Book review: Buying In

In "Buying In", Rob Walker explores how modern consumers interact with brands and why you are less in control of what your brand means than ever before.

Consumers understand marketing because marketing has been coming at them from just about every direction since the day they were born. Much "stealth" marketing, manufactured or fertilized word-of-mouth marketing and sponsorships are easily spotted and identified by consumers as exactly what they are. Nobody is fooling anybody anymore. That's OK Walker tells us because consumers will willingly become part of the process if you allow them in the right way. Welcome to the world of "murketing."

This book has lengthy case studies that sometimes seem to ramble off-point but hang in there because they all make a larger point.

The big point is this:

The art of modern commercial persuasion allows people to become part of your branding process and allows them to co-opt your brand in order to enable them to weave and express their own personal narrative through their individual expression of your brand and others'.

You might not always understand how they are defining your brand and personally identifying with it, but if you leave enough of your brand open to interpretation then you should allow high reach influencers to co-opt your brand and then watch what they do with it and where they go with it. Then strive to embrace it and build upon how they define it because ultimately consumers define your brand, not you.

Consumers reflect and project themselves through brands. You must allow them to do this by not tightly and narrowly defining your brand. Leave enough open to interpretation so that people have some flexibility for personal interpretation. This is a very important concept and Walker strongly supports it with research and case studies.

I highly recommend this book.

What are your promotions really doing for you?

Definition: Sales promotion - Sales promotions are short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. Sales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to provide added value or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to stimulate immediate sales. These efforts can attempt to stimulate product interest, trial, or purchase.

An interesting article appeared recently in the Boston Globe that talked about the aftermath of the "cash for clunkers" program that saw our U.S. government offering up to $4,500 as an incentive for people to trade in their old clunker automobiles for newer, more fuel efficient vehicles. After spending nearly $3 billion on the program, what lasting effect is it having on U.S. auto sellers? Nil. Nada. None. The recession is back in full force at auto dealers across the country.

Sales promotions are by definition short-term programs. Their aim is to spur purchase of your product or service.

Before you run your next sales promotion try to answer a few questions first.

1) If the promotion works and it increases sales in the short-term, will that have any negative effect on long-term sales?

2) Will I simply be moving the purchase time frame for somebody who would have purchased from me anyway?

3) Will I be conditioning my customers to wait for an incentive or discount next time such that they will forever more be less likely to pay full price?

4) Is my brand suited to sales promotion which in one way or another is really a discount?

5) Will I be damaging my brand in the long-run?

See also:

http://www.getelastic.com/how-much-is-your-coupon-code-box-costing-you

http://mktsci.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/13/1/23

http://books.google.com/books?id=o_mIiLQrNnsC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=sales+promotion+brand+value&source=bl&ots=rdH8FlIEXA&sig=tqAzicEKHpqibqKJLIbz3_ukMzE&hl=en&ei=eza4SrD9NsbllAfC9OzJDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#v=onepage&q=sales%20promotion%20brand%20value&f=false

Book review: Obsessive Branding Disorder

In the early sections of this book I thought Conley must have been rejected by some branding agency at some point and had a score to settle. I was convinced that he didn't know the difference between brand, image, identity and advertising. I was already formulating my scathing review of this book in my mind and was ready to pounce.

But then I kept reading.

By the end of the book I was convinced that every brander must read this book.

Conley masterfully traces the history and future of branding and discusses the dangers involved when companies stop investing in product development and innovation because competition easily copies true innovations and then finds a way to manufacture and sell them cheaper than you. He talks about the inevitable results of shortsighted brand managers with short tenures who are being rewarded based on short-term performance. He covers the logical results of trying to differentiate products in a world where most product categories are loaded with products that are all pretty much the same and all pretty good options in their own right.

From emotional branding to personal branding, brand churches, experiential marketing (XM), using sound, smell and a full slate of other tricks to differentiate aside from actual product attributes or performance we are shown how we can be manipulated without any awareness or rational thought on our part whatsoever. We are shown this potentially dangerous future of branding in a world where the products are the same, the promises are the same and the tangible benefits are all the same amongst competitive choices.

This book should serve as a wake up call and a warning to branders everywhere and underscore the importance of true product innovation, making unique promises of value that are hard for competitors to copy, long-term view of the brand as a strategic asset and why the commoditization of just about every product category is such a threat, challenge and opportunity all at the same time.

If you are serious about marketing and branding then this book is a "must read." I highly recommend it.