continues to live in Memphis with thousands of fans visiting Graceland every year.
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