The War on Marketing Strategy

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I have never seen Al Ries hand out bad advice until now. He says focus on your category first and your brand second in his Advertising Age Magazine installment. (You Can't Survive If Your Entire Environment Disappears - his words) But - Companies don't often have the muscle, the push or the pull to move a category, so what's Al's agenda? Weaken brands to the point that they must beg for his consulting help? At procter and Gamble we always shot down advertising agency strategies that had a "category" sell because they were too generic and not brand specific enough. (That's always the best, but also the most difficult strategy/answer to find in today's worlds of commodity products - where private labels (ie: Kirkland for example) are just as good as branded items.

Here are a few of my other comments in Ad Age:

Al,

I disagree completely. Kodak did a great job selling film pre-digital - when film was relevant. Then digital came along and they did no homework to determine how film might remain relevant in a digital environment. They just followed the digitals and it's tough to lead when you are part of the herd. That was Kodak's mistake. They didn't make a stand. And they may not have ended up like Custer.

At the critical time and unable to find the correct selling/perception/motivation solutions, key Kodak execs like marketing head Andrew Salzman jumped ship for Compaq, and faded from sight - as did the Kodak "memories" equity. They are as easily captured digitally, BUT I think film has not gone the way of the Betamax, I think there is a place for film and creativity just as strong as Apple's found vs. PCs. They just need to do the homework to determine how to say it. (And that's not by staffing with Apple employees) What is their reason-for-being? What Special User Effect (tm) can they transfer to customers who might try film again. There are many trier/rejectors, light and medium users - and I am still one. Those would be great positioning projects. Focus on your brand and the category will take care of itself. Ben Franklin said take care of the minutes and the hours will mind themselves. I believe that should be Kodak's tact. Jibe ho!

Brand Mapping the Presidential Candidates - Courtesy of John Moore's Excellent "Brand Autopsy" Blog

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Eisenhower and Truman were the first Presidential candidates to use the new mass media of television effectively. The utilization of media has matured to the point that you now need to BE a celebrity to get elected. The difference between Regan and Bush is that Regan could speak well. Most candidates today are not only unable to impress when on stage, they can't think on their feet. As Dale Carnegie said, "If you've lived through it you've earned the right to talk about it." To me, it appears that Bush "slept" through it. When I was a child the word "competent," as a standard, was used to denote "one step above moron." Now things have gotten so watered down that the word "competent" means you're pretty good. "Average" has become so horrible in America that you can practically go to the head of the class just by showing up. No wonder gas prices are so high. The world is scared to death! So you be the judge. Is Bush competent, or average?

To continue, the type of research employed to compare Bush to Kerry here is the type of work that perpetuates the commoditization of knowledge in consumer packaged goods - transforming rapid growth businesses into mature earnings businesses. This is the type of work that commoditizes positioning strategies and consumer perceptions - that bankers at Washington Mutual wear jeans and flannel shirts while those Wells Fargo wear suits. Similarly, that smoked sausage manufacturers at Kahn's/Hillshire Farm wear blue jeans and flannel shirts while competitors at Swift-Eckrich wear (what else) suits! When will marketers and strategists wake up and realize that branding firms such as Landor take them for a ride? Excellent con men one and all! I can forgive the young MBA, they are still learning everything all over again for the very first time. But the politicians are supposed to be our representatives. We are their leaders. And they, and their strategists actually digest this ... stuff! What's worse, they pay for it with our tax dollars.