1
Jul
2009
EITHER YOU HAVE IT OR YOU DON’T
I’ve been postponing writing about the Apple brand for a while because of my biased admiration for Mr. Jobs, but I think that Bing, Microsoft’s latest launch, enables me to make a case.
I’ve lived long enough to understand that in life some people have it and some don’t. The same applies to branding and marketing. Some companies have it and some don’t.
You can’t dispute that both Mr. Gates and Mr. Jobs have been pioneers, both have changed the world, both have built justly admired companies, but only one has taken the brand to the Brands Hall of Fame. We let you guess who that is!
The difference lies in the fact that Apple is a marketing and brand driven company and Microsoft is not. I could even bet that the brand isn’t on anybody’s list, even though they are now investing millions in saying they do. The company is admired, the entrepreneur behind it is an icon but the brand itself is…Blah! (And that is the only word that comes to my mind).
On the other hand, the Apple brand is a cult, everybody has a FEELING towards it, and most of those feelings are positive.
With the launch of Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, this company proves again that “they don’t have what it takes”, they are not a marketing company. They just don’t have it. Even if they have 150 million to invest.
I am not questioning the campaign itself, or the product; I am just saying there is no branding strategy in Microsoft or in any of the Microsoft umbrella communications. It just doesn’t happen.
From having worked with companies that do have it and more often with those that don’t, I can share a pattern with you. For those that don’t have it, the most important thing is the product; once the product is ready they plan a go-to-market strategy. For those that do have it, the most important thing is the Brand DNA, and then they develop the products that work within that engraved code.
In both cases we come to the brainstorming session, with all our creative juices flowing. The difference is that in the first case (companies that don’t have it), you need to invest a lot of time and energy finding the communications path and the creative gimmick. In the second case (companies that do have it), there is never a need for a gimmick; the personality of the brand is so authentic and defined that you know exactly what needs to be done.
It is as simple as the Mac guy vs. the Microsoft guy.
Microsoft can spend all the money in the world trying to create a campaign that will persuade consumers to switch from google to bing! but there needs to be a good product before their is any type of advertising and from what I have read and experienced, bing! is over-promising.
Good advertising kills a bad product!
In the case of Apple I think the brand was build so strong from the beginning that allows all the company to flow with excellence: knowing where the finish line is, it can make you go even further, and you can see the brand reflected from the product itself, the process of launching a product with confidence, the image of their staff, the customer service reliability that even if they cannot help you are satisfied, seems the quality of Apple is coming and starting from the brand DNA. In the other hand the image Microsoft reflects a Big company developing of products and services that apply the brand as a signature at the end like a sticker.
Not only that Sandra. Last week we did an outing to the mall to get some field insights on what’s going on at retail level and we stumbled into the new step in the communications of the Iphone. They removed the apps stickers and are now being consistent with the mass media campaign presenting the capabilities of the phone. If you think carefully there is a strategy. First the Phone appeal (first stage) then the apps (second stage) now the capabilities (third stage), It is smart, it is consistent, it is planned and it doesn’t require any gimmicks. Some have it, and some don’t!
Joe, you might enjoy a book called Selling the Invisible from HARRY BECKWITH. On page 3 Mr. Beckwith states and I quote: “The core of service marketing is service itself”
Joe, you might enjoy a book called Selling the Invisible from HARRY BECKWITH. On page 3 Mr. Beckwith states and I quote: “The core of service marketing is service itself