7 Deadly Sins of Branding

Brand ego - Brands sometimes develop a tendency for over-estimating their own importance, and their own capability. This is evident when a brand believes it can support a market single-handedly or tries to enter a new market for which it is ill-suited.

Kashi was purchased by Kellogg. But, the brand never associates it with Kellogg’s except in financial statements. This might be the reason for drop in sales of Kashi. The brand is still adamant on its view.

Brand megalomania - Egotism can lead to megalomania. When this happens, brands want to take over the world by expanding into every product category imaginable. Some, such as Virgin, get away with it. However, that is the exception and not the rule.

A slight extension sometimes costs a brand a lot. For example, Heinz, a cleaning liquid ventured into selling vinegar. The result was unimaginable. Customers couldn’t think of using Vinegar which is manufactured under the same brand name as a cleaning liquid.

Brand deception - Some brands see the whole marketing process as an act of covering up the reality of their product. For example, in an attempt to promote the film A Knight’s Tale, a marketing executive invented a critic and a quote to put onto the promotional poster. No one was deceived.

Brand fatigue - Some companies get bored with their own brands. You can see this happening to products which have been on the shelves for many years, collecting dust. When brand fatigue sets in, creativity suffers and so do sales. Brand fatigue can arise out of too much communication as well.

The Body Shop’s #selfesteem campaign was an attempt to revive the brand affiliation between teen agers.

Brand paranoia - This is the opposite of brand ego and is most likely to occur when a brand faces increased competition. Filing lawsuits against rival companies, reinventing the brand every six months, and imitating competitors are typical symptoms of brand paranoia.

A famous lawsuit between Porshe and Crocs displays paranoia Porshe has displayed. Porshe sued Crocs for introducing a rubber shoe brand named Cayman which Porshe fills infringes their brand of twin seat sports car.

Another example could be the lawsuit between Tata and makemytrip.com. Tata filed lawsuit against makemytrip.com for wrongful use of domain name oktatabyebye.com.

Brand irrelevance - When a market radically evolves, the brands associated with it risk becoming irrelevant and obsolete. Brand managers must maintain relevance by staying ahead of the category.

These 7 deadly sins will hamper the growth of the brand. Thus, brands should avoid getting trapped in the situations which destroy brand's health.

- Sayali Patil

Sayali Patil –  A PGP2 at IIM A, Sayali is currently pursuing her hobby of writing. She is an avid reader and likes to read fiction, non – fiction and anything other than course material. :P Passionate about social causes, she has taught under-privileged children and worked on education sector.  You can follow her on InsideIIM at sayali13.insideiim.com