RealityofBranding

The Reality of Branding


Reality shows are all the rage. Rumor has it next year the Survivor franchise, having run out of exotic places to televise from is going to run an experimental Survivor: South Central LA hour long show: Contestants will be parachuted into that part of LA and any that survive until the end of the show wins a chance to return the following week to try again. Of course, show business execs are complaining that an hour might be too long and difficult to fill with the rate of expected attrition. Nonetheless . . . one has to view these reality shows with a cynical outlook; after all, how “alone’ can you be with twenty camera crews and fifty overhead cameras recording your every move and thought?

Of all the reality shows, the Apprentice comes closest to real world value. It teaches concepts such as leadership, teamwork, competition and customer centric that this here prophet has always thought worthy of dissemination. However, one can also watch the show and pick up such non-desirable traits as finger-pointing, sabotage, autocratic behavior, bullying, and pure stupidity. But it is fun to watch and probably more of a learning experience than all the other Survivor series combined (ad infinitum).

Nevertheless, I must comment on some aspects of the series. The format typically has two teams competing against each other on a particular assignment. They have 24 hours (or less sometimes) to complete a business assignment. Of course it is “staged” but often fun to watch. Here’s my beef: in less than 24 hours the team are challenged to create a new brand or branding position for a particular product and present their findings to corporate head honchos.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. This is teaching America that all it takes is 24 hours and a Power-point presentation and you have established a brand that you can sell by the millions.. This is an entirely wrong notion of how to brand and what brands are. Brands are not created overnight and come into the world fully formed and ready for consumer consumption. Brands are an emotional shortcut between the product/company and the customer and provide valuable information to customers regarding quality to customers. Brands identify, differentiates, minimizes risk to the customer, reduces search cost to the customer, and provide meaning to the customer. It is basically a promise: ”You continue to buy from me and I will continue to provide the same high quality product to you.”

1) Branding is a multi-year phenomenon. Some experts indicate it could take as many as 5-7 years to firmly establish a brand in the mindset of your customers. It takes time and multiple purchases to gain credibility and trust among customers. You cannot merely tell them once and it is a done deal.
2) Consistency in the message is a necessity. All forms of marketing media must contain the same branding message and position. Otherwise, your customers will be confused about what you stand for . . . if anything.
3) Brand message and position must be reasonable and rationale with the product or service you are marketing and the company mission/reality. A Tiffany store in Walmart may not do well. In other words, you can’t make pearls from swine. You can always get them to buy once but it takes a good product to get repeat purchases.
4) Provide a simple, realistic, relevant message. All the branding advertising in the world is not going to make up for a poor product. The product must be a quality, usable, understandable and relevant.

So next time you watch The Apprentice, enjoy the show, watch the business banter but understand reality is much more subtle (and less forgiving than The Donald).