Don Pepper and Martha Roger have claimed that 1:1 marketing makes branding obsolete. They say offering customers products on an individually tailored basis makes branding irrelevant.
These gurus of 1:1 marketing don’t understand what branding is about, nor the crucial role it plays in shopping and buying behavior.
They ought to read Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson’s The Hero and the Outlaw (at the left under “Must Reads”).
Drawing on extensive quantitative analysis, Mark and Pearson illuminate the qualitative aspects of brand personalities. They infer that brands fall within 12 archetypal personalities, ranging from Pepsi’s and Harley-Davidson’s Rebel archetype to Hallmark’s and Victoria’s Secret’ Lover archetype.
Consumers evaluate brands through human personality traits, whether you’ve imputed traits to the brand or they’ve done so because you haven’t. Of course, this is largely an unconscious evaluation.
It’s critical to avoid projecting conflicting personality traits, as Coke did a while back in two commercials that projected a Rebel personality which conflicted with its classic Innocent personality. Coke drew a torrent of consumer complaints.
One commercial showed a soldier home from boot camp, storming away from his welcoming party when told there was no Coke in the house. The second showed a wheelchair-bound elderly woman throwing a tantrum and tripping a guest at a family reunion when told no Coke was available.
A Duke University study found that brands, somewhat unique among proper nouns, are processed primarily in the emotional right brain. That and other research indicate that brand loyalty depends on emotional arousal. As with humans, we will reject brands that lack attractive and consistent personality characteristics.
Gee, imagine it...actually using personality traits to market to human beings. Wow! I think you're on to something. Can I join you? Hope you'll allow me to place your blog link on my blog list. Oops...it's already there. Can't keep the good stuff to myself.
Posted by: Yvonne DiVita | June 02, 2004 at 10:31 AM
Yvonne, isn't it amazing that marketing is so much about numbers (statistical renderings of hypothetical human beings) that such things as personality traits command scant attention. My nonmarketing friends think I'm pulling their legs when I tell them that behavior is so little regarded in marketing that a person can get an MBA in marketing without taking a single course in behavior.
P.S. Good job on your site!
Posted by: David Wolfe | June 02, 2004 at 03:26 PM
I am sorry to contradict but its weird to attach media to branding. I understand Branding by the 'set of feelings and emotions' that a name or a cognitive association creates in human mind. Call them brand personalities or human aspirational values. Brands are unique and trusted to deliver the same experiences over time. Dont see where media comes in. 1:1 or mass, if the marketer delivers same value and experience to customers time and again, customers are bound to remember the brand for the same consistency. The associations may come through various channels. Can be the outlet guy, the vending machine or the hefty commercial. Do they disseminate same information/ message? If not, your mass messaging may not help much, neither your 1:1 expensive efforts.
Posted by: BrandMinx | June 03, 2004 at 07:37 AM
David,
Apparently the folks at Coca-Cola Co. didn't learn much when they deviated from their "innocent" brand personality in the two ads you mention: ("Coke Pulls TV Ad After Some call It the Pits," Wall Street Journal, 6/8/04). The ad described in the article appealed to younger audiences, but apparently turned off older audiences. The beauty behind the principles of Ageless Marketing is that you don't have to make this tradeoff.
Posted by: Rick Frazier | June 09, 2004 at 01:49 PM
Shouldn't Coke just have dumb ads for the dumb people who drink their dumb product? Why anyone would ever choose to consume 15% sugar flavored with caramel, lime oil, aniseed oil, caffeine, vanilla extract and phosphoric acid is beyond me?
Love the info on your website. Keep up the great work.
Posted by: Vic Cherikoff | December 28, 2006 at 05:08 PM
Vic,
The answer to your question (unfortunately) is that people imbibe carbonated sugar water in such great volumes to a large degree because of the reach of marketers into the deep recesses of the human brain. I'm a marketer, but am not very proud of my profession. After all, in consumers' minds marketers rank in public opinion roles just above used car salespeople.
Thanks for your comment.
DBW
Posted by: David Wolfe | December 28, 2006 at 05:25 PM