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Once again William Lozito has dug up some interesting stuff over on his blog (though he admirably credits Jean Halliday of Advertising age for the original material.)
Based on the research displayed on William's site it appears that car manufacturers are bowling through taglines and marketing strategies at a rapid pace. Every few years there's a major change in direction - such as Buick's alarmingly fast transition from "It's All Good" (2001), to "The Spirit of American Style" (2002), to "Dream Up" (2004), to "Beyond Precision" (2005.) William suggests that this is proof that "even the biggest and the best have difficulty sticking to a marketing strategy and related slogan or tagline." We agree with him. But we also note that
BMW hasn't materially changed their slogan since the 1980s. Why not? Because their brand message has worked. They've found a timeless message that other manufacturers can't seem to copy. There can be only one "Ultimate Driving Machine."
And Volvo, while not having a particularly well publicized tagline ("For Life") has done a great job of staying with a messge that works. If you want a safe car they're the only brand you consider. I consistently use Volvo of a company that has nailed its brand message in my workshops. If you want to see the power of branding just ask any group of people who makes the best cars and have them shout out the answer. Then ask who makes the fastest cars. (In both cases you'll get dozens of different responses.) Then ask who makes the safest cars. 99% of your audience will shout "Volvo." That is branding. So - it seems to make sense that if you haven't nailed your brand that you'd continue trying to find something... anything... that connects. Nike didn't start with "Just Do It" - but once they found that message they stuck with it. If you work for a company that changes its marketing technique every few years you probably need to take a look at what is behind the change. Are you changing because your previous effort didn't work, or because that's just what your company does every few years? In either case you're at risk of creating a brand that has no identity at all. Rather than create completely new identities, we advise that each brand iteration should reinforce the one before. Buick's scatter-shot approach has led to no real identity at all for the company. If you ask people on the street (as we have) you'll likely find that people remember Buick for their conservative land-yachts. Why are they stuck here? Because they keep trying to say different things about their vehicles. According to their branding they are "good" "American" high-class and "precise" vehicles. How's that for a strong identity? Four different messages in four different directions... Might as well just brand them as "Swing and a Miss." Thanks again to William Lozito for expanding the conversation. Tate Linden Principal Consultant Stokefire Consulting Group 703-778-9925 |
