A brand is a very valuable thing. So valuable, that the brand often dominates over the price, the product, the place – everything. When you’re lost, hungry and tired in the middle of a foreign country and you see the familiar McDonalds arches – it means more to you than just a greasy burger and fries – it’s familiar, it’s expected, and it’s normal. One thing that fascinates me however, is how much brands are diluted before they reach the consumer.
Explore our historical blog articles for nuggets of wisdom (and random musings) from our crew.
Over the years I couldn’t even guess as to how many business cards I’ve designed, let alone seen or been handed! Being a designer at heart, I always pay careful attention to the cards I am given and ask myself whether or not people realise how important they are as a marketing tool.
After reading Tony’s blog entry of last week, it led me to try and think of an absolutely flawless customer service experience I’ve had. Mind you, I had to search through to the depths of my memory; however I uncovered one experience that certainly ‘takes the cake’.
One of my friends recently invited me to lunch. I always knew he had a reputation and to be honest my ‘empathy’ antenna was out and working, as I awaited his arrival. He is an analytic by nature; late thirties; single and I’m not sure, but I think he’s living with his Mum. All the signs should have told me he’s a ‘tight wad’. Not that every analytic, single, thirty year old, mummies boy is mean, but something about this guy just stinks of ‘miserly’. Sadly, I wasn’t mistaken and I suffered through the worst lunch I’ve eaten in twenty years at…? You guessed it ‘Harry’s Cafe de Wheels’. Apart from the fact that it was downright unhealthy – I’m into low cal – it was nasty, but it was, as he continued to tell me “a cheap meal”.
I’d like to pose some questions to all of our readers. Would you pay $100 for a pair of shoes under a seemingly prestigious brand name, when a few weeks later you could find them in a discount warehouse store for $20? Or if you did pay the $100, how would you feel when you saw the discounted price? My answer to these questions would be ‘obviously the brand isn’t that prestigious, if they sell all their products at bargain basement prices a few weeks later’.
I am often amazed, and somewhat amused, by the overuse and damn right misuse of the word ‘Brand’. There are brand specialists and brand doctors popping up all over the place. I have even seen local print shops claiming that they can design your company a ‘brand’. The question remains, do any of them even know what a brand is?