Brand Power: A Reminder of the Best
One day in New York as a tourist is all you need to be fully reminded of something all of us experience quite often, whether consciously or not – namely, brand power. And both politicians and business people would be well advised to remember its role in influencing behavior and attitudes.
My family and I experienced this first hand last week during a quick family trip to this wonderful city. Where else do you come across the following within a few blocks of each other:
- Two multi-floored stores, right next to each other, both overflowing with people and selling all sorts of merchandise based on a chocolate theme – namely Hershey's and M&M's;
- A very long line – in the freezing cold – outside a renown deli (The Carnegie) while the (no-brand) one across the street has lots of tables available;
- A New York Yankees’ steak house; and
- The brisk business that Dino’s coffee cart does outside the biggest Starbucks I have even seen as locals get turned away by so many tourists willing to wait some 20 minutes in line to order a coffee (and another 5 minutes to get it).
Powerful brands take years of careful management and consistent quality control to build. They need to be thoughtfully maintained. Some require the occasional refresh. And they need to be monetized carefully lest marketing vulgarity cripple their mystique and turn away loyal consumers.
What about the no-brands; are they destined to failure? No. They too can also do well provided they understand how to operate well alongside the power fields of the big established brands. And it is almost a certainty that only a few will prosper by offering a truly disruptive technology.
And then there is the best brand of all – ones that does more than entertain and benefit the consumer. It also changes the world for the better.
Our family was reminded of an example of this best at “Motown,” the musical.
During this show, we were exposed to much more than the wonderful music that this iconic brand delivered to listeners for many, many years. We were reminded of the role it played in fighting racism, redressing unfair under-representation, and battling harmful stereotyping – all with a view to making the world a better place.
The tagline for this wonderful musical says it all – and in a manner that is really hard to improve on: “The beat of a generation. The soul of a nation.”
Now that’s a powerful brand indeed.
Photos, from top to bottom: A sandwich at Carnegie Deli (Donald Bowers/Getty Images); "Motown: The Musical" on Broadway (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images).
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