The Brand Proficiency Indicator

It is extremely difficult to identify which companies are good at branding. One common mistake is to assume that the ownership of strong brands indicates equally strong brand management. In reality, the two very rarely go hand in hand. Take Coca-Cola. While Coke is unquestionably a power brand, the brand strategies implemented by Coca-Cola marketers have often seemed frighteningly inept.

Many marketers look at market share or, God forbid, ad campaigns to ascertain a company’s brand expertise. In truth, there are a multitude of more accurate indicators of brand proficiency, and at the top of my list is a brand revitalization strategy. On that basis, Smarties are in very safe hands at Nestle Rowntree, which in 2005 announced that it was changing the iconic design of the chocolate brand. After 68 years, the cylindrical Smarties tube with the colored plastic disc as a stopper was to be replaced by a ‘hexatube’ with a cardboard flip-top lid.

Customers were outraged by the proposed change, and the media fanned the flames gleefully. Once again, sinister ‘marketing men’ have, it was claimed, struck down a much-loved part of British culture. Words such as ‘scandalous’, ‘disgraceful’ and ‘immoral’ were being used in online discussion groups. Yet despite this reaction, Smarties had never been better managed.

Many brands struggle to maintain their relevance in the market. This is particularly true of successful brands that become convinced the original strategies that established them should remain sacrosanct. The innovation and creativity that initially propelled the brand to the apex of the market are gradually eroded and replaced by a conservative strategic culture in which every significant branding decision is preserved in aspic.

The brand in question does not immediately lose either sales or share.

But its gradual inability to embrace change in the market renders it increasingly out of touch. The brand becomes ‘dusty’. From being a vibrant part of consumer culture, it becomes that most odious of things, an icon. Icons are powerful things. They are valuable, recognized, respected, even worshipped.

But, crucially, icons are never enjoyed, shared or consumed. Iconic brands are the result of brand managers who let the gravitas of a power brand and the pressure of a large, loyal marketplace overwhelm them into inertia.

British marketers have proven particularly adept at turning their best brands into icons. Take Blackpool. Once the vibrant center for working class recreation, now a tourist anachronism. What about Aquascutum? A powerhouse of British fashion a century ago, it now limps through London Fashion Week with an undistinguished show and has an almost anonymous retail presence.

Then, of course, there is Rolls Royce – once the epitome of success and glamour, now an antique symbol of a bygone age.

It is no coincidence that each of these three brands enjoyed a period of remarkable success and a striking image (Blackpool Tower, the waterproof overcoat and the Spirit of Ecstasy, respectively). These are the classic ingredients that without first-rate brand management spell inevitable icon status. It’s a tough life managing a great brand because, against all prevailing instincts to sit back and lock things down, the only correct strategic course is to question everything, especially the most enduring and established elements of the brand.

So, well done Nestle Rowntree.

In changing Smarties it signaled its brand expertise. More impressive still, it changed the brand when it is still in rude health.

Rather than waiting for the ageing process to occur, it struck while the brand was fresh. Now that’s brand management living up to its name.

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Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education

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