Best Ways to Destroy Your Brand - Pt 1
Posted by Jaci Russo
Circuit City
We often focus on building brands. What organizations should do to ‘get it right’. But this week we will have a five part series on common mistakes that are made which actually destroy the brand.
Part 1 - Discount Sales
Not all advertising spending is beneficial. That probably seems contradictory. You might expect an agency to promote any and all advertising. You would think that we would believe as long as you are spending money on marketing and getting your message ‘out there’ that it will have positive effects.
Not true.
Advertising without a brand message or plan can be very detrimental. Advertising the wrong message can be downright fatal.
The biggest ‘wrong’ message? Quick sales.
All too often, organizations stray away from their brand message. Abandon it in favor of an ‘urgency’ campaign designed to generate cash flow. Sometimes it works. Usually it works too well.
Instead of building a brand and establishing a position in the marketplace that is better than the competition, all of a sudden the target consumer starts to see the product as ‘cheap’. Once that notion has entered the conversation, there is no going back.
In addition to a little bit of short-term cash flow, you now also have a reputation as being cheap. Even companies that have built their brand on being the affordable choice (i.e. Walmart) are spending their efforts building their brand, focusing on their core message and establishing a relationship with their consumer built on benefits (Save Money. Live Better).
Walmart abandoned the focus on cheap and saw their profits rise. Consumers don’t make purchases on rational thought. They make decisions based on emotion. That is why it is so crucial to establish an emotional connection. It is through this connection that you will truly build brand advocates. Don’t be the cheapest. Instead be the one they consider to be the best.
So one of the best ways to destroy your brand - cheapen it in the hearts and minds of your consumers.
Part 2 tomorrow - Budget.
image of Circuit City sales insert via Mad Magazine
