Page 93 - Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing - PDFDrive.com

The business magazine headlines ask, “Are Brands Dead?” You see several of
those headlines over time and decide the rumors must be true.

They aren’t.
Those who argue that brands are dying offer as Exhibit One the rise of store-
branded or generic products.
Those observers are overlooking something: Generic products are not truly
nonbranded. In a reputable store, the generic product carries a distinctive
promise: the promise of the store. The store promises that the product will
perform and that the store will back it. The generic product, in short, carries the
store’s brand.
Clearly, store-branded products have brands— service brands rather than
product brands, but still brands. To the customer, the fact that the store is
convenient and one with which the customer probably has dealt for years gives
that store brand special power.
But just for argument, assume that generic and store-labeled products are not
brands. Then what?
At this writing, store and generic brands own 7 percent of the market; name
brands own the remaining 93 percent. Considering the much lower cost of
generics and store brands, the heavy publicity about the high quality of many
store brands, and the number of savvy consumers who realize that many store
brands are simply name brands in store packaging, the fact that these store and
generic brands still own only 7 percent of the market seems amazing—until you
recognize the enormous power of a brand.
Name national brands charge substantially more—up to 40 percent more—
for products that often only equal store products in quality. Yet name national
brands still represent thirteen of every fourteen sales in the market. Amazing—
and perhaps the best evidence of the enormous power of brands.
Brands are alive—and you could use one.

The Warranty of a Brand

What is a brand?
A brand is more than a symbol. In the public’s eye, a brand is a warranty. It is

a promise that the service carrying that brand will live up to its name, and
perform.

A brand is even more important than a warranty. No warranty does enough,