Tuesday, August 18, 2015

It's Alive! The Case for Resurrected Brands

If you brand it, it will sell.

That’s hyperbole of course, but it’s also the Cliff’s Notes version of modern marketing theory: Find a unique and irresistible offering that you can hang a price tag on, build around it a memorable and endearing story (a brand, by any other name), and let the buying public’s sentiment become your partner in unbridled sales.

Of course, “Cliff’s Notes” is another way of saying “oversimplification,” and all of our treatises unto you, up to and including this one, are other ways of saying “there are no shortcuts in brand-building.”

Except, you know, sometimes there are.

So picture with us a scenario where the brand-building is done for you...maybe even long before you were born. You still offer that unique and irresistible thing; you still deliver quality and exemplify customer service. But the indelible sentiment that makes your brand a familiar friend? That work’s all been done.

It's alive! Brands find power beyond the grave!
Lacking an industry buzzword, we’ll go ahead and coin one: resurrected brands. You’re probably familiar with the concept, maybe without even realizing it. Indian Motorcycles is a fine old American company, famous for manufacturing sought-after motor-scooters between 1901 and 1953. The brand was idle for over half a century, but one quick visit to a vintage-bike swap meet would have told you all you needed to know about its enduring popularity. It was resurrected to great fanfare in 2006, and has been in production ever since. Currently a division of Polaris Industries, Indian has been restored to its well-deserved spot as a premier American sport-bike brand.

And here’s an example closer to home (and close to our heart)—Norka (it’s Akron spelled backwards!) was Summit County’s very own soda brand, a local favorite from the 1920s to the early ‘60s. And now it’s back! A team of plucky Akronites have rescued it from the beverage-brand boneyard, with both original and updated recipes. It’s already on your grocer’s shelves.

There are plenty of other case studies, but you get the point. The point is, there are brands so beloved they can transcend a business’s natural life cycle. Bankruptcy or the passing on of the principals are irrelevant to the brand’s legion of fans. If it’s gone, they pine for it. When it comes back, they flock to it.

What’s even more interesting is what a diverse opportunity this is. You could be motivated by nostalgia, or you might simply be looking for an unexploited angle. Either way, the potential upsides are almost unlimited. The marketplace head-start, in terms of re-releasing a brand that’s already known and appreciated, cannot be overstated.

But of course, this alone isn’t a recipe for success. Creating a brand is just the first step; maintaining it is the never-ending second. Resurrect a brand and you’ve taken on the responsibility for maintaining its perceived value...in perpetuity. Let quality slip, even a little, and your customers will notice, will be offended, and they will be gone.


The C4:
1. Marketing 101: In retail business, you build success by building a brand. Enter the marketplace with a unique product or service, then position it in people’s consciousness with an appealing and memorable personality.

2. DO NOT deviate from Marketing 101! (Unless, ahem, you can.)

3. The rare opportunity might present itself in which you won’t need to build a brand, but only defibrillate one. Nostalgia is a growth industry. Find yourself a dormant (yet available) brand name, one that the people remember fondly, and you just might find yourself a goldmine.

4. But heed the cardinal warning of shortcuts: they never get you all the way home. To resurrect a brand is to assume a legacy. Betray that legacy at your peril. Whatever your business, whatever your brand, your success is dependent on quality and customer service. This is even more true with a resurrected brand, because your customers are comparing you to an idealized memory. Measure up to that, or the brand shall die a second death.