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What kind of car are you driving?

When I bought my first car in the mid 1980’s, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Acura, Mini, Hummer, Saturn, or Suzuki were not among the available choices.  I could, however, have purchased an Isuzu, Fiat, Renault, AMC, Peugeot, or Datsun.

Do you still think that a well established brand that leads its industry year after year is virtually impossible to destroy?  Or is an unassailable competitor?  Think again, and look at General Motors.  The world has changed dramatically, and the concept of a “brand”, while no less important than it used to be, is now a much more fragile thing. 

Just a few years ago, Compaq, Circuit City, Lehman Brothers, and Oldsmobile were household names.  Today, they are gone.  A few others such as AOL, Yahoo, Starbucks, and Kodak, that were industry founders and once commanded dominant market shares are teetering on the brink of irrelevance.

Why?  In some cases, poor stewardship of the brand, or unforeseen industry disruptions or mergers are to blame.  Often, it is because the company just sat still while others innovated.  But there is also something at work here that is generational in nature.  Americans today, especially those under the age of 30, are much less loyal to brands than they used to be, and we have a lot more choices than we used to.  I think this is a good thing, and reflective of a vibrant, entrepreneurial economy.  But it is also a warning to the big, dominant, older brands in any marketplace — be good stewards of your brand, and don’t ever stop promoting it.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Wally Evans Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.