That was close. I underestimated the millennials’ability to intercept electronic transmissions. Luckily, I don’t think any of my research was compromised.
It’s exciting to see the birth of branding. Everyone in this century seems to know what branding is, even if they don’t fully understand the concept. Yes, the larger corporations will spend a few million dollars trying to “brand” their way into a better bottom line. They might even succeed. But the beauty is in seeing the effort a small corner shop puts into their brand. Uniformed staff, standardized first-day training, matching marketing collateral and logos. It’s intoxicating to be around, really.
When I was still in university, I had an argument with one of my professors about this era. I told him that, even though the world didn’t really accept branding (let alone brandology) as a practice, they were already well on their way to establishing it. He told me I was wrong and, of course, marked my thesis down considerably. If only he could be here with me today to witness the reality of my theory.
Coca-cola, on the one hand, has a multi-million dollar marketing budget – of which, branding makes up a small portion. The company makes sure its employees “fit” into the brand, and takes a great deal of time to develop the entire customer experience around the character and personality of its beverages. They are, in my opinion, at the forefront of branding in this era – just slightly ahead of Apple.
Then we have Chang’s Chinese Bistro down the street. They aren’t the mega-behemoth Coke is, but they are just as careful about building their brand. Employees are trained to uphold a particular level of service and build a certain atmosphere, and all of the marketing collateral (what few there are) are in sync with the company image. Chang’s has a well managed brand … and didn’t need the millions Coke has spent to build it!
I asked my waiter yesterday what he thought of branding. I know, I broke another rule. Sue me. He shrugged off my question and said, “we can’t afford branding.”
Ha!
This is the best part of this era. The millennials are already branding and they don’t even know it! It’s amazing the “brand” that branding has built for itself over the past few years. It should be just as fun to watch things unfold over the next two!
