Recently we interviewed branding guru Jonathan Salem Baskin and he made the point that really marketing – and in particular advertising – has gone awol.
He argues that companies are effectively wasting huge amounts of money communicating the imaginary benefits of their toothpaste, when the consumer a. Can easily find out on the internet that this toothpaste is the same as all others and b. Isn’t really interested in having a relationship with his/her toothpaste brand and would actually just like a better toothpaste thank-you-very-much.
The lesson? Your brand is the reality of what people experience and say about you so you’d better have a good product. It’s always been that way really. But the indelible nature of the internet makes it harder to ignore
After a very interesting conversation of the challenges faced by big consumer brands, it’s been great to shoot some demand generation videos for smaller businesses. No imaginary brand benefits or elaborate engagement fantasies here. Just solid businesspeople talking about customer problems and how they solve them.
In light of my conversation with JSB, this simple, credible approach seems right on the money.
Do you agree?