|
Executive Interviews: Interview with Al Ries on Brands and Branding
August 2006
-
By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary
Al Ries Al Ries
Chairman of Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm 
In the last ten years have the
connotations of Brands and Branding
changed? What are the new insights on the
horizon?
Ten years ago, the emphasis in
marketing was on "selling." Success
was measured in terms of what a
company's current sales were and
whether or not sales were increasing,
remaining static or falling. Today, however, companies have
become to realize that their most
important assets are their brands. The
objective of a marketing program
should be to build a brand, not to sell a
product or service. Selling is a
function of the sales department. If a
company does a good job
|
|
of building
its brands,then the selling process is
greatly enhanced. The newest insight, as we see it, is
that brands are built, not by
advertising, but by PR or publicity.
-
In "The Origin of Brands", you have
talked about the great tree of brands. How
easy is it and how difficult is it to build and
nurture a powerful tree of brands?
As time goes on and as a category
diverges, it becomes extremely
difficult for one company to dominate
an entire category tree. A single
company doesn't have either the
technological skills or the resources to
do that. Rather, a company should be
selective and a tree to dominate only
certain branches of a diverging tree.
Take Coca-Cola, for example. The
company is trying to dominate all
aspects of a diverging soft drink tree.
The truth is the company doesn't lead
in any category except its original cola
category. It should have been more
selective. Try to dominate only those
diverging categories where it has
some inherent advantage. -
How do you define a Brand Personality?
At what stage of life cycle do you articulate
and infuse brand values that may nurture
and might define a brand's personality?
The brand doesn't have a personality.
It's the users of the brand that have a
personality. In other words, a brand
lives or dies inside the mind of the
prospect. Certain brands appeal to
certain segments of the market.
Starbucks, for example, appeals to
young, affluent sociable individuals.
It's these individuals that give the
Starbucks brand its personality. In the best of all possible worlds, you
should select the target market before
launching a new brand. If you do a good
job in marketing the brand to that target
market, then the brand itself will assume
the personality of the target market. -
To what extent does differentiation help
in building a strong brand? How can the
differentiations premise be extended
throughout the lifetime of a brand?
Every new brand that becomes
successful starts out with a strong
differentiation. Take Rolex watches.
Initially, Rolex was the first brand of
expensive watches that prospects
learned about. Furthermore, the
product itself was differentiated by its
unique watch brand. Today, Rolex is a powerful
worldwide watch brand. But it's not
"different" anymore. There are many
more brands of expensive watches
and there are many watches that
mimic the Rolex watch brand. But
Rolex was first and continues to be the
most successful high end watch
brand. Be first. Then let your
competitors copy your strategy and
you will remain successful even after
your differentiation disappears. -
What is the difference between hi-tech
brands and low tech brands? What are the
key result areas for nurturing these two sets
of brands?
A brand is a brand. There are more
similarities than there are differences
between high-tech and low-tech
brands. However, as a general principle,
high tech brands need to evolve to
keep up with developments in
technology. You couldn't sell a 1996
TV set, for example, in the year 2006.
That's pretty much true of all hightech
brands.
1.
The Multi-Branding Strategy Case Study
2. ICMR
Case Collection
3.
Case Study Volumes
|
