Taking Care of Business: The Countess puts on her thinking cap and ponders marketing strategy and the making of a brand

I came across an interesting article in the May issue of W Magazine. Louise J. Esterhazy writes a column in the last page of the magazine which usually includes a story or commentary on any subject she deems interesting that month. She decided to tackle branding in this issue.

She begins by discussing great brands and how they are getting lost in the mix because today, "the world is all about brands. Everything is branded: hedge funds, TV companies, drug companies, mattress retailes, nails, water, even chefs." She then dives deeper into movie and music starts as brands, and, horror of horrors, socialites who are dying to be branded (a la Paris Hitlon?). She makes a particulary stabbing comment to the socialites, "As these women preen, pose and prance for the paparazzi, they forgot that elite names like Babe Paley, Gloria Guiness and C.Z. Guest haven't faded, because they had true style....It all boils down to the fact that a brand - be it a person or a product - has to do something for us... A brand is really branded when there is quality, uniqueness and style."

I think this is particularly relevant to all of the products or companies who try to create or use a brand to maximize sales, or relate to their customers, or go global when there isn't really a brand at all, just a bad or common product with a fancy name. When there are thousands of products and hundreds of brands for consumers to choose from, throwing another one into the mix in the hope of creating a fortune isn't going to get noticed unless you truly have something to offer.

It was a really interesting article, and unfortunately I don't have a link to include, but I have a copy of the article (it's only one page long) if anyone is interested in reading it.