Having a Better Brand is Better Than Having a Better Product

Is this actually the best smartphone?

• What’s the best energy drink? Red Bull, of course.
• What’s the best coffee? Starbucks, of course.
• What’s the best smartphone? The iPhone, of course.

“Perception isn’t always half the battle;

Sometimes it’s the entire battle.”

– Al Ries.

In the marketing community, there is a struggle between two schools of thought. One school is focused on the product. The other school is focused on the brand.

The product school believes that the ultimate winner in every marketing battle is the product. If this is so, then goes the thinking, the role of a company’s marketing program is to communicate the features and benefits of a company’s product, in a way that is clearly superior to its competitors.

So if you want to become market leaders like Red Bull, Starbucks, and the iPhone, you need to develop a better product or service than they already do. Then hire the best advertising agency you can find, to communicate your superiority message.

 

How can anyone believe otherwise?

With all the evidence on the side of the product school, how can anyone believe the brand is more important than the product? The key insight is perception.

There are no facts. Everything in life is perception. There are no superior products. There are only superior perceptions in consumers’ minds.

 

The role of perception

There’s no question iPhone has the perception of being the best smartphone. The same is true of Starbucks and coffee. Red Bull and energy drinks.

What can we learn about perceptions? They are very difficult to change. Once a person holds a strong perception about a specific brand, it’s extremely difficult to change that perception.

Developing a better energy drink than Red Bull is a simple task compared to developing a better perception than Red Bull in consumers’ minds.

Perceptions are usually difficult to change. When was the last time you changed your mind about a brand?

 

The role of timing

The product school doesn’t need to worry about when to launch a brand. At best, it might be wise to delay the introduction of a new brand in order to have the extra time to develop a superior product.

The brand school however thinks differently. Since perceptions are difficult to change, then it’s critical to get into consumers’ minds before the competition does. That’s why leader brands are usually first in their categories.

Motto of the brand school: It’s better to be first than it is to be better.

 

The role of difference

Only a handful of brands can be first. So how can an also-ran overtake a leader? The brand school has an answer for that question, too.

Be different.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, a rental company in the USA, wasn’t necessarily better than Hertz. But it was certainly different. Instead of locating its rental counters in airline terminals (like Hertz, Avis, National and almost everybody else), Enterprise Rent-A-Car opened up in the suburbs.

Today, Enterprise is the largest car-rental company in America. Not Hertz.

Again, Motto of the brand school: It is better to be different than it is to be better.

 

Robert Galbraith vs. J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling is the first author to become a billionaire by writing books. Her “Harry Potter” books were translated into 55 different languages in 200 countries, and sold more than 450 million copies.

So what happened when J.K. Rowling wrote a novel (The Cuckoo’s Calling) and had it published under a different name (Robert Galbraith)?

Nothing. In spite of favourable reviews, “The Cuckoo’s Calling” sold less than 1,000 copies. Then word got out that the book was actually written by J.K. Rowling, and it almost immediately jumped to the top of the best-seller lists. In just a few months, the book had sold 1.1 million copies.

What’s more important; the book or the author?

What’s more important; the product or the brand?

 

Case-in-Point for Your Business

Develop a better brand, not a different product. Waste no time trying to compete with your competitors; rather, invest more time on improving your customers’ perception about your brand.

How do your customers perceive you? Your service? Level of professionalism? Business ethics? Industry knowledge?

Remember, your customer’s perception is your reality. It is everything about your brand.

Have you got a product/service that needs a high touch of branding? Let us help you re-think your customer engagement for effective business goals. See what we do best here.

 

Credit: This article first appeared on Ad Age by Al Ries.