Brands Create Customers

It usually happens like this: whenever we’re discussing the new elements of brand strategy someone in the room will say: “That sounds great, but my company really doesn’t need a brand. We’re not in retail. We’re not a consumer goods company. We don’t worry about packaging and shelf space and stuff like that.”

A default brand your market assigns to you

There are several ways to address the “brands don’t apply to us” issue. I like to start with the universal form of brand that runs like a dial-tone through all markets, affecting all companies.

“What about your default brand?” I ask. “That’s the brand your market assigns to you. Every company has a default brand, whether they realize it or not. It competes with the real you from day one.”

A company’s default brand is “caveat emptor”

I explain that a company’s default brand is called caveat emptor. This brand premise is embedded in potential customers. It’s been driven deep into their minds by society, the markets, and by their own experience. It tells them that until they know otherwise, their behavior toward you should be “buyer beware.”

Caveat emptor is your brand until you demonstrate otherwise

Caveat emptor is the first hurdle you cross as you build your active brand to create customers.

And yes, it is your brand, until you demonstrate otherwise.

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 17th, 2006 at 6:52 am and is filed under Brand Concepts and Methods, Brand Strategy, Brand Trust, Definitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.