LIVE24SEVEN // Interviews
Rita, during our lifetime the meaning of the word ‘brand’ and its application has changed dramatically, as previously it applied to a product or company, but it now applies to people and situations. As an expert what does it encompass? For me a brand is any organisation’s most important asset. Sometimes people say to me that ‘people’ are the most important asset and I usually say, “Organised to do what?”. Because if you’re trying to build a business or organisation based on people that is going to have some sort of sustainable value, then unless you’re building a consistent brand together for the long term, then you’re just a group of people doing stuff versus another group of people doing stuff. And the trouble with people is that they have this nasty habit of dying (!) or leaving and taking clients with them, so again, if you want to create any kind of sustainable value in any business and generate some sustainable wealth then you need to build a brand. In summary, people die, buildings fall down, products and services become obsolete, but the thing that lives on if you look after it properly is your brand. What’s interesting is that it even applies to people brands themsleves; people like David Beckham are a classic example of that because he started out being a marketing phenomenon and the difference between a marketing phenomenon (someone who is famous right now) and a brand, is that when you start to
create sustainable value over and above what you’re doing today, then you can start calling yourself a brand. So for example David Beckham, he has the football academies, and also he’s involved in new products such as Whisky companies etc. He’s building himself as a long-term brand and of course now Brand Beckham encompasses Victoria and the children. It’s now a dynasty and does exactly what a brand does – create sustainable value with very clear views about what that brand stands for.
To quote you, “He who owns the brand, owns the wealth”. That is a very powerful statement. Whilst large businesses have departments that focus entirely on brand related issues, do you think social media has made it easier across the board for both small and large businesses to create brand equity? I think that one of the most exciting things that has happened in the brand world, and quite frankly the world at large, is that through social media you don’t have to spend huge amounts of money on building your business – providing you’ve got a great business. When I’m asked to speak to people about “branding in the digital age” – it’s a very common and important theme for so many businesses at the moment – they expect me to show sexy You Tube videos and talk about social media campaigns on Twitter etc and I’m
obviously happy to do that. There’s so many examples of companies that have grown through social media such as The Cambridge Satchel Company and indeed ASOS and they don’t spend lots of money on advertising, but they do spend real time and money on the customer experience – its fans! It’s a great way to build a business and for small businesses you suddenly equalise the playing field because the key insight about branding in the digital age is that it’s got to be a really good business in the first place, you have to make things and have services that people love, and that your staff love, and even better if a celebrity loves it. Look at Alexa Chung and the Cambridge Satchel Company! It’s healthy for businesses. The only people who have something to fear from this age are those without a good business.
It can be a harmful tool at times too, with everyone thinking they are a critic? Well, it can be very harmful, but on the plus side, businesses have a reputation to protect, so they’re going to try to do the right thing, which is helpful to customers from inside and outside the company. For example, Glassdoor is a great site that ranks the CEO and their behaviour, so graduates etc. who are looking to work for a company can go to that site to see what it’s really like on the inside. The difficult thing is when you’ve got deliberate mischief making, those with a specific grudge against the business, using things like Trip Advisor, which are very powerful, but also a weapon of destruction against a business, because you can go on as a competitor and try to poison the water. Fortunately they will be exposed too, the Internet exposes the exposers. On balance, the Internet is a very good thing for all this.
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