Heritage The Attribute For Brand Sustainability
When a consumer product, a university, a classic film or an individual successfully attaches themselves to one of the common stories of our heritage, they gain entrance into our minds and hearts. And, when they are in our minds and hearts, they take on the status of a brand. Brands create differentiation and distinction; they create choice. And you cannot be chosen unless you are a choice.
That’s the marketing truth examined by brand strategist at Brand Blueprint with over 30 years’ experience conceiving and implementing winning brand strategies, Joe Benson, in an article written for this year’s edition of Brands & Branding, for 17 years South Africa’s leading reference on all matters ‘brand’.
Exploring the related issues of brand sustainability and heritage, Benson notes that, if there is any one single characteristic and attribute of a brand that provides sustainable competitive advantage, it is heritage.
According to Benson, heritage is born in, and nurtured over, time. Customers need time to buy and use the brand, time to make the brand a part of their lives, and time to endow the brand from one generation to the next. Heritage speaks of status, character, and social class. It speaks of a traditional way of life that is of value to present and future generations. It speaks of inheritance, of shared experiences and of a common history.
Brands express and share their heritage in the form of narrative; a crisp, meaningful, relevant, and memorable story – a brand story. Disney’s brand story is about family and community. Visit a Disney theme park and you will experience the safety, security and enjoyment of the quintessential American town.
Marlboro’s brand story embraces nostalgia to exploit the myth of the stoic, solitary American cowboy, a place of wide-open spaces, a time of simple choices, of good and evil and of heroism. Chanel’s brand story is that of the sensual, strong and independent woman who is seeking romance, spiritual love and the experience of ecstasy. Nike’s brand story is one of maximum performance, of challenging oneself to strive for one’s very best, and calling that achievement ‘perfection’.
Locally, one of South Africa’s oldest brands – and one relying on heritage to mould its persona to this day – is Groot Constantia. In an article in a book on the history of brands in this country being released at the same time as Brands & Branding, the value of this wine farm’s heritage is discussed.
“Our worth,’ says the estate’s General Manager Jean Naude, ‘is our tradition. The quality of every wine must be guaranteed. That’s the essence on which a brand like this stands. We would not survive otherwise. It’s as simple as that. And if we produced a mediocre bottle it would amount to an abuse, a waste, of the 325 years of history that have gone into producing this brand. That would be a crime, it should never happen.”
He notes of the enterprise today: “We can enhance the uniqueness and scarcity, but not the quantity. It’s something special. Here and there, we might make changes in cultivars, but we are followers, not leaders, we are bound to the past.
“We don’t make a huge fuss. That’s our approach. Groot Constantia shouldn’t be too flash or gimmicky since it’s the content that should stand on its own. That’s the substance of what we do. The wine has held its own for more than 300 years, and should continue to do so.”
As Benson maintains: “We all know, buy and experience brands that have a great heritage. For some of us, it is Mercedes, Philips or Disney. For others, it is McDonalds, Heineken or Gucci. What makes these brands great, what they all have in common, is that they have had the time to build a meaningful and relevant past – a heritage,” he writes.
To make sure you get to read the full article in Brands & Branding 2010 or in its sister publication, From Groot Constantia to Google: 1685 to 2010, go to www.brandswandbranding.co.za to order a copy of the new edition, or email lyn@brandsandbranding.co.za for further information.
Brands & Branding 2010 contains articles, research, case studies and brand profiles with over 1 000 pictures, graphs and illustrations reflecting the very latest thinking and achievements in branding in South Africa. Publisher Ken Preston maintains no other book delivers such comprehensive branding content, while providing a platform for brand experts to assert their views and share knowledge on branding trends.
“The topics addressed in the 2010 edition are too numerous to list here but there is a significant focus on sustainability as an economic issue, opportunity and imperative, offering responsible brands a clear competitive advantage for brand reinvigoration and reinvention,” he said.
This year also sees the staging of the second Brands & Branding for Good conference at the Hilton Sandton on the 13th and 14th October. Again, contact lynn@brandsandbranding.co.za for further information or to book.