Brand NonSense

If brand means to engrave an identity, then why do so many consumer product companies try so hard to destroy their identities in the marketplace?

What do I mean?

Well today it is quite common to see brands with distinct identities come out with new product variants served up in packaging that looks nothing like the established image of the brand. To me this actually serves to weaken the distinct and memorable brand associations that companies have tried to engrave in our minds. As someone who has been in the strategic branding and package design world of consumer products for 20 years, I wonder this myself. I don’t get it.

It was once so simple.

Red stood for Coke. Hershey’s was chocolate brown. Kodak was yellow. Clorox was blue, red and white. Tide was orangey red. And Windex was that aquamarine blue/green. It was easy to find these brands in the marketplace. They were constant, easily identified and yes, engraved in our minds.

Oh how things have changed. Finding these iconic brands in a grocery or mass channels these days has become an adventure. And even once you locate one; it is a challenge to sort out what variant you want.

Sure I get that line extensions and proliferation of product portfolios make the introduction of new colors and imagery necessary, but why would you give away an equity that you have owned and that has an emotional connection with consumers.

It makes no Brand Sense; it’s really…Brand NonSense.