Trying To Do Great Branding Without Relevant Knowledge And Marketing Experience, Is Well, Bullshit.

Every time I read an article on branding, I can’t wait to see that person’s point of view and the depth of knowledge and experience they have on branding. Nine times out of ten, it’s an article NOT written by an expert. So, you get an article not about branding but about marketing. Two different things. How do I know? Because I started my career as a marketer who then became a branding expert working with and creating amazing billion dollar brands. Our own marketing agency grew to more than 10,000 employees worldwide. So, I know a few things about branding. And yet, why do so many people talk and “bullshit” about understanding branding when they clearly don’t? 

Marketers today are not dumb. I believe they are actually quite bright. They just do not understand the craft of building a brand. They do understand that brands always win over products but they simply do not know how to build a brand. They have never worked for a marketing” Merlin” or had the kind of brand mentor who cold teach them about branding. They do what they have always done to help their online marketing agency grow and thrive. Online tactical marketing.

The only problem with understanding one medium “tactically” and not acquiring strategic marketing knowledge and expertise is that as you move upstream to work with larger clients and more powerful “brands” they all expect you to know marketing strategy and branding. It may not be exactly why they are hiring you but they expect you to know it. And if you don’t know it, your tendency is to either “bullshit” your way through it or to actually offer recommendations that are really going to be based on bullshit. That is, you don’t actually know what to do so you try and wing it. This is the most dangerous place to be as a marketer since you could actually damage the brand and your career.

When you don’t really understand the value or the elements that go into the creation of branding, you tend to do what you know, which is tactical product marketing. The only problem with that is that you will probably never construct the marketing needed to create a customer ”feeling” which results in the customer viewing your product or service as valuable...until something better comes along.

Let me give you an example when someone has done great tactical marketing and not branding. When GoPro launched, they did excellent product and tactical marketing and leveraged the customer’s need for photo and video capture to create GoPro (founded in 2002), just kept improving the same core product, more or less, and never focused on diversifying the product line (strategy) or really building their brand value (i.e. easy to use software, helpful platform, value, etc.) So, where is GoPro today? Struggling. Not sure if they will survive. Quite frankly, do you love your GoPro?

Over time, brands that focus on the customer and stay relevant as a brand, meaning they continue to create a customer feeling that is uniquely positive, will thrive and continue to be leaders. Companies that focus on building great products but not great brands will face competition over time and ultimately struggle in the marketplace. They tend to focus on short terms results and do not take the long-term view. Brands, not products, ultimately rule the marketplace.

Some of the content and thinking from this article came from my book Brands and Bulls**t. Excel at the Former and Avoid the Latter: A Branding Primer for Millennial Marketers in a Digital Age If you really want to understand the core elements of how marketers can build a brand, read the book. Then read more books about branding, take a branding workshop, find a branding mentor and spend 5-7 years doing good to great marketing until you finally get branding. Only then, can you finally understand what it takes to build a great brand.