British Big Brands - A Management Issue

Spotted this in a supplement from The Times newspaper. Lloyds Bank sponsors this section about “Mapping British Business” and yesterday featured a special edition about British brands. I thought it threw up some interesting questions about branding and this elusive thing called “Britishness” - what does it mean to be a British brand? Heck, what is a brand? Discussing Marmite, Lea & Perrins, Mini, Colmans, Carol Lewis insists that “there are some things that, no matter who owns them, will remain quintessentially British”; she echoes the industry speak of “brand DNA” that supposedly transcends ownership, bring lasting heritage and tradition to customers whilst staying modern and innovative. Some examples of this:

1. John Lewis - “the bastion of middle-class shoppers” [Brand of the Year voted for by the Marketing Society]

2. Virgin - “fun, youthful and cool”

3. Mini - “British icon, British heritage feel, retro-style uniqueness”

Tackling the question “What gives a big name extra impact?”, Lewis consults a number of experts. According to John Noble, director of the British Brands Group, “Branding is all about what an individual holds in their mind about a product. It is an individual connection. It is a connection at a rational level but also emotionally, as well”. Hugh Burkitt, CEO of Marketing Society adds that “brands are actually owned by customers rather than manufacturers”.

Ironically, the strength of an omnipresent, all-powerful, intangible brand power relies in fact, on material experiences and the tangible; the devil, as they say, is in the detail: the lengths that companies go to in order to align individual interests with corporate ones is very much grounded in its physical resources: staffing, everyday transactions, retail stores, service efficiencies, etc. The process is a very sophisticated one: brands aim to create a language consistent through every single contact point with their customers. This language, unlike an advertising message, must be subtle rather than overt and must be easily re-deployed in contexts outside of the brand’s domain. “Design and advertising is just 5 per cent of it”. Without this level of pervasiveness, I think most businesses are just that: anonymous names and products, rather than brands.