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Branding

Thank you folks: Being polite is a good thing for a brand.

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So a recent set of ad placements thanking the American public for a loan is causing a little bit of an uproar, at least in some cirlces.  I’m not sure that the response in the video below on the Chrysler and GM‘s ad placement is warranted.  I would like to get just a little more facts on the ad placement than I have, without it, I can only use deduction, reason and logic.

So to put it in context, one of the largest spends in the advertising industry is by the automakers, so it may not be that bad of an idea to help prop up that industry or live up to your contractual obligation.  I suspect Chrysler and GM may of had a contractual commitment which required some placement of an ad, so to view this as incremental spending could be tough.  So the question for the brand managers and marketing folks was more than likely, something like: “So we can place another ad on 0% financing, the latest GPS features or thank folks – what should we do?”

Without the facts around the placement, it’s hard to draw any real conclusions.  Missing from the Fox “Outrage” piece was someone confirming this wasn’t already paid for or a resource confirming the $200,000 spend for a full page in USA Today. Without that type of validation, this Fox news report doesn’t have the necessary diligence to justify some of the assertions. Sensationalism may be what they wanted at Fox, rather than news on this piece.

So here is the video which provides an overview of the ad spend and general information for your review:

In an Effort to be fair and balanced, a couple of questions based on the video:

  1. So was it $200,000 per ad or $250,000 per ad? If it is 200K, then how do you get to half a million?
  2. Who are the 10 autoworkers whose jobs would be saved via avoiding a $400K spend since they make only $40,000 fully loaded?
  3. Why would you take out an ad in Detroit thanking america, since the Detroit papers aren’t all that national?  Shouldn’t the Detroit ad be something like “WE DID IT!!!! Your cousin gets to keep his job for now”?
  4. What marketing executive would think it is reasonable to spend an incremental amount on a thank you ad in this highly charged economic environment?
  5. From a proportional impact perspective, do you think YouTube would really have reached the right taxpayers?

PLEASE NOTE: I have no validation that the spend was already under contract, but I have no reason to think otherwise, as I don’t think any reasonable business types would spend so much money with media outlets and NOT have a contract with negotiated non-standard/discounted rates based on annual commitments and monthly placement requirements.

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January 3, 2009 by
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I’m really not being disagreeable….but it’s brand: A response from Sheryl Altschuler

The Marketing IS in the Middle interviews got me thinking a bit. Positioning and product appear to be dominating the discussion as to which is the most important component of marketing. When I look at the question, I immediately go to brand.  To me, brand actually combines both product and positioning. A company’s brand is their promise to the marketplace. That promise is based on delivering a quality product whose value is articulated through positioning.

Once a company develops a recognizable brand and becomes known as reliable for delivering on their promise, it is much easier to drive revenue from new product introductions–just based on brand reputation alone. The company’s product may essentially have the same capabilities and functionality as the competitors, but brand recognition and what the company has become known for in the marketplace, will enable the business to sell it more quickly and easily than companies who haven’t developed a strong, recognizable brand identity.

On another note, in looking at the responses to the interviews, it seems that “what marketing does” can vary significantly from company to company. However a company decides to deploy its marketing function, the overall mission should be driven by the basic principles from your Marketing 101 class: Attract prospects, generate Interest and Motivate customers to buy. (AIM) An integrated marketing strategy and plan, with consistent messaging across all marketing/communication mediums, is the best path to achieving those goals and developing a brand. It takes time, so lack of patience and changing the message frequently will not yield the long-term and lasting benefits (i.e. revenue and growth) of developing a strong brand identity.

December 20, 2008 by
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