Four Zombie Ideas of Branding That Refuse to Die

Just like the zombie hordes of The Walking Dead zombie ideas find a way to resurface over and over again and are hard to kill I would be hardpressed to find a space that is more infected by zombie ideas than the world of branding As we get closer to Halloween I thought this would be a perfect time to dissect and kill them once and for allZombie Kill 1 amp8211 Data Is the New OilI wrote an entire piece walking through exactly why this analogy needs to be thrown in the trash There is no denying that data is essential Data is a tool best used to tell us quotwhat happenedquot but is less helpful in showing us quotwhy something happenedquot Blind adherence to data as a salve to humancentered challenges will continue to drive poor results and inferior branding as well as reinforce a business narrative of extraction Many marketers are drowning in an array of ones and zeros and hoping that sheer volume will generate useful insightsMarketers persist in thinking data is their best option and in turn people continue to reject a majority of marketing messaging In a study performed by think tank Credos results show that the public perception of advertising was at an alltime low Data isn39t the only cause but the heavy reliance on data at the expense of creative certainly doesn39t helpZombie Kill 2 amp8211 Lack of Diversity Is a Pipeline ProblemIt is no secret that there is a lack of diversity in the marketing and advertising industry To address this problem many organizations have instituted programs to increase the number of underrepresented groups in the industry Conventional wisdom is that if minorities are exposed to the industry and adequately mentored there is a chance to change the look of the industry This premise might be wellintentioned but it is falseThe lack of diversity in advertising is not a pipeline problem it is a status quo problem Leaning on pipeline as the primary explanation for the lack of diversity assumes a diverse talent pool isn39t already available However there are more than enough people of color and women with experience awards and client savvy to have better industry representation However there is a lack of willpower to hire themPipeline becomes a convenient excuse to kick the can down the road while ignoring a current pool of available talent Rather than confront the systemic bias that exists in the advertising industry it is much easier to just lay the lack of representation on the socalled quotpipeline problemquot This zombie reasoning leaves seasoned professionals scrambling for opportunities At the same time younger people entering the industry don39t have senior mentorship reflective of their background Disenchanted they end up part of the churn and we return to the pipeline once moreZombie Kill 3 amp8211 Demographics Still Matter We are living in a postdemographic reality The alphabet soup of conventional demographic groups Gen X Gen Z millennials and on and on aren39t capable of capturing the complexity inherent in our choices Of course there are broad strokes that marketers can gather from observing people by demographic clusters But instead of just relying on the surface observations that come from demographics it would make more sense to understand the shared values that are motivating decisionsThat deeper understanding which is more meaningful requires linking value systems with seemingly disparate groups Listening to weak signals that naturally coalesce and take shape in the margins of dominant cultures can provide incredible intelligence on critical shifts in valuesDemographics matter a lot less than we believe and having a valuescentric perspective will undoubtedly be more valuable in the long termZombie Kill 4 amp8211 The Bigger Your Spend the More Relevant Your BrandIf you want to create a powerful brand then you have to spend a lot of money amp8212 the bigger your budget the more significant your impact amp8212 goes the logic If this were the case all of the money regularly flushed down the toilet for Super Bowl ads would have resulted in some significant brand buildingLarge budgets can increase awareness but that is not the same as having brand relevance Brand relevance is not only based on your message which can be influenced by your spend but it is also dependent on how people perceive you What do people feel about your brand Is there a meaning or context to their lives that makes your brand matter If your brand is absent meaning it won39t matter how much money you spend it won39t help you achieve relevanceGrab Your Stakes and ChainsawZombie ideas are persistent lumbering from one agency to another infecting everyone they come in contact with Zombie ideas are nefarious because of the corrosive nature of the thinking and the allegiance they command to beliefs that are way past their prime Zombie ideas prevent real solutions from taking root and flourishing Zombie ideas limit the imagination of those who should be the most creative in solving the serious issues of diversity and brand relevanceIt39s time to sharpen the stakes and aim squarely for the head putting down zombie ideas once and for allClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Four Zombie Ideas of Branding That Refuse to Die

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Philip McKenzie

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Four Zombie Ideas of Branding That Refuse to Die

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