There is an article at BrandChannel.com entitled, "Will Sony's Brand Revival Salvage Its Reputation?" that discusses Sony's tarnished reputation and diminished brand equity. The company has experienced some hiccups and problems while its competitors have come on strong. Amazingly, the article quotes senior executives at Sony stating that they are ready to "reinvent [Sony's] marketing" and that "[Sony] cannot just rely on the brand to sell products."
I find that statement amazing.
Great brands are not built on great marketing. Any brand equity built upon mere marketing will fade quickly. Great brands are built on real benefits delivered to customers.
Consumers want superior products and services and prefer brands that evolve and continue to keep promises...and consumers want those promises to be meaningful to them. In a day and age where just about every product category is crammed full of competitors who are pushing all products into a fast slide toward commoditization, it is more important than ever to build your brand on very real differences that matter to consumers over the long term. Sure, people might buy your product once but once they've experienced it that product had better live up to their expectations of the brand if you are hoping they are willing to pay a premium for it and make a repurchase decision.
Marketing is not going to solve Sony's problem. And what about this "can't rely on the brand to sell products?" Excuse me, the brand IS the problem in this case and if you cannot rely on your brand to sell product then why not just take your name off of it and OEM the product for somebody else?
Once a brand stops delivering on its promises then it will go into decline. If you promise leadership (however you define it) then lead. If you promise innovation then be truly innovative. If you promise quality then you darn sure better have higher quality than everyone else in your category.
Once people have set expectations about your brand you cannot relax. You must go about understanding what those expectations are and then deliver on them every single time. Falling short on customer expectations and then just tweaking your marketing isn't going to fix anything unless your new marketing goal is to lower those expectations. And if this is where Sony's is heading then they are further devaluing their brand and accelerating its demise.
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