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Our point of view

Fame is the fundamental value

that strong brands own.

While the primacy of fame seems perfectly obvious to me, it is not widely recognized by marketing experts. In fact, the idea that advertising should be focused on creating fame is often seen as too glib and simplistic.

 

Nowadays, marketing has been reduced to a base tactical pursuit that's devoid of strategic thinking, ambition and big creative ideas.

As a result, brand distinctiveness and meaningful differentiation have never been less evident, and decision making has been reduced to the status of laboratory rat-hood. The end result is a deluge of intrusive, dreary, self-centered 'content' that fails to engage and move people.

"Most ads are a total waste of money because people ignore them or they don’t remember who it was behind the ad."

Mark Ritson, Marketing Week

Not convinced? Well, thankfully, research has at last come to our aid.

A study of the most comprehensive library of provenly effective case studies has managed to plot the difference in marketing effectiveness between campaigns that were indistinctive in their branding, and poorly differentiated in their communication, and the enjoyable (memorable) campaigns that shaped public opinion, increased profits and inspired people to share their enthusiasm on / offline about a brand.

Now you're probably thinking that this is all very well for marketing consumer goods, but, does it apply to B2B, where decisions are surely dispassionate and unswayed by the glamour of a famous name?

There is no such thing as a purely rational decision, in business or anywhere else. We all want to feel safe; we all want to feel excited; we all want to feel we have what others will admire. The famous brand is more likely to deliver all these emotional benefits, and so, when other things are equal it will be more likely to win the contract. 

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