The Importance of Branding Today

I recently read a story from Marketing Brew about how some Coca Cola executives and representatives of their marketing partners went on a road trip to touch 10 states in 20 days, to get inspiration for a campaign celebrating America's 250th birthday. A question one may ask is, why spend days on the road for a campaign?

What may seem at first like an eccentric trip for professionals with too much time on their hands makes more sense if we understand the nature of branding.

Brands reflect the individualism that consumers hold. Brands are based on what the consumer is subconsciously (and sometimes consciously) saying about themselves. So people see brands through the lens of their own psyche, their own person.

Now, I want to go into another conversation that started me thinking in this direction. As I was speaking to the owner of a local retailer, he made a statement that had expanded my thinking of branding. He said that the concept of a brand means something different to different countries.

I had just held on to it at the time, but as I was reflecting on it recently, I began to understand that the importance of branding, especially as it relates to the Western culture, is that brands reflect the individualism that is prevalent in our societies, especially as it relates to the US.

Hence I repeat the statement: People make decisions on brands based on what they are subconsciously or consciously identifying about themselves.

(So a question becomes: do brands function differently in a more collectivist society? We'll leave that for another time.)

This identification can reflect values, interests, or beliefs. These different ways that Brands relate to us (and that we relate to brands!) are important and determine the strength of the connection that we have to brands, and our reaction when the image of a brand is tarnished in our minds.

Look at what happened to Bud Light recently when many of their formerly loyal customers boycotted the brand. I'm not trying to make a political statement, but there is something to be learned about branding in general from this situation. These consumers felt betrayed because the Brand was supposed to be a reflection of something they held true about themselves, something they thought about themselves.

When the brand image is distorted (either through experience, or a shift in what the brand is representing about its values) it changes the way that the people relate to the brand. For better or worse.

This has direct implications for how to attract customers, and how to retain customers.

Just a few thoughts on branding.

See y'all next time.