Brand Anarchy

Why is everyone so ga ga over Google? First we abuse the English language and use the word as a verb. Now we see Yahoo and Overture merging to take aim at the uber-engine. This should be interesting as I am tired of hearing people gush over Google. It's a search engine people!

As the headline notes, this post is not to rant about search engines. It is about a great article in this week's Brandweek on Brand Anarchy.

We see examples of the concept quite frequently. We also call it "strategy drift" or straying from the strategy. It starts innocently enough when an opportunity presents itself that doesn't quite fit into the existing strategy. You proceed with this project and set the precedent for future projects to break the rules. The next thing you know, you are planning a new integrated campaign after the last one lost its focus.

The waters muddy by not following your strategy closely. If you have been thorough in creating your strategy, stick to it. All good processes revisit the strategy annually to tweak it as needed.

If an opportunity comes your way that does not support this strategy, don't do it. It might seem great, but will it further your cause? It certainly won't help you measure campaign results consistently. Similarly, don't implement an off-strategy tactic simply because "we've always done it over the years." This year you need to make a change. Habitual marketing never helped a company set financial performance records.