Comments on: Which Is Declining, Brands – Or Branding? http://www.adotas.com/2007/07/which-is-declining-brands-or-branding/ Where Interactive Advertising Begins Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:07:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Bruce Carlisle http://www.adotas.com/2007/07/which-is-declining-brands-or-branding/#comment-124428 Bruce Carlisle Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:34:26 +0000 http://www.adotas.com/2007/07/which-is-declining-brands-or-branding/#comment-124428 The frequent problem with brand vs. acquisition spending is that control over the dollars often rests in different hands. This is particularly true in B2B markets but the phenomenon can also be found in consumer markets as well. The acquisition and lead people are given a budget and expected to provide a measurable return. More often than not, they provide that return. When the CMO or brand people try to pry control of that budget away from line managers, they often get nowhere. That's because the line people can run circles around the CMO with ROI data. The CMO has... what? The latest tracking study or a summary of some focus groups. It's not going to fly. Generally, except at the most enlightened and established companies, management tends to come down on the side of the measurable revenue generators. Now those "revenue generators" would like to believe that their success is the result solely of their wisdom --when in fact we all know that any brand spending has given them a real but frequently unmeasured lift. I've seen this dynamic play out at many companies. To gain greater control of ALL marketing dollars a new breed of CMO will have to create studies that quantify the exact lift achieved by a variety of spending levels. While the branding people may have right on their side --until they catch up with the metrics, many companies will continue to under-support their brand spending. The frequent problem with brand vs. acquisition spending is that control over the dollars often rests in different hands. This is particularly true in B2B markets but the phenomenon can also be found in consumer markets as well.

The acquisition and lead people are given a budget and expected to provide a measurable return. More often than not, they provide that return.

When the CMO or brand people try to pry control of that budget away from line managers, they often get nowhere. That’s because the line people can run circles around the CMO with ROI data. The CMO has… what? The latest tracking study or a summary of some focus groups. It’s not going to fly. Generally, except at the most enlightened and established companies, management tends to come down on the side of the measurable revenue generators.

Now those “revenue generators” would like to believe that their success is the result solely of their wisdom –when in fact we all know that any brand spending has given them a real but frequently unmeasured lift.

I’ve seen this dynamic play out at many companies. To gain greater control of ALL marketing dollars a new breed of CMO will have to create studies that quantify the exact lift achieved by a variety of spending levels.

While the branding people may have right on their side –until they catch up with the metrics, many companies will continue to under-support their brand spending.

]]> By: Marc Saxe a.k.a. Hunter Gatherer http://www.adotas.com/2007/07/which-is-declining-brands-or-branding/#comment-124175 Marc Saxe a.k.a. Hunter Gatherer Wed, 18 Jul 2007 06:24:11 +0000 http://www.adotas.com/2007/07/which-is-declining-brands-or-branding/#comment-124175 Sorry...but brands are losing out. The rise of measurable direct response advertising is demonstrating the power of moment in purchasing choice. Do people still respond to brands? Of course they do. And they will continue to do so. But the mass segmentation of product and marketing opportunity, measured in milliseconds of consumer view, will remove the vast majority of branded products relying solely on name recognition from the group of selectable options. The plethora of options in each and every product category, coupled with instantaneous access to deeper content about multiple new entrants will continue to siphon branded product interest. Direct response sucked hind tit in the world of advertising through the entire 20th century. Branding worked, but with little ability to measure it's impact vs. ad spend. But it's a new world. Brands will suffer until they merge their iconic messages with compelling reasons for people to respond...Now. Every non-brand with a great message, strong offers and credible persona competes on equal footing. Brands can no longer rest. Sorry…but brands are losing out. The rise of measurable direct response advertising is demonstrating the power of moment in purchasing choice.

Do people still respond to brands? Of course they do. And they will continue to do so. But the mass segmentation of product and marketing opportunity, measured in milliseconds of consumer view, will remove the vast majority of branded products relying solely on name recognition from the group of selectable options.

The plethora of options in each and every product category, coupled with instantaneous access to deeper content about multiple new entrants will continue to siphon branded product interest.

Direct response sucked hind tit in the world of advertising through the entire 20th century. Branding worked, but with little ability to measure it’s impact vs. ad spend. But it’s a new world. Brands will suffer until they merge their iconic messages with compelling reasons for people to respond…Now. Every non-brand with a great message, strong offers and credible persona competes on equal footing. Brands can no longer rest.

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