Notes on Building a Teflon Brand
December 25th, 2006 by Hugh Kennedy
References to the presidency of the late Ronald Reagan aside, the comingled idea of Teflon and brand has come up several times this month for a PJA client. Despite its best efforts, in fact despite its five-star ethical performance and voluntary reporting of its own statistically significant negative scientific results to a government oversight agency, the company cannot catch a break. What’s doubly frustrating to the company is watching its key competitor grab the spotlight for cherry-picking its data and using its marketing machine to move the needle with some very tough customers. Even worse: watching warnings and bad press slide off its competitive nemesis like so much warm soapy water.
What’s the second company’s secret? Brand equity. Which is the pull a brand has among its stakeholders based on all the qualities (longevity, products, philanthropy, marketing) that come to bear in what the CIO of Proctor & Gamble once told me they called a ‘moment of truth,’ that magical extension of consumer’s arm to P&G product on vendor’s shelf.
In the B to B world, brand equity is harder to build and harder to measure, but every bit as hard to work against if you’re not the top dog when it comes to perceived trust. What we tell clients at PJA is that if you don’t have longevity, substitute constancy. Get into the marketplace and don’t disappear. Build a reliable presence, online or off, small as it may be, and if it’s effective, stick to it. Here’s how one of our creative powerhouses, Rebecca Rivera, describes the phenom:
“Imagine you have an old friend, who you’ve been in touch with and in constant conversation with for 10 years. You’ve stayed in touch when when they’ve moved, had a child, switched jobs. When things have gone well. And when they haven’t. If you hit a bump in the road of your relationship, it’s no big deal. The bump doesn’t become a mountain, because of the trust you have and because of what you’ve shared over time. Take the same situation with an acquaintance. You might’ve known this person the same period of time. But you rarely heard from them. In fact, they only contacted you when they needed something. Perhaps they needed your support. Or they wanted you to buy something they were selling. Or to provide them with a contact. When something went wrong with the relationship, you didn’t have as much invested in the relationship. Bottom line, you felt no brand loyalty. The acquaintance didn’t get the benefit of the doubt. In business, as in life, it’s all about relationships. It’s hard to fire a friend. Easy to fire someone you hardly know.”
Rebecca goes on:
“It’s not enough to be forthcoming when there are issues. You can’t afford to “go dark”. You need to keep a dialog going. Keep your company front and center at all times so that when you hit the proverbial bump, the time and money you’ve invested in your brand will pay off and the slings and arrows will slide off like, well Teflon.”
Good thoughts, I think, not only for companies, but for our relationships as well. Happy holidays, stay visible and present to your aspirations, and stay true to who you are.
