REASONS WHY BRANDS DIE

Why do so many brands decline and die? It is because companies kill them. This is rarely done deliberately or knowingly, but through negligence and neglect. There is nothing inevitable or predetermined about brand decline. If left to their own devices, most brands

inevitably find themselves in a state of decline as they lose relevance or competitors steal market share. Unlike products, there is no defined life cycle for a brand and they can, in theory, live forever. Brands are precious – they are often a company's most valuable asset – and by carefully controlling and tweaking them, in line with the brand strategy, they can be protected from decline and nurtured into growth. That is the ultimate purpose of brand management and development.

There are a number of reasons why brands do decline, including:

>Arrogance

Companies forget the fundamental truth about brands: that they belong to consumers, not brand managers. They forget what makes a brand useful to consumers. And, because of that, brands start to lose their coherence, which is fatal.

>Greed

Taking cost out of a product formulation sounds efficient but as often as not it’s the most effective way to starve a brand to death.

>Complacency

A company or brand builds a good reputation, sits back and rests on that reputation, and then wakes up one day to find out that faster, hungrier, more innovative competitors have passed them by. Be ready for any new trend in your brand category.

>Inconsistency

Consumers increasingly expect the values of a brand to be reflected in every aspect of the business behind the brand. Brands can no longer be securely ring-fenced from their corporate owners.

>Myopia

The world is in a state of permanent change. Those who fail to understand the consequences of this for their brand put those brands at serious risk.

Keep your brand alive by paying attention to it at all time.