In the beginning there was... cattle
No one expected that the 19th-century branding of cattle with incandescent iron (which was intended to communicate “It's my ox”), would be the beginning of one of the world's most profitable businesses. What are we talking about? About advertising, of course.
The shape that the glowing trees burned was the prototype of the trademark. And therefore - a guarantee of the quality of purchases. At the end of the century, the advertising world was focused solely on differentiating “our” product from “their” product, and building brand awareness in the minds of customers directly translated into growing trust and purchases.
Long live the technology!
Only the new century (not without reason referred to as the time of discoveries and inventions) brought a breath of freshness and a new idea for advertising: the rationalization of shopping. Logic quickly became the best form of marketing at the time. The times of the heyday of steam and electricity were at the same time a period of hard facts, irresistible arguments and products that fulfilled certain functions.
Over time, however, marketers have realized that it is not the features of the products that attract customers the most — but the advantages that come with them. So the creators of brands began to massively focus on exposing their correlation with each other, earning more and more on this.
However, a milestone in the history of marketing, taking brands to a whole new level of competitiveness, was the spread of television. Sound and moving image evoked emotions more easily (and more strongly!) than the printing press. Television has become a phenomenal catalyst for building brand awareness and forming bonds based on feelings. To this day, it is experiences and experiences that set the direction of the pursuit of modern brands.
Stop!
Have you noticed how priorities have changed in the course of this accelerated time travel? The shape of brand creation has gone from what the product has (functions), through what it does (benefits), to what it evokes feelings (experiences). What is important has moved from the product to the feelings of the customer (in the meantime, getting out of the companies' total control)... and it has not stopped there at all!
The digital revolution has arrived — and we have witnessed the birth of the “postmodern” brand.
Back to the Roots of Concrete
“If I buy this product, what kind of person will I become?” — Marty Neumeier guesses in his bestseller Reversing the brand. In a very simple way, it shows what today's consumers want — meaning. They're not that naive. They are well versed in the marketing tricks of advertisers and will not fall for it. Does that mean they have marks in their nose? On the contrary! They need them because more than ever they are looking for a sense of belonging. But not to just anyone — but to brands that, instead of feeding on empty slogans, have concrete beliefs and express their authenticity through action. Proof?
- According to an algorithm developed using one of the most comprehensive brand data sets available, WPP Millward Brown BrandZ, it was found that brands with specific views scored 2.2 times higher in terms of the likelihood of increasing market share than brands with undefined beliefs.
- Miles Young in the book Ogilvy on advertising in the digital age pays a lot of attention to the consumer behavior of people born in the 80s and 90s of the twentieth century and the generation of the new century. He concludes that their purchases go beyond the mere satisfaction of needs, and in their choices they seek authenticity and brands that behave well.
- This is confirmed by the forecasts of Ronn Torossian, founder and CEO of 5WPR, who, based on a survey of consumer behavior conducted by his company, estimates that 71% of millennials will pay more for a product if they know that part of the income will be donated to higher causes.
What does it matter to be or not to be brands in the age of the digital revolution?
What matters now is brands that are useful, practical and tailored to the individual needs of customers — to help people achieve what they want. The new current of thinking brought with it the pursuit of transparency. In the age of the Internet, there is nowhere to hide, and authenticity has become the new currency of brands.
