Brainvomit – By @ThatPinkSuit
By Rhiannon Butlin
Brainvomit
A collection of thoughts on the mortality of 21st Century brands and the Sinek’s ‘Why’ factor:
- It has been suggested that brand loyalty is almost non-existent in today’s market.
- This is perhaps one of the reasons why:
a. ‘The average lifespan of a company listed in the S&P 500 index of leading US
companies has decreased by more than 50 years in the last century, from 67 years in the 1920s to just 15 years today’
b. ‘by 2020, more than three-quarters of the S&P 500 will be companies that we have not heard of yet’
3. ‘The Directory’, which admittedly I had contemplated stealing previous to the affectionately named ‘google man’s’ suggestion (luckily, as anyone who knows me will agree, I have razor-sharp snap skills which explains why I am now in possession of one) comments on Carlsberg’s release of it’s surprisingly popular body-wash and shampoo range.
4. It said this: that the release was an example of a game described as ‘brand death’
5. This means carefully introducing more commercial strings to a brand’s bow until the brand’s original lead product can be switched off from it’s metaphorical life support.
6. Meanwhile, these new products can maintain a steady stream of revenue for the original brand. 7. But how does a company convince their customers that they are just as proficient at producing body-wash as they are beer?
8. Which brings us to Sinek…
q. When was the last time apple sold an iPod?
a. who the f*** cares
9. Apple is not a company defined by the whats but the whys (and let’s not labour the point here) but they don’t sell products, they sell values.
10. THUS the WHY is not only a fantastic solution to creating meaningful connections with customers but is also perhaps the only solution to ever-shortening life-span of businesses the 21st Century.
