Two Ways to Destroy a Valuable Brand

After starting to recover from a repositioning debacle of a few years ago, Volvo once again is threatening to destroy its brand's unique and valued "safety" positioning, one no competitor could touch. Meanwhile, United Airlines has officially scrapped its "Rising" campaign after two years of committing the ultimate sin: not following through on a brand promise. Two instructive examples of how to destroy your brand.

For years, the Volvo brand stood for "the best balance in safety, durability and intelligent styling in family cars." It owned safety much as Nordstrom owns service, Southwest Airlines owns fun, and FedEx owns guaranteed delivery.

A few years ago, Volvo walked away from family safety in order to compete on performance. From owning safety, it went to vying against Lexus, BMW Mercedes and Saab on performance, and finishing last. Not surprisingly, sales plummeted.

Two years ago, though, reason was restored, and Volvo implemented a repositioning that combines the two positionings (the ads read: "protect your body, ignite your soul) and sales happily began to come back. But here's the truly amazing part: the brand's new owner, Ford, has decided not just to walk away from the safety positioning but to satirize it.

As part of a campaign that broke in September, Volvo aired a commercial that shows a young man and woman in the front seat imagining a screaming baby in the back seat. The woman turns to the man and states, "Maybe we should start with a dog first," as they race off in their high-powered, stylish Volvo.

Clearly this ad was created in an attempt to win over younger customers without a family, in effect mocking its family-safety positioning. I view this as another assault on the brand, one in which long-term success may be traded for potential short-term gains. Look for Volvo sales to start declining again over the next 12 months.

Recent interviews with Volvo management revealed that Volvo did not believe that the repositioning would hurt its family-safety positioning and that families with kids would appreciate the humor. I would not bet on it.

Then there's United, which in October fired its agency, Fallon McElligott, architects of the inspiring, two-year-old "Rising" campaign. Wrong move: United should have fired the entire management team responsible for not making this brand positioning come to life.

The intent of the campaign was to help fix everything wrong with travel--and with United, which had been coming in dead last in customer satisfaction surveys. United boldly admitted, when the new ads and positioning premiered two years ago, that it realized dissatisfaction, especially among business travelers, was high. One of the hallmark ads tied to this new campaign showed United employees waiting for a training class to start and the instructor keeping them waiting almost an hour--his way of showing them how waiting passengers often feel. The ad showed United's understanding of the issue, its empathy with travelers, its wish to fix what was wrong with travel.

United promised to fix communications with passengers (it has not), to increase overhead space (it has actually started to restrict the size of the bag allowed in overhead bins), to increase on-time arrivals (it has padded the flight time).

Was United's service that much worse than others? No. Were the expectations United set for itself higher? You bet. Did it finally have to cave in and start the search for a new positioning? Well, once a promise is made in the marketplace, you have 18 months, at most, to fulfill that promise. Customers are patient to a point. United gets an A for intentions 26 months ago, and an F for follow-through.

The lessons here? First, once you have earned a positioning and have become synonymous with that positioning, it is yours to nurture, build upon and cherish. Walk away from it and you walk away from "a place in customer's heads" that others would die for.

And when you feel the market environment requires an adjustment in brand positioning, all the plans must be in place to follow through on this redirection. If not, you may lose the most important characteristics any brand can own: trust and credibility.

Scott Davis is a partner at Kuczmarski & Associates, Chicago, heading its brand asset management practice.

COPYRIGHT 1999 BPI Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group