Why brands matter. Do they?

October 8th, 2006

It’s high time British companies got on the brand wagon is Will Huttons comment

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Choices are constantly multiplying as society gets wealthier and more sophisticated (and now we have websites). A credible brand has become a vital short cut to guide consumers over whether and what to buy. It has also become a statement about aspirations and even beliefs. What we wear, eat and drive and which websites we visit have become a source of identity in a secular society. Brand values mingle with human values, feeding off each other in an uneasy and, for the critics, unhealthy symbiosis. The would-be successful brander has got to read the changing cultural runes well; it can make or break a company or a career.

Brands can be three things: [1] Life-enabling, [2] Life-simplifying, or [3] navigational in our post modern and networked world.

Hutton talks about the short termism of British thinking around brands and also there self-destructive tendencies. And I would agree. Look at French Connection FCUK – inspired? Short termism? It worked for a while – but it was not enduring. WH Smith – now conniving with the post office to close small post offices which are at the hub of small communities. Short termism, you bet. Greed in the City – absolutely.

It’s so much easier to sell out in a takeover or make fortunes in the City rather than devote a career to the lengthy and expensive business of building a global brand.
The weakness has a big impact on our culture. British capitalism is more ephemeral and transient; too few of our companies are there for the long haul. As a result the corporate approach to branding tends to be short-termist and faddish. A Tesco or a Rolls-Royce is the exception rather than the rule.
As a society we have learnt to sense the lack of long-term intent of most British brands. We can all see what the Tories are trying to do with their oak tree, but how deep is the conversion it signals? Mr Cameron has a massive task on his hands. Equally Gordon Brown has to show us that the New Labour brand is for real under a different leader. Branding matters. And in our climate it is very, very hard.

But the point is that brands today have to walk the walk, they have to be transparent and live up to the values that they want us to aspire to. We have 0% bullshit tolerance, and also there is a disconnect in the way that brands are trying to talk to us in a world of information empowerment.

And is HSBC British? I think it feels nebulous to me. A result of the impact of globalisation. Whereas Howies is built around all the core values that build successful brands.

We also live in a world not just of mass markets, but of niche mass markets. Where the means of what we create and how we distribute those products and services are completely different.

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