Anyone who has built a brand and had accountability to drive sales at the same time must appreciate the artistry of those who do it exceedingly well. Case in point: BMW. In today’s Darwinian automotive environment, I’m certain somebody questioned the wisdom of the ‘Expression of Joy’ campaign (http://www.expressionofjoy.com/). Rather than advertise BMW’s functional superiority, discounts or financing incentives, this campaign focuses solely on the extraordinary bliss of driving the new Z4 Roadster. Pure emotion. The integrated campaign that consists of Web, TV and print ads; iPhone app; TIVO extension and 30-minute documentary is nothing short of marketing mastery. Simply put, it breaks through. Considering the car advertising landscape today, it breaks through on a whole new level. My hat’s off to the BMW marketing leadership who has the foresight and daring to demonstrate that building long term brand equity and short term revenue are not mutually exclusive activities. 

Does it really seem ‘Just Do It’ has been around for more than 20 years? And why did ‘Just Do It’ have lasting power when Reebok’s ‘Physics of Physiques’ did not? So often, marketers get tired of their brand building road long before their consumers do: Certainly politics, power and new marketing leadership, eager to make their mark, add to the demise of world-class strategic campaigns before their time. Even exceptional marketers who invest in significant brand tracking studies and analyze the research well still short-circuit the lifetimes of great advertising in the hope of greener pastures. It takes great fortitude and vision to stay the course, tweak the execution rather than scuttle the ship and reap the long term benefits of a campaign that builds over time. Do you remember ‘It’s All About the Beer’ from Heineken? Arguably, it was the driving force behind Heineken’s spectacular growth that outpaced the category for over ten years. When did it come to a screeching halt? When Steve Davis, Heineken’s senior marketing leader, left the company. And what do you remember from Heineken lately? Exactly: Their new draft beer dispenser. Heineken will soon find out how difficult it is to build awareness momentum as a result of their shifted course, especially when their share of voice in the beer world is barely audible. 

When a brand moves from cult hero to mass market personality, does the advertising have to follow suit? If history is any indication of future performance, then Snapple should be a great example to Red Bull of what not to do. Snapple’s shifted from their cult positioning that created the ready-to-drink iced tea category and, by default, made them the category leader with new advertising that showed they took themselves waaaaay too seriously. It also blurred the distinction between Snapple and new competitors. Snapple’s advertising became the leading indicator of their quick downfall to third on the iced tea shelf. Similarly, Red Bull successfully built an extraordinary brand through discovery, quirkiness, localized events and advertising that reflected its brand personality with the ‘Red Bull Gives You Wiings’ campaign. And it’s been around for a long time. Red Bull not only built a world-class brand, they also created a category and a culture. Red Bull recently released new super reality advertising, one ad of which shows a surfer riding the wave of waves and ends the spot by saying “Welcome to my world. The world of Red Bull.” Wow. Now there’s a bell that will be difficult to unring. Then again, the campaign is forgettable and undifferentiating. Perhaps the only damage the brand will suffer is from erosion. Was it corporate boredom that drove this red sea change? Unrealistic ambition? Competitive encroachment? A new CMO? I’m certain, we will all read some positive spin about the campaign somewhere: I will remain cynical.

Building a great brand requires incredible ingredients and perfection of timing, but there is no clear-cut recipe for anyone to follow. A masterful production is rarely obvious because of the sophisticated palettes of the many to be fed and nurtured. It’s also the result of one chef’s vision – not the creation of kitchen staff, worse yet, the restaurant owner – or worst again, some know-it-all blogger. Ideally, those who create such delicious media consumables would leave their creations on the menu longer rather than remodel the restaurant just because they got bored.