Latest articles tagged branding

Among other victims of the recession, brands have taken a beating. Private labels have gained market share. Consumers are cutting back. Retailers are turning up the heat. According to panelists who gathered to discuss brand strategy at a recent Wharton Marketing Conference titled, "Connecting with the Evolving Consumer," marketers need to be especially innovative when it comes to making sense of the shifting economy -- and profiting from it.

A recent article in Forbes magazine described a Friday night this past June, when 15,000 fans descended on New York's Jones Beach Amphitheater in a torrential rainstorm to listen to the band Phish at one of the first concerts on their 2009 summer tour. Despite the downpour, hundreds of other fans with no tickets in hand roamed the parking lot hoping to get lucky and find a way in to this sold-out show. Apparently no one got the memo about the recession.

Boston is a pretty toney town, even though it has no classic song, like New York, Chicago or San Francisco ('Down by the River Charles' and 'Charlie on the MTA' don't quite cut it). High end Retail is prominent, from iconic hotels, Newbury Street merchants, extraordinary cuisine, cultural institutions, attractions and a well read, traveled, educated consumer. Boston is a Destination of Choice.

It used to be so easy to make a Hotel reservation. We were led primarily by our prior Guest Experience. We knew what to expect. Hotel companies had defined Brands, service standards were consistent, amenities continually enhanced, and marketing pockets deep. We were believers and loyal to the Brand. We felt good!

Business Week magazine in a recent article called Consumer Trust the most perishable of assets. Given the assault on our various Brands and our inability or choice not to respond to this market dynamic, we find ourselves at a loss of credibility in the public eye. We've pretty well shot ourselves in the foot, limping along with the projected economic recovery. We have let our Performance Standards lapse, our staff depart and product quality become minimized. We know the status, and our Customer knows it, as well. There is some rebuilding to do!

We continue to bemoan the obvious - the decline of Service and the devaluation of Product. We are what we say we are. Our Brand is verified by our Consumer, based upon how we delivered on the expectation(s). Their Experience is impacted by what they feel, how all their senses interacted, and how their perceptions turned into reality - the validation process.