Writing the second edition of Aaker on Branding 11 years after the initial edition has led me to reflect on how branding has changed over that time span.
Although... much of the fundamentals are the same: Brands must still resonate, differentiate, be relevant, and inspire loyalty. But, in my view, the most significant change is the magnification of three challenges that, although always present, are now on steroids.
I refer to the hyper-dynamic strategic environments, the hostile communication contexts, and the ongoing appeal of short-termism.
Branding Challenge 1: Hyper-Dynamic Strategic Environments
Disruptive innovation is more frequent, faster, and more impactful than ever.
It is based on new or improved "must-haves" that create a superior buying or user experience, or a superior basis of a brand relationship, and they also define new subcategories. The "my brand is better than your brand" competition has been changed to "my brand is relevant and yours is not because it is inferior or fails on one or more of the must-haves."
In part, that change is caused by the digital revolution with its IoT (embedded sensors), social media (providing rapid exposure to information), e-commerce (fast to market), and AI (providing service better and cheaper).
The challenge is to move branding from a tactical afterthought in disruptive innovation to become a central part of the strategy team finding and implementing the disruption.
Beyond having the instincts and methods to prove the concept, a brand needs to become the exemplar of the new subcategory and position it to win.
A brand also needs to create barriers to others by managing the subcategory by evolving the "must haves" over time, making the subcategory a moving target, and by owning the "must haves" by branding them. Think of Uniqlo's branding of the fabrics HEATTECH and AIRism. A competitor can duplicate or claim to duplicate an offering, but the brand will remain the authentic option.
Branding Challenge 2: Hostile Communication Contexts
The second challenge is driven by the hostile communication context, consisting of media clutter, information overload, and skeptical audiences that have lost brand trust.
Conventional media rarely reaches target audiences; and, even when it does, it does not gain attention or stimulate counter-arguing.
The challenge is to develop communication that breaks through the messy and hostile context so that the audience becomes a friend, partner, or an active part of the communication instead of someone to which a "let me tell you" lecture is exposed.
Therefore, priority brand-building vehicles will change to communication vehicles, such as the following:
- Brand communities—think Harley's HOG (Harley Owners Group)
- Events from local picnics to the Olympics—where the brand can be embedded as an active participant
- Signature stories, such as how LL Bean started an outdoor firm—a story that intrigued and connected
- The creation of a brand personality or symbol that makes a statement, perhaps with humor—such as the AFLAC duck that engenders liking and distracts from counter-arguing
Signature social programs such as Dove's Real Beauty as a role model are of special note. Such programs can create for a business energy, an image lift, and engagement, key elements that most brands desperately need and cannot achieve or communicate when the focus is on them or their offering. Social programs can break through because they are admired, respected, involving, and offer self-expressive benefits.
Branding Challenge 3: Short-Termism
The third challenge is created by short-termism—the appeal of impact on immediate sales, profits, leads, etc., often by those encroaching on the CMO's brand turf.
Short-termism has also always been in the background but often rises to the fore, as in the 1980s, when scanner data appeared, enabling experiments that proved that price promotions were the only effective way to move sales. As a result, heritage brands were seriously damaged as price appeals were made all-important.
Short-termism now comes with the labels "demand marketing" or "performance marketing," which give it a professional face that is hard to oppose. It is fueled by Big Data and analytics that have short-term measures aplenty but often lack or ignore measures of brand strength.
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The branding challenge is to find ways of affirming that a strong brand will enable strategies. Those ways include quasi-experimental case studies, brand equity measurement, and, especially, strategic thinking about the critical role of a strong brand in supporting a given strategy.
The ultimate solution is to show that creative brand-building can deliver short-term results as well as (perhaps better than) brand-damaging short-run promotions do, and that programs with short-term benefits can be developed that are also on-brand. Both were true of Dove's Real Beauty program.
Note: This article is based on an excerpt from the just-released 2nd edition of Aaker on Branding.
More Resources on Brand Strategy
Branding and Brand Equity: Clarifications on a Confusing Topic
What Is Brand Differentiation and How Does It Boost Customer Trust?
