I was trolling my Google Reader feed this morning when I came across a year-end wrap-up of books at John Moore's Brand Autopsy blog. One of his Top 10 Must Reads is a book by Lucas Conley, "Obsessive Branding Disorder".
And, after reading John's breakdown of the book, I fear we're about to experience a wave of OBD sweep through our industry.
Conley's tough on the concept of branding; too tough, I think. But the salient take away, in my mind, is that branding can be corrupted, turned into a cure-all, a religion of sorts.
If a product is defective or deficient, some people can start to believe that it can be fixed by branding. And that never works, not in the long term.
My fear stems from the rapid changes going through the TV industry right now. Everyone is so concerned with cutting costs, and making it through some tough quarters ahead, that we can very easily lose sight of the product.
TV is a capital intensive business; it's why new players don't just pop into the game. When capital dries up, however, what can you really afford to live without? And how much can your brand make up for, or afford to give up? These questions need to be kept front of mind as we make tough choices about our businesses.
Also, we need to be prepared as the brand managers for our respective organizations to deal with the unrealistic expectations (both our own, and of other managers) of what branding can do. Audiences are smarter than we might give them credit for. They can tell when a product is compromised.
We have to be ready to maintain our products' health - but that means that we have to fight for the product as much as we fight for the promotion. One cannot thrive without the other. They are inseparable. If not one else in our organizations remembers that, we brand managers must.
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