Has the current crisis also affected that powerful concept of brands? According to management consultants including George Stalk, severe economic pressure could speed up trends that might have happened any way but much more slowly. And was one of those trends branding, invented by Procter & Gamble in 1931?
In packaged-goods, it's obvious that budget-conscious consumers are shunning the warm and fuzzies associated with familiar brands like Heinz for plain-vanilla private-label food, beverages and stables. In response, companies like ConAgra Foods have been cutting prices on some merchandise.
But could that just be the beginning of the end for marketing via branding? Will we promote ourselves and our products and services not by personal, category and organizational branding but by other means such as just-in-time results? "Yesterday, we increased sales of widgets for Company X 7%." "Today, Law Firm Y has already received 76 contacts from prospects and current clients and it's only 10 A.M."
Has branding become too cost-inefficient in marketing and too indirect to be effective? Moreover, digital communications, low-cost in themselves and globally high-reach, allow for just-in-time marketing. Branding might not make it to the 2012 presidential campaign.
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