[epub] Re: Branding

["Paul Myers" <arkham@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pat,

> Yes..the front of the trend usually has lots of seats..

So did the Titanic. ;)


> U of Wisconsin survey(at least 4 years ago) measured
> POP(Point of Purchase) preference attitudes. When this
> report hit WSJ that week, the advertising industry took a
> major hit on revenues. The bottom line...consumers were
> blind to branding, preferring couponing.

You know what Twain said about statistics, Pat. ;)

To paraphrase that more precisely, price sensitive consumers 
preferred price breaks. It doesn't take a UW survey to know 
that'll happen.

That ALWAYS happens with retail commodities. Differentiation, 
which was the point of the question, removes a product from 
commodity status, if done properly.


> That being said..you may recall that 'branding' was
> originally done to preclude cattle poaching. Is that what it
> still represents? Hmmmmmmmm.

That's what it's supposed to do, yes. Protect one's market 
share from "poaching" by savvy competitors. The only 
difference is that the market-style poachers aren't doing 
anything illegal. Or even unethical.


> Also, one of my mentors, John Sculley, who coined the most
> successful lifestyle advertising in PepsiCos history, stated
> clearly.."The worst thing about marketing folks, like me, is
> that we worship at the altar of product or service
> differentiation, when the market clearly is more interested,
> and vote their dollars, according to how
> associated..similar..the product or service is to their
> EXISTING buying habits."

An intriguing sentence structure. I fail to see where the two 
facets of the business are in opposition. Yet he seems to 
conjure a conclusion from the non-existent tension between the 
two.

Almost certainly more context to the story that would make it 
mean more.

Your sentence structure is more interesting. "Stated clearly." 
So? He has an opinion, which he voiced. This proves...?

Henry Ford was an extremely successful businessman, but he was 
also a Nazi symptahizer by many accounts. Does that mean the 
Nazis were right?


> So, for those of you who are suffering from branditis, and
> attempting to foist that on t he Internet population(which
> represents less than 1/5 of the household buying
> population), you may find that associative marketing
> positioning will get you there more effectively.

Or you may find that an intelligent mix of the two works even 
better.


> Once again, Pablo, thanks for the floor.

If you meet a Spanish or Mexican gentleman named Pablo, do you 
call him "Paul"?


Paul

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