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wouldn’t care if 74% of the brands we now use disappeared, say Havas in a recent report about meaningful brands, but we increasingly buy from brands that offer not just functional bene- fits but also improve our personal and col- lective well-being. Nike recently re- minded Americans how powerful brand can be when it’s personal. It promoted a football player called Colin Kaepernick who had divided opinion across the country. Some of those who considered him unpatriotic destroyed their Nike logos in public. Meanwhile it is surely not a coincidence that the top 3 global brands in the Havas report (meaningful-brands.com) are Google, Paypal and WhatsApp – all digital, all leaders in the fast- growing intangible economy where physical assets are minimal compared to the value of the assets you can’t touch: research & development, expertise, algorithms, services. The devastating consequences for traditional sectors like hotels JAMIE PRIESTLEY, correspondent London. T here is a nice ad campaign in London at the moment. It’s for a challenger brand called Brewdog that makes beer. It compares itself favourably with other beers based on taste, and uses its rivals’ ad lines to mock the contrast be- tween their brand and – according to Brewdog – the unexciting truth about their product. The ad is interesting because it expresses Brew- dog’s solidarity with a large and growing num- ber of consumers who think branding means lying. I want to suggest why brand still matters. First, though, some thoughts on why it has made so many enemies. Sticking it to the man Brewdog’s strategy is not new. Twenty-five years ago Coca-Cola put its weight behind a large-scale attack on capitalism through “OK” soda, an anti-corporate soft drink brand that laughed at marketing hyperbole. There was a Brand Still Matters KOMMENTAR | Insights from a Small Island

Brand Still Matters why it has made so many enemies

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wou

ldn’

t ca

re if

74%

of t

he b

rand

s w

e no

w u

se

dis

appe

ared

, say

Hav

as in

a re

cent

repo

rt a

bout

m

ean

ing

ful

bran

ds,

but

we

incr

easi

ngly

buy

fr

om b

rand

s th

at o

ffer

not

just

func

tion

al b

ene -

fits

but

also

im

prov

e ou

r pe

rson

al a

nd c

ol-

lect

ive

wel

l-b

eing

. N

ike

rece

ntly

re-

min

ded

Am

eric

ans

how

pow

erfu

l br

and

can

be w

hen

it’s

per

sona

l. It

p

rom

oted

a f

ootb

all

play

er c

alle

d C

olin

Kae

per

nic

k w

ho h

ad d

ivid

ed

opin

ion

acr

oss

the

cou

ntry

. So

me

of

thos

e w

ho c

onsi

dere

d h

im u

npat

riot

ic

dest

roye

d th

eir

Nik

e lo

gos

in p

ublic

. M

eanw

hile

it is

su

rely

not

a c

oinc

iden

ce

that

the

top

3 gl

obal

bra

nds

in t

he H

avas

repo

rt

(mea

ning

ful-b

rand

s.co

m) a

re G

oogl

e, P

aypa

l and

W

hats

App

– a

ll d

igit

al, a

ll le

ader

s in

the

fas

t-g

row

ing

inta

ngib

le e

cono

my

whe

re p

hysi

cal

asse

ts a

re m

inim

al c

ompa

red

to t

he v

alue

of t

he

asse

ts y

ou c

an’t

touc

h: re

sear

ch &

dev

elop

men

t,

expe

rtis

e, a

lgor

ithm

s, s

ervi

ces.

The

dev

asta

ting

co

nseq

uenc

es fo

r tr

adit

iona

l sec

tors

like

hot

els

Jam

ie

Prie

stle

y,co

rres

po

nden

t

Lond

on

.

The

re is

a n

ice

ad c

ampa

ign

in L

ondo

n at

the

mom

ent.

It’s

for

a ch

alle

nger

br

and

calle

d B

rew

dog

that

mak

es

beer

. It

com

pare

s it

self

favo

urab

ly

with

oth

er b

eers

bas

ed o

n ta

ste,

and

us

es it

s ri

vals

’ ad

lines

to

moc

k th

e co

ntra

st b

e -tw

een

thei

r br

and

and

– ac

cord

ing

to B

rew

dog

– th

e un

exci

ting

tru

th a

bout

the

ir p

rodu

ct. T

he

ad is

int

eres

ting

bec

ause

it e

xpre

sses

Bre

w-

dog’

s so

lidar

ity w

ith a

larg

e an

d gr

owin

g nu

m-

ber o

f con

sum

ers

who

thi

nk b

rand

ing

mea

ns

lyin

g. I

wan

t to

sug

gest

why

bra

nd s

till

mat

ters

. F

irst

, th

ough

, so

me

thou

ghts

on

why

it h

as m

ade

so m

any

enem

ies.

stic

king

it t

o t

he m

an

Bre

wdo

g’s

stra

tegy

is n

ot n

ew. T

wen

ty-fi

ve

year

s ag

o C

oca-

Col

a pu

t its

wei

ght

behi

nd a

la

rge-

scal

e at

tack

on

capi

talis

m t

hro

ugh

“OK

” so

da,

an a

nti-

corp

orat

e so

ft d

rin

k br

and

that

la

ughe

d at

mar

keti

ng h

yper

bole

. T

here

was

a

Bran

d St

ill

Mat

ters

ko

mm

en

tar

|

In

sigh

ts f

rom

a S

mal

l Is

lan

d

and

taxi

s sh

ow t

hat

cons

umer

s ha

ve n

o tr

oubl

e se

eing

the

valu

e of

bra

nds

like

Air

bnb

and

Ube

r .Pe

rhap

s th

e be

st e

vide

nce

for

the

valu

e of

a

bran

d is

wha

t it

offe

rs w

hen

thin

gs g

o w

rong

. A

cris

is re

pres

ents

the

gre

ates

t d

ista

nce

betw

een

real

ity

and

wha

t the

bra

nd h

as p

rom

ised

. It i

s th

e m

omen

t of

low

est

cred

ibil

ity

and

the

one

the

bran

d sc

epti

c m

ost e

njoy

s.

KFC

/Ken

tuck

y F

ried

Ch

icke

n ha

d a

big

sup -

ply

prob

lem

ear

lier

this

yea

r in

the

UK

. Non

e of

it

s st

ores

had

ch

icke

n. O

ver 2

4 ho

urs

the

mar

ke-

ting

team

ago

nise

d w

ith it

s ad

age

ncy

abou

t how

to

resp

ond:

how

to li

mit

the

dam

age

to it

s br

and.

T

he o

bvio

us a

nsw

er w

as t

o sa

y “W

e’re

sor

ry”.

B

ut h

ow?

It t

ook

over

a w

eek

to c

ure

the

supp

ly

prob

lem

, and

just

two

days

to s

ave

the

bran

d. T

he

solu

tion

was

to re

arra

nge

its lo

go o

n a

pres

s ad

so

that

it r

ead

FCK

. The

res

ult

– tw

o C

anne

s Li

ons

gold

s th

is s

umm

er. T

he n

eo-M

arxi

sts

wer

e un

-im

pres

sed.

The

rest

of u

s ju

st s

mile

d .

by

Jam

ie P

ries

tley

gra

nd l

aunc

h in

199

3 bu

t tw

o ye

ars

late

r th

e br

and

was

kill

ed o

ff b

ecau

se it

did

not

str

ike

a ch

ord

with

eno

ugh

cons

umer

s an

d, m

ore

impo

r -ta

ntly

, the

y d

idn’

t lik

e ho

w it

tas

ted.

Sta

rt-u

ps

borr

ow f

rom

pos

tmod

ern

thin

king

to

atta

ck t

he

mar

ket t

hey

plan

to d

isru

pt, i

nclu

ding

its

mar

ke-

ting

pra

ctic

es. I

t’s a

str

ateg

y th

at a

llow

s th

em to

de

fine

them

selv

es b

y de

clar

ing

“Tha

t is

not w

hat

we

are.

” T

his

is

an o

bvio

us t

hin

g to

say

whe

n yo

u’re

a n

ew a

rriv

al, b

ecau

se in

deed

few

kno

w

who

you

are

, and

it e

xplo

its t

he r

ecog

nitio

n th

at

othe

r br

ands

hav

e bu

ilt o

ver

man

y ye

ars.

A

nti-

esta

blis

hmen

t cam

paig

ns h

ave

been

inte

rest

ing,

w

itty

and

even

suc

cess

ful b

ecau

se t

hey

feed

off

wid

espr

ead

cyni

cism

abo

ut b

rand

s an

d br

andi

ng.

But

the

ir e

ffect

ten

ds t

o be

sho

rt-l

ived

bec

ause

co

nsu

mer

s ev

entu

ally

see

tha

t al

l m

arke

ters

, in

clud

ing

the

subv

ersi

ve o

nes,

just

wan

t to

dif-

fere

ntia

te t

heir

bra

nds

so a

s to

gro

w t

hem

. Rag

e ag

ains

t the

mac

hine

lose

s so

me

of it

s ed

ge w

hen

you

put i

t in

your

bra

nd s

trat

egy.

T

he o

rig

ins

of c

onsu

mer

dou

bt g

o w

ay b

ack.

T

wo

hund

red

year

s ag

o G

erm

any’

s m

ost f

amou

s ex

port

to

Lond

on w

as b

orn,

and

Kar

l Mar

x st

ill

influ

ence

s th

e st

udy

of m

arke

ting

from

his

gra

ve

in H

ighg

ate

Cem

eter

y. C

onsu

mer

cho

ice

– th

e ra

nge

of c

hoic

es a

vaila

ble

– is

pre

dete

rmin

ed,

say

neo-

Mar

xist

s. C

onsu

mer

s m

ay t

hin

k th

ey

exer

cise

free

will

whe

n th

ey c

hoos

e be

twee

n th

e iP

hone

X o

r Y

or

betw

een

App

le, S

amsu

ng a

nd

Hua

wei

. But

a n

etw

ork

of i

nsta

nt, i

nter

con

nec -

ted

“cir

cula

ting

con

tent

” m

akes

su

re t

hat

they

ne

ver (

or ra

rely

) hes

itat

e be

twee

n a

smar

tpho

ne

and

no p

hone

at

all.

Dat

a pl

anne

rs c

reat

ed p

ro-

gra

mm

atic

to

cut

thro

ugh

all

this

cir

cula

ting

co

nten

t an

d g

ive

peop

le w

hat

they

rea

lly w

ant,

bu

t th

ey w

ill n

ever

win

, say

Jod

i Dea

n, D

enn

is

Mu

mby

and

oth

er s

chol

ars,

bec

ause

we’

re a

ll ca

ught

in a

cap

ital

ist w

eb. A

s fo

r act

ivis

m, p

ost -

mod

ern

ism

, iro

ny: t

hey’

re ju

st t

he la

test

too

ls o

f ne

olib

eral

cap

ital

ism

. The

y ch

ange

not

hin

g an

d on

ly m

ake

us fe

el t

hat w

e’re

inde

pend

ent.

Bra

nd is

nec

essa

ry

Bac

k in

the

mar

ketp

lace

of

real

th

ings

bou

ght

and

sold

, pu

rcha

se d

ecis

ions

dep

end

on m

ore

than

the

tan

gib

le b

asic

s of

pro

duct

fea

ture

s,

pri

ce a

nd d

istr

ibu

tion

. B

rand

con

nect

s th

e pr

oduc

t to

a bi

gger

idea

. A lo

go is

the

sym

bol (

or

sig

nifi

er)

that

inv

okes

all

the

mea

nin

g ve

sted

ov

er t

ime

in t

he b

rand

(the

sig

nifi

ed).

Ove

r th

e ye

ars,

bra

nds

have

cre

ated

rat

her

mor

e va

lue

than

wou

ld h

ave

bee

n th

e ca

se i

f co

nsu

mer

s h

ad o

nly

com

par

ed f

unc

tion

al b

enef

its.

We

Br

ew

do

g c

hal

len

ges

th

e

esta

blis

hed

bra

nd

s.

ok

so

da

, Co

ca-C

ola

’s b

rief

exp

erim

ent

wit

h p

ost

mo

der

nis

m. T

he

man

ifes

to s

aid

:

“Wh

at’s

th

e p

oin

t o

f O

K?

Wel

l, w

hat

’s

the

po

int

of

any

thin

g?”

nik

e A

ng

ry p

atri

oti

c A

mer

ican

rem

ove

s h

is N

ike

log

os