Positive and Negative Branding

Branding in marketing is a concept everyone is familiar with (whether they know it or not).  If I say "Mercedes Benz", thoughts like "expensive", "quality" or "high end", immediately entered your mind.  Let's face it, we are all susceptible to marketers and company branding but it does not always come from the company itself.

But I don't feel like a sheep herded by clever marketing ploys because branding (or stigma) can be contributed by third party media as well.  I research my purchases (most of the time a little too in depth) and each review or news article I read leads me to my own branding of a company or product.

Let's take the easy example.... Apple..... I know, maybe too easy but it will prove my point.  When I say Apple, you probably think of dominant products like the iPod, iPhone, iMac, etc.  Apples branding is so strong that even if an iMac is 4 times the cost of a comparable computer made by Dell, we are still buying them.  Apple does it's job of making their brand stick in our minds but third party media can dwindle the branding to those willing to research.

Is an iPhone the best product out there for you?  My computer engineer “nerd” type friends won’t touch Mac products.  I’ve even heard from them “Apple is evil” on more than a few occasions.  Even in class things seemed to get slightly heated when iPhone vs. Android was touched upon.  I know they have done their research and thought out their purchase.  What percentage of iPhone users even thought about other products before buying Apple? Apple’s branding is so dominant that only a minority of consumers are willing to question it.  (For the record, I have an iPhone and don’t think it is the best phone out there but is the best phone for me)

What about an example of branding that was over taken by third party media? If I say “Audi”, you think _________.  I bet that blank wasn’t filled with dangerous? About 20 years ago Audi nearly went under from cars mysteriously accelerating when the brake pedal was used.  Long story short the cause was Audi moving the gas pedal 1 inch closer the brake pedal which lead to a few instances of drivers hitting both pedals by accident.  Unsafe car? Not at all, but for months the media created a stigma of the Audi being unsafe.  The company’s typical branding was changed from safe cars to death traps.  It took over a decade of 5 star crash test ratings for Audi to regain the consumer’s trust. To this day, Audi consistently scores the highest in safety.

As a consumer we can read reviews, personally test products or blindly follow a company we trust….. Is there a right answer? I honestly don’t think so.  That’s the beauty of it all; we can buy for our own reasons and brand a company based on  whatever we believe.