Generation of Skeptics
Banks tell us they want to be our friends, actors tell us they are really Camry owners and we should buy one too, chains tell us ‘garden-fresh', and toothpaste pitches ‘whiter teeth'. I don't believe any of it. And why should I? Everyone else is either saying the same thing or has said the same thing and not delivered. Years of marketing over-saturation have turned us off to the notion of being sold.
The challenge is, all of us - every brand, every business – still has to differentiate.
This is one of the key attributes I love about branding. Branding pushes distinction to the forefront, and not just any distinction, but distinction that can be delivered.
I heard Muhtar Kent, Chairman & CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, put it this way, "A good brand is a promise. A great brand is a promise kept."
We define branding as a reputation – and reputations are not things you can control, only influence. Influence occurs through:
- Authentic customer engagement
- Real value delivered
- Core needs addressed
- Customer delight
Anything less and most brands can hope for little more than short-term gains.
Don't sell me, prove it.
2 Comments
"Love the thought, Dustin. As I see it, the outlying need is not a branding issue, but a heart issue. Maybe I am overthinking this, but cynicism is rampant and a noble business can't brand their way to success. Perhaps it could overcome some skeptics, but societally we are against nobility. True nobility. We won't allow it. And therefore we try to brand, market, advertise our companies and ourselves to a form of acceptability."
- Rick Fossum
"Thanks Rick. Great point. Skepticism is definitely a larger issue not solely tied to advertising. I do also believe that at one point in time our culture felt they could believe messages they heard from businesses more readily than what is true today. As the over-saturation of marketing has progressed and the lack of overall distinct, authentic brand messaging has increased - a broad skepticism toward what a business says has grown. I believe a direct result of this is that I care less and less what a business tells me they can do, and more and more how they deliver. I'd like to see more of that gap close between how a brand delivers and what a brand says."
- Dustin Britt