brandwise-blog1 - Tumblr blog

[brandwise-blog1]

"Fair and Lovely”

Brands have struggled to understand at a deep level what are the key drivers of behavior for potential and existing customers.  Successful brands capitalize on this knowledge and further expand the imagination of their customers to continue to grow the status and energy of their brands.  But when deeply rooted motivations are either hidden or dark and uncomfortable, how should brands respond?

As is the case of Fair & Lovely, a skin color whitening cream promising to satisfy people’s aspiration of fair skin color (attributed by some to more power, status, elegance or beauty), non-discrimination advocates struggle to appeal to the deeply-rooted perceptions of people and possibly change them.  But at the heart of succeeding in this effort lies the ability to galvanize brand equity for the case of “Dark is Beautiful.” 

When trying to change perceptions (as opposed to just identify them and free ride, albeit strategically), the barrier to success seems insurmountable.  But brands in this situation could leverage a playbook by unveiling (i) other root sources of beauty (in addition to the perception of fairness) (ii) promise to satisfy this need and (iii) replace “fair = beautiful” with a more delightful promise that customers can believe.

Doing so is not easy.  It requires employing the right brand tactics (appealing to target/early adopting groups, leveraging important endorsements, etc.) but critically it requires creating a believable story of why beauty is not synonymous with fair skin color. 

[brandwise-blog1]

In the early 2000s, Burberry has managed to realign their brand and save it from the dilutive effects of exacerbated licensing.  Today, the company is promising further alignment of its brand with the core promise it has been delivering its customers for decades: if you wear Burberry you are truly a high-end luxury customer.  Its focus today is on product energy and customer experience.

Marco Gobetti, CEO of Burberry, stated that the company is ready for its next transformation.  It has continued to cut relationships with many licensing partners which depressed the stature of the brand, took back control over the image, product, and price and it is now continuing to tighten its footing into the higher echelons of the luxury segment.  The direction of the company is to move from the luxury (yet affordable) segment to the ultra-luxury segment, along the likes of Dior and Hermes.  To achieve this, Gobetti will further cut down on partnerships to strengthen control of the brand, refine the product offering, and revigorate the customer experience (e.g. via store experience enhancements) to reflect a much higher luxury feel.  “By re-energising our product and customer experience to establish our position firmly in luxury, we will play in the most rewarding, enduring segment of the market,” Gobetti said in a 2017 press release.

For this to be successful, the company needs two things: patience (a brand move is a considerable effort as behavioral expectations, particularly upward, require considerable time) and consistency (the brand needs to apply the same positioning across channels and products, e.g. shirts are currently massively underpriced versus its desired upscale positing, relative to trench coats or bags, which are currently priced in line with higher status brands.  Finally, the company needs to continue to engage the new customers via its terrific digital strategy and find ways to combine the digital and on-premise experience to further drive consistency of brand positing.

[brandwise-blog1]

How do marketers predict diffusion patterns effectively (when Batman doesn’t come through?).  Everett Rogers of the University of New Mexico described the pains of this process as it related to the characteristics of the product being introduced (versus the particularities of the people embracing the product i.e. the adoption S-curve). The first step in predicting uptake of a product is to understand the product characteristics along a few key dimensions, including:

- Relative advantage: are we talking about a me-too or a break-through product being introduced? Comparing with standards in the market is essential in this case.  Case studies abound in medical therapies with minimal innovative characteristics (that unfortunately often get funded...)

- Compatibility: does the typical/targeted consumer identify with the product?  There’s a time and place to sell bandanas (I say never, save for the ‘70s and ‘80s perhaps).

- Complexity: do you understand what you are buying?  The degree to which a product is difficult to understand and use can hint at the likely diffusion pattern of a product.

- Trialability: can I return the mattress if I don’t like it?  Researchers discuss the advantages of experimentation with new products, and how it may be easier to hash out patterns of adoption if consumers can try the product out. 

- Observability: beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder... the more visible a product is (e.g. satellite television) the greater the rate of adoption.

Picture credit: http://www.quickmeme.com/Batman-Slapping-Robin/page/443/

[brandwise-blog1]

Corona post

Corona with premium price can get 30% share by playing the appropriate branding strategy (who doesn’t want to sip away the fun sun at the beach?!).  The approach entailed at least: - consistency of message across partners - simplicity and focus

[brandwise-blog1]

Corona post

Corona with premium price can get 30% share by playing the appropriate branding strategy (who doesn’t want to sip away the fun sun at the beach?!).  The approach entailed at least: - consistency of message across partners - simplicity and focus