Monday, August 25, 2008

Brand loyalty riddle

This defies logic, yet it's among the strongest examples of the power of branding — one that endures through multiple generations!

It's a riddle: The product name stays the same but some of its key components change from year to year. Many of these components are imported from competitive products; brands that are disdained or even detested. A few components remain for several years at a time; some for just a year, a few months or even days. Eventually, all are replaced... yet the product and brand remains.

Each product is tied to a specific geography yet sometimes one from distant areas is preferred. In some places, there's more than one product, but local proximity doesn't assure brand loyalty.

Sometimes, the product may retain its brand name but change location, often thousands of miles away. Decades later, people may still long for the earlier incarnation, and either intensely dislike the current version or are completely indifferent to it.

When the product is successful, loyalists' identification with the brand intensifies and they speak with a collective "we" when referring to it.

What is this product whose brand engenders such loyalty?

Mouse over the words after this sentence (or see the comments) if you haven't already guessed. Sports teams.

1 comment:

rap said...

It's sports teams.