THE VALUE OF BRANDS REVISED

Nowadays, it’s important to be “branded” for something. This is even most important when it comes to what’s currently out in the open market. And many of these ideals were placed within these pages of ALOL that prove these points to a “t”.

Way back in 2009, we placed our opinions upon what makes a brand named item a brand named item. (Of course!) Although this report is some from fourteen years past, many of the details stated in our article have changed little, while other points have made a total turnaround.!

With all of that being stated, we present these elements that this humble writer jotted down way back in Vol. 14-No. 20, week of May 18th of ’09…

In this consume-it-all society that most of the domestic public lives in, getting one’s value based upon a specific brand of a product or service has increased its importance over the last few years. And in today’s current economic times, getting one’s value is more noteworthy than ever before! When everybody seems to be squeezing nickels so tight they squeak, a top price for something or another means getting top value over one’s dimes!

So with the value of what one buys or takes advantage of, what are the brands of goods and services that present more of its bang for its buck? According to a recent poll conducted by Brandindex, a daily measure of brand stature by the London-based firm YouGov, two cable TV channels, The History Channel (a.k.a History as to its on-air name), and the Discovery Channel were given the top marks by those polled asking what brands present the maximum value based upon one’s time using the product/service, what one expects from the product/service, and what one can received based upon any money spent of the same product/service. (63.8% of those polled gave History its top point, while Discovery came in a close second with a rating of 62.5%) This is why a cable TV channel can be added, since one won’t necessarily spend any money using the service in the traditional sense, but expecting what one would receive. i.e. “you get what you pay for”!

Other brands that present the best quality: Craftsman, Sears’ private brand for tools and hardware came in third with 61%, the search engine Google (a noun in this case) is number four with a 59.4% rating. Rubbermaid, a brand for plastic household containers holds fifth place with a score of 57.9%. Rounding out the top ten in the poll: Johnson & Johnson (over the counter medical and drug store products), Subway (franchised sandwich shops), Lowe’s (hardware stores), Whirlpool (larger appliances) and Target (discount department stores).

Those were the top ten. And what were the brands that finished last?? Going backwards from #10 to #1 were Nieman-Marcus (department stores), Citibank (banking), 7-Eleven (mini-markets), Abercrombie & Fitch (clothing and apparel), Perrier (bottled sparkling water), AIG (finances), Red Bull (energy drinks), Starbucks (coffee houses), MTV (cable TV channel), and the number one brand that gives the least value? Hummer (oversized motor vehicles–”cars” would not be the correct term to describe this product!)

This poll was conducted between January and April of this year based upon 300,000 responses conducted on-line by those aged 18 and up with an average rate of 5000 polled per day asking to choose from some 200 brands.

As stated beforehand, getting the most value over what one buys is crucial, if not trendy, in this current recession–or depression, depending on how tough things are! Although some brands were at one time noted to be “hip” and “trendy” (Starbucks, for instance and even MTV–but only in the 1980’s), nowadays, attitudes have changed! For instance, from the middle 1990’s to about 2007, a SUV was the biggest (literally) selling new vehicle on the market. Never mind the fact most people who bought ‘em used them as an overgrown station wagon, only to haul groceries and the kids to and from soccer practice! If one drove them, they were the kings (and queens) of the neighborhood!! The Hummer, the over-the-top version, outranked them all! Anyone behind the wheel of these trucks were kings (and queens) of the road. If these trucks were riding down the street, one moved over to let them go by! Thanks to high(er) gas prices and the trend of “going green”, driving ANY SUV, be it a Hummer or any other make, doesn’t cut it anymore! In fact, if one did have an SUV as their only vehicle, some people would boo and hiss at them! And with these current times, it appears that the party is over for these kind o’ cars! That is, unless a hybrid version is available! Even so, driving a Hummer won’t give anyone props as it once did! Pure and simple!

There are other factors on why some brands lost its luster (AIG as an example) but that’s another story as it is. As times change-for the better or otherwise, one will see new and old brands of stuff come and go. Some will be added to the marketplace over time, while others will be dropped, perhaps never to gain its share in the market as before. Zenith, an American company that made TV sets, was at one time the biggest selling brand on the market! Today, one would be hard up to even find a TV monitor carrying that name! In spite of the case, whatever is “hot” will be around. For the rest, it’s wait ‘n see!

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