2009: The Year of Purpose-Driven Brands
View Comments Published by cory December 28th, 2008 in Branding, Building Steam, Facebook, Google, Marketing Strategy, Relationship Marketing, Value Marketing.The WSJ reports that spending is far off, and the more luxury and discretionary, the less people chose it.
As people hunker down, lose their jobs, see iconic corporations change dramatically, and face a new reality of a more fundamental lifestyle, we’re going to see a shift of importance in creating value. Value in 2007 was about trading up the ladder by adding features that offered more for slightly less more money.
If you’ve got a brand that’s about creating something of value, then you better focus on it. If you’ve got a brand that has lived on being a lifestyle, then you better find a meaning or plan on being smaller for quite a while. Brands that were making money by being slightly better for slightly less, be aware of the old strategic phrase: getting stuck in the middle.
Brands and companies in the middle will shrink in 2009 and companies that aren’t able to shift down, or hone a premium message, shrink and stay on the top (of mind) will not fair well.