{"id":4135,"date":"2016-01-27T12:52:50","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T07:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teekhapan.wordpress.com\/?p=4135"},"modified":"2016-01-27T12:52:50","modified_gmt":"2016-01-27T07:22:50","slug":"when-you-expand-your-brand-you-weaken-your-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/2016\/01\/27\/when-you-expand-your-brand-you-weaken-your-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhen you expand your brand, you weaken your brand\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"laura<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Laura Ries<\/strong> is a leading marketing strategist, bestselling author and television personality. In 1994, Laura founded Ries & Ries, a consulting firm with her father and partner Al Ries, the legendary Positioning-pioneer. Together they consult with companies around the world on brand strategy. With Al, Laura is the co-author of five books on branding that have been worldwide bestsellers. Her first solo book was Visual Hammer<\/em>. Her latest\u00a0book Battlecry<\/em> was published in September\u00a02015. In this interview she speaks to Vivek Kaul<\/strong>.<\/p>\n


\nIn the foreword to your new book Battlecry<\/em>, Al Ries writes that \u201cover time, companies drift sideways. They get into many different businesses and lose their focus.\u201d Can you give us a few examples.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are so many, but here are a few. Yahoo was the leading search engine, at one time worth $120 billion on the stock market. Then Yahoo turned itself into a \u201cportal\u201d by adding a host of new services. Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Games, Yahoo Groups, Yahoo Pager, etc.
\nThose additions allowed Google to move in and dominate the search market. Today, Yahoo is worth only $29 billion on the stock market and most of that value is due to its investment in Alibaba stock. (Google is worth $428 billion on the stock market.)
\n
\nAny other examples?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dell was once the largest maker of personal computers with 17 percent of the global market. Today, Dell has fallen to third place with 13 percent. Dell stock once sold for $60 a share. Two years ago, was Dell bought out by a private-equity firm for $13.75 a share.<\/p>\n

What caused Dell to collapse?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Expansion. Dell once sold computer direct to businesses. That was it. Then Dell started selling to the consumer market, including such products as television sets, digital audio players, computer printers and smartphones. The company also made many acquisitions in such areas as storage, services, data centers, security, virtualization, networking and software. In the three years from 2009 to 2012, Dell spent $12.7 billion on 18 acquisitions.<\/p>\n

IBM, General Electric and a host of other companies have tried to expand their businesses by introducing many new products and services. Today, these and other companies have gotten smaller, not larger.<\/p>\n

Why does this happen?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because when you expand your brand, you weaken your brand. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

How do you correct this mistake at the branding level?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all, a company should narrow its focus so it stands for something. Dell once stood for \u201cPersonal computers sold direct to business.\u201d What does Dell stand for today? Nothing. As a result, Dell has to sell its products and services based on low prices.<\/p>\n

Years ago, Dell had a powerful slogan. \u201cDirect from Dell,\u201d a slogan that implied that companies could save money by buying their PCs from Dell\u2019s website. Furthermore, the slogan was memorable because it used \u201calliteration,\u201d one of the five techniques mentioned in my Battlecry<\/em> book that can increase memorability.<\/p>\n

What is Dell\u2019s slogan today?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBetter technology is better business.\u201d That\u2019s a generic slogan that could apply to any company.<\/p>\n

Why is a narrow product line better than a broad product line? Because a narrow product line is needed to build a powerful brand.<\/p>\n

Can you give us an example?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take Subaru, a Japanese automobile brand. In the American market in the year 1993, Subaru sold 104,179 vehicles, but the company lost $250 million on sales of $1.5 billion. So a new president was hired. The new president found that 48 percent of Subaru\u2019s sales were four-wheel-drive vehicles and 52 percent were two-wheel-drive vehicles.<\/p>\n

So what did he do? He decided to focus on four-wheel-drive vehicles only. Sales declined the first two years, but then they took off. From 104,179 vehicles in 1993 to 515,693 vehicles in 2014, an increase of 393 percent. (The total automobile market in those 21 years increased only 19 percent.) In 1993, Subaru was the ninth-largest Japanese vehicle brand in the American market. Today, Subaru is the fourth largest, trailing only the big three: Toyota, Honda and Nissan.<\/p>\n

So what is the moral of the story here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to find cases like Subaru because most brands are taken in the opposite direction. Companies expand their brands; they don\u2019t contract them. That\u2019s logical, but that\u2019s not good marketing strategy.<\/p>\n

Why do companies like formal words in their marketing campaigns? You recommend colloquial expressions. Why? A few examples would be great. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Formal words like \u201cmotion picture\u201d sound important. But consumers invariably use shorter words like \u201cmovies.\u201d Or \u201cTV\u201d instead of \u201ctelevision.\u201d Or \u201cSUV\u201d instead of \u201csport-utility vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most-famous charities in America, organized by the United States Marine Corps, collects toys for children at Christmas time. Instead of calling the charity \u201cToys for Children,\u201d they called the charity \u201cToys for Tots,\u201d a colloquial expression that is also alliterative.<\/p>\n

You also talk a lot about abstract words. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how they hurt a marketing campaign?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have two brains. A left brain which handles words and a right brain which handles visuals. The right brain is also the site of your emotions. There are also two kinds of words, abstract words and specific words. \u201cGeorge Clooney\u201d are specific words. \u201cWorld-famous movie star\u201d are abstract words.<\/p>\n

So?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both abstract and specific words are processed in the left brain. But specific words like George Clooney also conjure up images in your right brain, the emotional half of your brain. Emotion is the biggest, single, memory stimulant. What events do you remember the most? The day you graduated from college. The day you got married. The day you had your automobile accident. These \u201cemotional\u201d events are also visual. You can never forget them. That\u2019s why slogans using specific words are much more memorable than slogans using abstract words.<\/p>\n

Can you give us an example?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe ultimate driving machine\u201d made BMW the world\u2019s largest luxury-vehicle brand. BMW could have said \u201cThe ultimate performance machine,\u201d a broader and more inclusive slogan.<\/p>\n

But \u201cdriving\u201d is a word that can be visualized. (Two hands behind the wheel.) But \u201cperformance\u201d cannot. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

What is the difference between slogans that consumers remember and the ones that they don\u2019t? How is related to the concept of Battlecry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two things make a slogan memorable: Money and memory-enhancing techniques. If you have enough money (and enough time), you can make any slogan memorable. \u201cJust do it,\u201d the Nike slogan, is memorable because Nike has spent billions of dollars to promote it over the past 27 years.<\/p>\n

But most companies don\u2019t have the resources of Nike. Nor do they have the time. What can they do? <\/strong><\/p>\n

They need to consider one of these five memory-enhancing techniques.<\/p>\n

(1) Rhyme<\/strong>. Folgers became the No.1 coffee brand in America by focusing on breakfast with the slogan: \u201cThe best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

(2) Alliteration<\/strong>. M&Ms became a leading candy brand by focusing on a feature of the brand with the slogan: \u201cMelts in your mouth. Not in your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

(3) Repetition<\/strong>. Federal Express, an air-cargo carrier, entered the American market to compete with the market leader, Emery Air Freight. FedEx (the current name of the company) decided to focus on overnight delivery. They could have said, \u201cThe overnight carrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, they used repetition to create memorability. \u201cWhen it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.\u201d Within a few years, FedEx became the leader in the category.<\/p>\n

(4) Reversal<\/strong>. Secret became the leading antiperspirant\/deodorant for women with a simple reversal slogan: \u201cStrong enough for a man, but made for a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

(5) Double-entendre<\/strong>. This is perhaps the best way to create a memorable slogan. The two meanings contained in a single slogan oscillate back and forth in your mind, thereby creating memorability.<\/p>\n

Can you give us an example?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA diamond is forever\u201d is a typical example. A diamond (the hardest substance known to man) can presumably last forever. A love symbolized by a diamond can also last forever, too.<\/p>\n

You write: \u201cApple is an enormously successful company\u2026But it wasn\u2019t because of abstractions like \u201cDesigned in California\u201d.\u201d What is it that you are trying to say here?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even successful companies can fall into the trap of using grandiose, abstract words instead of down-to-earth specific words. Apple\u2019s \u201cDesigned in California\u201d campaign had exceptionally-low viewer ratings and was discontinued within a year.<\/p>\n

Three successful brands made Apple the world\u2019s most-valuable company. And they all used specific words or concepts in their introductions.<\/p>\n

The iPod: \u201cA thousand songs in your pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

The iPhone: \u201cThe first touchscreen smartphone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The iPad: \u201cThe first tablet computer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet when Apple introduced the Apple watch, the company did not try to position the brand with specific words on concepts. Many people, including me, think the Apple watch will not turn out to be nearly as successful as the three brands that came before it. \u00a0A sign of trouble ahead: Apple regularly provides data on iPhone sales, but refuses to disclose Apple watch sales.<\/p>\n

Why are companies in love with the word \u201cinnovation\u201d? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness has only two functions,\u201d wrote Peter Drucker, \u201cMarketing and innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Innovation, like many other abstract words, is both important and useless. Important in business and useless in marketing.<\/p>\n

Inside a company, management should focus on innovation. Long-term, a company cannot be successful unless it is innovative. When it communicates to prospects on the outside, however, it should forget about innovation. That\u2019s inside-out thinking. Instead, companies should practice \u201coutside-in thinking.\u201d Start with the mind of the consumer and try to fill an open hole in the mind. \u201cInnovation\u201d is a typical abstract word that has no real meaning for consumers. Instead, a company should look at its innovative product and try to express that innovation in specific words like \u201cThe first touchscreen smartphone.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t seem to be happening\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many, many companies, however, continue to try to pre-empt \u201cinnovation\u201d in their marketing slogans. Some recent examples:
\nASUS: Inspiring innovation. Persistent perfection.<\/p>\n

Bosch: We bring innovation.<\/p>\n

Firestone: A tradition of innovation.<\/p>\n

Ford: Driving American innovation.<\/p>\n

NEC: Empowered by innovation.<\/p>\n

Nissan: Innovation that excites.<\/p>\n

Siemens: Global network of innovation.<\/p>\n

Toshiba: Leading innovation.
\nIt\u2019s highly unlikely that consumers will associate the word \u201cinnovation\u201d with any of these companies. They will, however, associate \u201cinnovation\u201d with Apple because Apple had launched innovative products with specific slogans.<\/p>\n

How can a slogan provide protection from future competition? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A slogan can build a brand. And a strong brand is the best protection a company can have from future competition.<\/p>\n

How do you build a brand that will last a lifetime?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are four critical steps.<\/p>\n

Step one: Be first in a new category. Coca-Cola, introduced in 1886, was the first cola. It\u2019s still the leading cola today, 129 years later.<\/p>\n

Step two: (Which isn\u2019t a step at all, but it\u2019s the most important thing you can do.) Don\u2019t line-extend the brand. Keep the brand focused on its category. If you want to introduce another product or service, use a different brand name.<\/p>\n

Step three: Create a slogan that communicates your leadership. Coca-Cola is widely known as \u201cThe real thing.\u201d That\u2019s the slogan the brand should be using because it communicates the fact that Coca-Cola is the original, the authentic cola.<\/p>\n

Step four: Hammer the slogan with visual hammer. In Coca-Cola\u2019s case, it\u2019s the contour bottle which the brand has been using extensively.<\/p>\n

You just talked about a visual hammer. Can you explain that in a little more detail?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The objective of a marketing campaign is to \u201cown a word in the mind.\u201d But the best way to own a word is to find a visual that can hammer that word in the mind. Marlboro was the first cigarette targeted to men only. But to drive that idea in the mind, Marlboro used a cowboy. The cowboy is the visual hammer that made Marlboro the world\u2019s best-selling cigarette.<\/p>\n

Corona beer is the only Mexican brand that has made Interbrand\u2019s annual list of the 100 most-valuable brands in the world. How did Corona achieve this? With a lime. When Corona was introduced in the American market, the importers insisted that the beer be served with a lime on top of the bottle. (America is a lemon country. Mexico is a lime country.) The lime communicated the fact that Corona was the authentic Mexican beer.<\/p>\n

The interview originally appeared in the Forbes India magazine \u00a0 <\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laura Ries is a leading marketing strategist, bestselling author and television personality. In 1994, Laura founded Ries & Ries, a consulting firm with her father and partner Al Ries, the legendary Positioning-pioneer. Together they consult with companies around the world on brand strategy. With Al, Laura is the co-author of five books on branding that … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,34,43],"tags":[504,526,972,1641,2069],"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"Vivek Kaul","author_link":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/author\/vivekkaul\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"Branding<\/a> Forbes India<\/a> Interview<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"Laura Ries is a leading marketing strategist, bestselling author and television personality. In 1994, Laura founded Ries & Ries, a consulting firm with her father and partner Al Ries, the legendary Positioning-pioneer. Together they consult with companies around the world on brand strategy. With Al, Laura is the co-author of five books on branding that…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivekkaul.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}