WHY BRAND IS GOD
Let’s be clear, I don’t really think that brand is God. It’s heretical to suggest it. A cardinal sin in a bunch of different religions – including the latest marketing religion that bows to the alter of measurable metrics. But I do think God is an interesting metaphor for brand. Especially when it comes to counting it.
93% of the world’s population believe in God. Many of them couldn’t tell you why. And that’s the interesting thing. Faith is belief without proof. And the absence of proof isn’t absence of existence – some of the best and worst things that happen in the world are actions driven by faith. But before we fall down a rabbit hole of philosophy and theology, let’s step back to business and talk about brand.
Brand is reputation
We all get this. The commercial advantage of a strong reputation is the fact that people choose your peas instead of the other peas. So we build reputation and we protect it. And every now and then we try to measure it. But how?
“I know John, he’s a great guy.” That’s nice for John, he has a good reputation. But how great is he really? Please can you give me a score from one to ten regarding how likely you are to recommend John to a friend? That’s ridiculous, right. I don’t call John because of a positive NPS of 3.6. I call him because he’s mostly alright – and I don’t if he’s mostly not.
Reputation isn’t something a brand holds. It’s something people hold, between their ears. Yes, brand is reputation. But how much does measurement make sense?
Brand is code
We also get this. And fifty years of research backs us up. We talk about salience and distinctiveness, codification and brand recognition. And it all adds up to the supermarket short-cut where we reach for the stuff we know and love. Byron Sharp calls it mental availability, Binet and Fields think that’s the Long and Short of it.
Problem is, we can’t usefully count it. The cracking of the code is the mainstay of marketing. The proof of the pudding only shows up in choice of pudding people buy. Of course we can measure brand recall – and we do – but the usefulness of the numbers are nominal at best. Asking random strangers to name three soft drink brands is the definition of observer bias.
Brand code isn’t something a brand holds. It’s something people hold, between their ears. Sure, brand is code. But how much does measurement make sense?
Brand is love
We get this too. Usually in a sentence that references Apple. So we tell stories and build connections and make meaningful moments and emotional engagements. And we know that this adds value to any business. We just can’t usefully count it.
Anyone who knows a child has played the same game. “I love you this much,” we say, stretching out our arms as far as they’ll go. “But I love you more,” they reply and we all feel mushy. Sometimes we go as far as “the moon and back”. But every which way we play it, the feeling is genuine and the measurement doesn’t make sense.
Love isn’t something a brand has. It’s something people have, between their ears. Yes, brand is love. But how much does measurement make sense?
Brand is glue
You’re probably getting the idea by now. And you’re right. Brand with its reputation and salience and sometimes even love can drive people back to buy more stuff. That’s when we call them sticky. And it’s brand that puts the sticky stuff in the glue. But ever tried fixing something with Super Glue?
How much do you need? How much do you waste? Where’s the perfect spot to make it strongest? It’s impossible to tell so you goop it on, pray a bit and sometimes stick your fingers together. You can’t easily quantify glue.
That’s because stickiness isn’t something a brand has. It’s another thing that people have. So how much does all that measurement make sense?
Brand is God
And that brings us back full circle. Brand is like God. We know that some have some faith and others have more. And we know that others just don’t buy it all. But the fact of God isn’t the proof of God, it’s the impact of God on what people think and do.
So it’s odd to measure God with metrics of how much you believe. Because no-one can wrap numbers around feelings. Humans are human. Most people can’t credibly tell you what’s going on between their ears. They believe. Or they don’t.
They buy stuff. Or they don’t.
But here’s the thing. Business don’t operate on faith, their religion is numbers. That’s why brand is tough - and why there’s a billion dollar global industry in counting things that can’t easily be counted. And it sort of helps, maybe. But here’s a thought.
Rather than wrestle with the inputs of brand, would it make more sense to measure the outcomes? If I rate you and I know you and I love you, chances are, I’ll buy more of your stuff. And the best measure of that is dollars in tin.
That’s what I reckon, what do you think?
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