Bernard Matthews' plan to extend its brand into the organic sector seems like a necessary, albeit defensive, move to me, sending a much-needed signal about their quality credentials. But in an article in Marketing Week the move gets criticised by a succession of commentators, including the MD of Interbrand, who seems to see it as superfluous:
(Gareth) Hales says that many brand marketers do not realise the value of the brands that they are looking after but instead "want to be seen doing things". He adds "They want to create action and have ideas..."
they want to actually do things? gosh, we must put a stop to that.
now, mr hales may have been quoted out of context - but I mention his quote here because it states the inverse of the real problem with much marketing, particularly at traditional FMCG companies. The problem is, marketing has become an abstraction. Marketing people (and their agency accomplices) have gotten too comfortable sitting around talking about 'brand values' and have left the 'doing' to everyone else in the company. If this was ever acceptable, it's certainly not now that the current media environment demands a stream of fresh initiatives from every brand, and the line between product and branding has become increasingly blurred. We all need to remind ourselves that 'brand' is a verb, not (just) a noun.
