Blog
06.22
Why does North Texas business hear 'Taps'?
Because major brands in our fare burgh are dying, dying, dead by 2011.
To wit, the Dallas Business Journal's Christine Perez wrote a lovely obituary in the great "DBJ Confidential" yesterday noting the tumultuous plummet from grace of Dallas' Blockbuster, Fort Worth's RadioShack and Irving's Zale Corp. Also included in the list is T-Mobile, which has a significant presence locally.
24/7 Wall St. says it regularly compiles a report of brands that are likely to disappear in the near-term. The website's most recent list was published in December. Usually, it says, it would take a full year before compiling another list, but "the current economic climate has accelerated this process."
See the list in its morose entirety here.
What does this say to the business elite? In a phrase, "Manage your brand."
Each case of financial turmoil has its own Beverly Hillbillies set of baggage: Blockbuster? Meet Netflix and Redbox. RadioShack? Meet BestBuy and the consumer's need to not spend $18 for some coaxial cable. T-Mobile? Meet anyone out there who has T-Mobile as their cell provider (crickets). Zale? Well, apparently the judge will see you now.
Despite the circumstances, the outcome has a case study that's the same - their brand lost relevance in the market place usually due to a lack of confidence or commitment in marketing and public relations.
In other words, marketing is never the first to go when cutting a budget. Never.
To keep a brand relevant, it must stay visible, current and progressive. Catchy ads and kitschy gimmicks do not guarantee a brand's legacy. It has to be embraced by its audience through key messaging, loyalty, promise and need.
Show me a brand that meets that criterion and I'll show you someone who runs to McDonald's, by way of Starbucks, in his or her Nike shoes with an iPod blaring.
Oh, and can someone Xerox this post to the CEOs of the dearly departed? Just sayin'.
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