The Brand as Business System
Ever wonder why iconic brands like Eaton’s and Birks fail? Why Starbucks is actually happy that it’s taking longer to serve each account? Why Walmart and Shoppers Drug Mart were better placed to take on groceries than Canadian Tire? Why AirMiles and Aeroplan succeed while so many other affinity programs tank?
The victories are not arbitrary and neither are the defeats.
Great brands don’t spring from buzzing creative departments in ad agencies, but from the very spot whence all corporate direction derives: the C suite.
Still, too many C-level executives don’t appreciate this reality. Stymied by efforts to define the vast and confusing concept that is “brand,” they pass its vagaries off to marketing and race to concentrate on that which they can hold in their hands—revenues and profits.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
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