Risk vs opportunity: Why saliency can hinder brand growth
The majority of British brands are far more salient than they are meaningfully different, which puts them in a vulnerable position at a time when fame is no longer enough to drive brand growth.
It is probably safe to assume that most brands want fame. But that can come at a cost if they rely too heavily on their fame without paying attention to how the wider consumer landscape is evolving.
Kantar’s 2019 BrandZ ranking of the UK’s top 75 brands reveals a number of well-known British brands are currently in a “dangerous and exposed” position. They are ripe for disruption and it is their saliency that is the problem.
“A number of brands are trading on their prior fame, their existing reputation, rather than moving with the times as much they should be and really underpinning and retaining that meaningful difference with consumers,” says BrandZ research director, Martin Guerriera.
Take Woolworths, Staples or Comet, which have all disappeared from the high street. Consumers knew who they were but not why they’d shop with them.
Log in or subscribe to read the full article.
