Brand marketing is broken: Study
December 15, 2008
Is mobile recession-proof?
Due to the lackluster economy, marketers need to dramatically change their brand marketing model.
This was the key finding of a study conducted by Verse Group in collaboration with JupiterResearch, now part of Forrester Research. Entitled "A Shift in Marketing," this study was conducted among senior marketers at 101 major companies.
"Right now marketers are using approaches that were designed for the 70's and trying to apply it to a completely different world," said Randall Ringer, cofounder and chief strategy officer at Verse, New York. "It's like trying to use stone-age tools to build something in this day and age.
"Branding needs to be more flexible and the greatest challenge is managing your brand in various channels."
Verse Group is an independent brand consultancy that combines marketing with a storyteller's creativity. Clients include Samsung, Marriott International, Coldwell Banker, R.H. Donnelley, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, LexisNexis, Inverness Medical Innovations, Covenant House, NXP Semiconductors and Colgate-Palmolive.
The study found that marketers believe that brand marketing is broken. This breakdown is magnified by the economic meltdown.
If companies are going to recover quickly, they will have to embrace a bold new approach to branding based on narratives.
"I think mobile marketing is absolutely a new approach," Mr. Ringer said. "The question with it is accountability, so we believe it is an area where more established consumer-focused companies will do well.
"The barrier to greater acceptance is the need for more ROI so marketers have confidence to go into this marketing," he said.
The study claims that companies that adopt new narrative approaches to branding will outperform those who stick with the traditional brand positioning approach.
Of the marketers surveyed, 89 percent say that marketing is under greater scrutiny than ever before.
The top three trends right now are shifting to non-traditional media, adopting brand stories and using design for competitive advantage.
Mr. Ringer said marketers should reinvent marketing and adopt a new approach to branding. They also need to elevate design to a strategic level.
"If companies such as GM, Dell and Sony are to regain their competitiveness, they have to retool their approach to marketing, not just their products," Mr. Ringer said. "They need a compelling narrative to engage the hearts and minds of customers."