Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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May 29, 2006

Don’t Read Your PR, Read Your Marketing Copy

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 10:06 am

Diverse Portfolio

Customer Think Logo

A high-power company in educational publishing, bought three smaller companies and put them together. They think they offer a diverse portfolio. I think they offer a menu of bacon, ice-cream, tofu, and cognac. They are quite equipped to make the district-wide, state-wide sale. But rare is the sales rep who has the time or experience to speak to the details and nuances of the four individual product lines that they offer.

The Emperor has clothes bought by the bean counters. The bean counters think in BIG NUMBERS. The PR says that’s wonderful. The enterprise doesn’t see the world becoming niches and moving online.

The Umbrella Brand

Each of the small companies had a brand that was strong and thriving. The bacon was the superior bacon in the market. The tofu, the ice cream, the cognac were likewise. That’s the reason the big enterprise bought them. Then the big enterprise threw away each little company’s branding statements and gave them all one new “umbrella brand.” Here you go teachers. This is it.

Learning that Changes Lives

Changes lives how? in what way? for the better? . . . That’s not branding. That’s not even promotion. That’s empty air. An enterprise with four brands that don’t relate is a store not a brand, and their inability to make a branding statement that defines all four proves it.

The most telling part is that each time I want to quote that statment as an example, I have to look it up, because I can’t remember it. What does that say about the statement they’re making? How unremarkable is that?

Maybe the enterprise should put down their PR and read their marketing copy.

Maybe I’m just picking on details. What do you think?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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4 Comments to “Don’t Read Your PR, Read Your Marketing Copy”

  1. May 29th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
    ann michael said

    Is there learning that doesn’t change lives? Isn’t that the whole point of learning. That’s like saying “Cars that get you somewhere”.

  2. May 29th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
    ME Strauss said

    My thoughts exactly. Branding that doesn’t say anything isn’t branding at all is it?

  3. May 29th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
    Advice Librarian said

    Well, there’s some articles I’ve gotten that made me feel stupider for having read them - I doubt that’s what they mean by their branding though.

    Well, at least one can hope.

  4. May 29th, 2006 at 8:59 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Well said Ad Lib. May not be what they meant, on the other hand they are in the business of teaching literacy. You would think they might know how to put forward words that have meaning. :)

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