Brand truth: I don’t care
June 13, 2011
…Are they really the tree huggers you’d hoped?
…about what you wish I cared about.
Way too many brands chase the fad of the day, thinking they can jump on a swell of consumer sentiment and rise those profits into the sunset. No so fast, my friends.
For your brand to be effective, sticky and enduring — it has to be about what matters to your consumers. They have to genuinely identify with it/care about it. You can’t make them love you. (Nod to Bonnie Raitt) No matter how hot the trend is or how passionate you might personally be.
Case in point — a recent study done by OgilvyEarth (I’m pretty sure David Ogilvy rolls his eyes from the grave on that one) shows that most consumers aren’t buying the whole “green movement.” In particular, men are not motivated or swayed by green marketing messages. It turns out that their perception when they hear green is “more expensive.”
So playing to the trend is actually hurting those brands who hoped that men would be moved to pull out their wallets based on the green movement marketing position.
Time to do your own brand check. Are you trying to force an idea, value or belief at your core audience? Or…do you know yourself and your core audience so well that you know what brings you together?
And before you are quick to answer…be ready to tell me this. HOW do you know that your brand is what truly resonates in the hearts of your core audience?
Hat tip to Kami Watson Huyse for tweeting the Ogilvy link.
