How many brands are you aware of that you don’t choose to purchase?
Exactly. Brand awareness is pretty much worthless.
Most companies aim for brand preference. Better but not great. I can always substitute one brand I prefer for a similar brand I also prefer. Brand preferences can be interchangeable.
The goal, as my wise colleague Nido Qubein, President of High Point University, points out is brand insistence. Brand insistence means the customer will accept no substitutes. It isn’t about being “a” choice but being “the only” choice.
Brand insistence comes from giving an encore performance that makes people want more of you, your products and/or services. It isn’t about being excellent or great; it is about being distinctive in a way that customers truly value. My pal Joe Calloway calls it being a category of one.
What category do you fall into? Brand awareness, preference or insistence?
As a consumer, I am between a brand insistence and brand preference…can I be both? I am insistent upon some consumer products and will not switch if an alternative is readily available. I have bought and subsituted a preferred brand with a generic and was not satisfied. I believe when a company focuses does something right, I stick with it!
Hi Mark
My name is Gaston I am from Ecuador, I did not have the chance to say thank you Mark.
You have helped me to be a better person and to help others. This I think is the best I could learn.
Thank you again Mark, for everything, specially your posts.
Mark:
Great point about brand insistence. Got any good examples? The closest one that comes to my mind is Microsoft Excel. I think Microsoft had brand insistence for Excel a few years ago but it seems to be diminishing. In my own experience I can think of several brands I avoid so negative brand insistence is even stronger for me than a postive brand insistence.