The other day I recieved a poll question from a leading advertising industry trade magazine asking "What is the most genuine brand." I was given the choices J&J, Google and UPS. And I thought "Christ! What's the point of THIS question? Is someone feeling uncertain as to their authenticity (which is just another flavor of the "genuine" selling dimension)?So I got to thinking. This question is irrelevant to these three, but in my lifetime, what have been my Top 10 Brands? That is, over the last 40 years, when I look back at every consumer good I've ever purchased, which 10 brands have I always purchased - and never purchased a rival? Interesting question right? Well here are my 10 based on product performance profiles.
- Q-Tips (feel as good as sex when you use them)
- Band-Aids (they stick well)
- Neosporin/Polysporin (never bought anything else for scrapes)
- Hellmann's Mayo (thank Laura Ries for pointing out REAL)
- Coke (and only Coke) (never tried Diet/Zero/New/Vanilla, etc.)
- NPR (National Public Radio is the best)(The Christian Science Monitor was a close second)
- The Beatles (ok, I do like other bands, but not with the same total immersion)
- Walter Cronkite/Chet Huntley/David Brinkley (great news anchor brands - after them, the news became, well, not news)
- Acura (biggest bang for the buck - my 91 Legend is over a quarter million miles without a single repair issue. Have only changed the fluids, tires and brakes - still runs like new)
- Maxfield Parrish (one of a kind great graphic artist)
As far as any other consumer good or category goes, I must admit, I have accepted substitutes, misplaced my loyalty and shopped on price percieving your brand to be a commodity.
So what's your top ten brand list? Post it here. Do you have an imaginary brand list for new products not yet invented? Mine starts off with Vel-Close and ends with OraQuel. What are they? I'll show you mine if you show me yours. Thanks!
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4 comments:
My brand loyalty is strongest with personal care products. Barbasol Menthol shaving cream. I can't find it on store shelves, so I buy it by the case from the manufacturer. Gillette razors: they just keep making them better and better, and while they also get more expensive, I figure my face is more than worth it. Mennen deodorant.
You can go blind using Q-tips.
I agree on Legend. My '92 model as good as yours. And the design is immutable. You know it, yes?
On the mention of the 3 anchors: I grew up with these guys. I watched Uncle Walter deliver the count of college campuses occupied by student protesters from the inside of an occupied NYU building the week of Kent State. But...
That's like saying the top brand of anvil. The category has so changed that, while news is still news, the proliferation of talking heads has rendered the importance of any one, or three of them, to almost nothing.
Because there were three networks, these men were the source. Now there are so many sources there is no one trusted source. You're right when you say the news business became something that isn't news. But if these guys were on the air again today they would fail.
For that matter, I would dispute your adding them, as well as Parrish and the Beatles to a list of brands. But then, clearly we have fundamental differences on the definition of a brand, just as, in my job as a creative director, I have a different definition for an insight.
All this said, I'm very happy to have found your blog today.
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