Does fame power the success of new brands today?

by Nigel Hollis

Do you know that feeling when you read something and get a nagging feeling that something is just not right? I got that feeling the other day when I read a WARC News item titled ‘New brands must create fame’.

Initially I thought my reaction was to do with the word “fame”. It feels a bit superficial and transitory. But on reflection, what is wrong with fame? The word could imply pre-eminence, renown and distinction. These would all be good assets for a new brand, particularly in this attention-poor world. So what was it about the summary of Nick Kendall’s WARC Best Practice paper that made me uncomfortable?

I think my real issue is that the summary makes it sound like fame originates from advertising alone. Sure, advertising can make your brand famous, but without a great product to benefit from that fame it will be transitory; and, as so many brands have discovered of late, it could even be negative. Too many brands seeking to tap into the cultural zeitgeist and make themselves famous have ended up with a massive disconnect and notoriety not fame.

People are celebrated and become famous when they do something noteworthy. And in the same way brands become famous when they offer their potential consumers something noteworthy. Some brands are so noteworthy that they do not even need advertising to become famous. Kendall references some of them in his paper – Uber, Dollar Shave Club and AirBnB. And as part of his best practice recommendations for making a new brand famous he states,

“Rooting your launch comms in your (distinctive) truth is probably sound advice for anyone or any communication, but it is especially true for new brand launches.”

What makes this product different from the alternatives, more interesting and relevant to the target audience?

That is easy to identify if you are an Uber, but what if you are working on beer or some other category where the category is inherently interesting like beer or ice cream? Kendall’s paper clearly identifies that you still need to root your advertising in a fundamental aspect of the brand. Many of us who lived in the UK will remember the iconic campaign by BBH for Boddington’s and which celebrates the beer’s creamy head. “By ‘eck! You smell gorgeous tonight petal”.

Did BBH’s campaign make Boddington’s famous? Absolutely. And memorable too, in part because every time something picked up a pint the creamy head on the beer triggered a positive, instinctive reaction, in part stimulated by memories of the advertising (whether consciously recalled or not).

Advertising is most powerful in categories like beer because the advertising alone can help make the brand stand out from the competition – Dos Equis’ The Most Interesting Man in the World for instance – but I would argue the effect will be even more powerful if the advertising is rooted in a product truth. But what do you think? Please share your thoughts.