My first question to Frank Harrison, Global Research Lead,
Data Sciences Practice, Publicis
Media, was “What is your definition of branding?” There was a long pause
before he replied, “Oh… How long do you want me to talk?”
The subject of branding looms large in the
media world today and the results of the recent Myers
Brand Equity Study sparked great conversation and some thoughtful
consideration among networks, advertisers and agencies. Harrison was moved to
comment on the study and we delved deeply into the subject of branding from the
past, as Harrison explained, “since people started writing on cave walls,” to
the present to the (spoiler alert!) impossible to predict future.
What is Branding?
For Harrison,
“Branding is basically an established presence in the mind of a consumer of a
brand through a multitude of attributes associated with that brand such as fame
–which is very important. Trust - a very big attribute of a sense of a brand.
Saliency - when a brand comes into mind when a consumer is in market for a
product or a service. And then all of the elements that you would call Brand
Equity which are relating to the feelings and thoughts that people have about
brands based on their multitude of their experiences with that brand through
various different contact points.”
The Importance of Branding
Branding has
always been important, “since the beginning of time,” he began, “to establish a
product or service.” But it is even more important today, “because of all of
the clutter and the general level of noise which is growing steadily and
rapidly.” There are a myriad of brands currently on the market and the need to
offer consumers a sense of distinctiveness is critically important, he noted.
The need to
create and maintain a brand position is even more important in digital because
of even greater level of clutter and noise that exists there. “So much of
digital media is consumed through a small phone screen,” he explained and there
is much more competition considering all of the messaging that comes across
these screens including social media feeds.
Branding becomes that much more important in this environment because,
“you have a real danger of having your brand exposed in that channel but be
completely missed or misattributed.” In addition, “attention levels are lower
than ever and so branding is more important than ever,” he concluded.
Are Consumers Changing and Changing Brand
Driving Attributes?
A core
element of the Myers Study is to test out those attributes that most impact
overall Brand Equity such as Brand Love, Cultural Relevance, Distinctiveness,
Emotional Connection, Social Responsibility, Ability to Thrive in the Future
and Interest in Content. For Harrison, the level of importance of each of those
attributes has to be considered according to the different consumer categories.
“You have to think about which categories are most influenced and effective to
buy changes in consumer behavior. The really big changes are, of course, the
many different ways that you can connect, engage and pay attention to brands
through the internet.” But, “some categories are very much more affected in
terms of their business success than others.”
To Harrison,
Travel, Retail and Finance are categories where you have much more involvement
by consumers online. “There has been a really big shift in behaviors for those
categories than in other less involved categories such as Packaged Goods. So
has that affected consumers? Yes enormously.
Has it affected consumers? Yes,“ he replied emphatically, “And in that
environment it is so much more important for brands to be established in the
minds of the consumer.”
A Warning for Media Companies
While Harrison
had had a chance to review the summary of the Myers Study and not yet the full
report, he believes that, “traditional TV brands have not focused much on brand
and on branding as they might have and this is probably not in their best
interests.” There is little difference, in his opinion, between media brands
and all other brands. And as with all brands, the trade-off between the top and
bottom of the funnel can come at the expense of branding.
The outreach
to the consumer has become more transactional and short term rather than long
term and this shift is a concern to Harrison. “The observation that TV networks
discount the equity of their master brand in favor of promoting their series
and programs is, in the ever more competitive landscape (Netflix!), worth
re-considering,” he warned. “Content needs promotion but branded ‘platform’ is
also a vital memory cue for viewers in the ever more cluttered environment –
Netflix does this well. Famousness continues to be vital for growth.” The risk
is the slippery slope towards commoditization for media brands. “There is a new
way of thinking today that is very much around short term promotional sales
activation focus which is moving away from long term brand building towards
promotional short-termist advertising and for brands that could lead to
commoditization where pricing becomes everything
and the sense of brand becomes less and less important,” he warned. “Branding
is more important than ever today,” he added, especially for traditional media
brands.
The Future is … Pending
In looking
forward three years, will all of this media consolidation impact branding and
the attributes associated with success? “It depends on what the consolidations
result in,” he averred. “Do the consolidations result in fewer brands? Or do
the consolidations result in an ever growing proliferation of more and more
brands?”
Consolidations
are happening, according to Harrison, in order to reduce costs. “Consumers are
stripping brands, margins and businesses of their margins to the point where
the only position is to consolidate and then probably that would result in
fewer brands. So you would return to an age where there were fewer brands. That
makes it easier from a consumer and advertiser perspective to understand what
is available in the market,” he explained.
But on the
other hand, he added, “the trend is to have more and more brands and more and
more choice and from a consumer perspective, more and more difficulty in
choosing because there is so much choice.” The risk there is that the consumer
is apt to choose the lowest cost, which is, “obviously not good for business.”
He concluded by saying, “It is really hard to look out three years. That is one
of the great issues and that is why it is such a short-termist situation going
on at the moment. One thing is certain – it will not be easy to predict.”
This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
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