Never underestimate the need for equity-building efforts

By Robert Wheatley

I love my car. It’s a 2003 Mercedes G 500. If you’ve seen one it’s a retro looking angular box on wheels. Mercedes version of a Hummer-esque off roader gussied up with amenities (best auto sound system I’ve ever had). It’s a truck and drives like one but I really enjoy it. In my advanced age I prefer using Kiehl’s skin care products because they work and I like the story behind the brand. At the end of a rough day (I have plenty of those) I re-orient with a cold Corona beer (yes they’re a client but I liked the product before hand). The vacation-in-a-bottle beach thing is a mental aspiration.

As a passionate home cook I have standards about what I will use. It’s Barilla pasta or I’m not making the recipe. If you put a bag of Cheetos in front of me, it’s gone. Same with Blue Diamond Smokehouse almonds – can’t live without ‘em. My dentist was forever lecturing me about my teeth. He persuaded me to get a Sonic Care toothbrush. Wow, what a difference in the check-ups. I’m sold. I’m a pet fanatic, and have been my entire life. And I’m brand loyal — I have a Newfoundland dog, here he is.

His name is Goliath – appropriate don’t you think, given he weighs 170 pounds? I have been a Newf fan for 15 years. Best dog breed on the planet. I could talk for hours about them. My soup is Campbell’s, and my tissue is Kleenex . My computer is an Apple and I’ve been a diehard for over 20 years. Honestly the Apple reflects my non-conforming outlook on life and career devotion to a creative business. I appreciate design esthetics so Apple gets major props for that.

Sure the economy has created trade-offs for my family and me. We do less of some things like travel. We’ve cut way back on home improvements. We’re not replacing things that are getting a little shop worn. But brands that matter still do and they’re not falling off the menu. Why? Because so much of how we define ourselves is expressed in our likes and interests, and brands play a real big role there.

A recent Harris Interactive Equi-Trend study suggests that in the current economic hurricane, as Warren Buffet describes it, we tighten our grip around brands we enjoy. Marketing Daily ran a piece about the study. Says Harris: “Brand equity does not lose potency when money is tight.” Interestingly comfort foods and staples got the highest brand equity scores – Hershey’s, Crayola, even Arm & Hammer baking soda. In categories like airlines, Southwest got high marks. It was Sony in electronics and Grey Goose in spirits.

The prevailing view is that brand loyalty goes out the window with the budget bath water in a recession. NOT SO. It is entirely conditional. Loyalty’s core essence is grounded in value to the user. Wes brown, an analyst with Iceology in LA says people tend to stick with what they know and while a cheaper alternative may exist, they are hesitant to risk failure from something they don’t know as well.

So for any organization considering cutbacks and diminished investments in brand building, think twice. And for those who in a state of panic reach for steep price reductions, be careful lest you dilute your equity. Remember that people love their brands and investments in building those relationships are not playing fast and loose with available assets. If anything its vital to your future. Brands that plow ahead in the storm, by far and away, come out healthier than their conservative brethren.

I’m “gripping,” are you? What do you think?