Don’t abdicate ownership

An abdication has taken place in marketing. Marketers seem to have handed over ‘ownership’ to their consumers, to anyone and everyone who has a perception of their brand.

The argument is that the true value of brands lies in the perceptions of them. These perceptions rest in individual minds so it is consumers – not marketers – who own the brands. The argument is then reinforced as brands are shaped by factors beyond the control of marketers. The oft-quoted example is the photo of Daniella Westbrook, the infamous ex-star of Eastenders dressed in a Burberry skirt and jacket hauling a Burberry-clad baby out of a Burberry buggy.

So has branding has flipped 180⁰, from its early origins as a mark of ownership and changed to such an extent it has ‘switched sides’?

For me that is a dangerous conclusion.

Firstly, there is the legal issue. I am no lawyer but in a world where over 7% of world trade is now in counterfeit goods, publically stating that you don’t own your brand seems patently stupid. If you don’t ‘own’ your brands, how can expect to defend your rights over them?

As for the argument about perceptions that, for me, is pretty thin.

It is undoubtedly true that we all have individual perceptions and experiences of brands and may feel like we ‘own’ a part of them. But do we really own them?

As consumers, we may be able to influence the brand. We are perhaps the most powerful influencing force or pressure group. But we are not, and never will be, the owners. We as consumers can stop buying a brand, we can ignore it, we can suggest and ‘co-create’ changes, but we do not enact those change or have final control.

A useful parallel for me is the Mona Lisa. It has ‘awareness’. It engenders a wide range of different perceptions in people. Everyone has perceptions of the painting, but it would seem foolish to suggest that those people actually own the Mona Lisa.

There has indeed been a significant shift of power in the relationship between brand owners and consumers. Branding is now more organic and a ‘negotiated’ unit of social and economic currency. There are occasions on which ‘management’ of the brand has been taken away from the brand owner, however that owner has ultimate control – ownership –  because they can change, or even withdraw, their brand if they choose to.

So don’t abdicate but do sign a ‘Magna Carta’. Listen and if you feel it’s right act on the wishes of their consumers but don’t give up their ownership and the rights that come with that.

Read more from Giles Lury here.