The latest Which? report on the supermarket practice of designing own label pack-graphics that keep them out of court, - just-, provides a good illustration of retailers' inability to appreciate that the 'letter' of the law has very little relevance in marketing and branding...
On the contrary, in preserving hard-won brand integrity, suppliers have learned that keeping within the 'spirit' of the law is a fundamental part of the unwritten 'contract' made with the consumer, and is in fact, the raison d'etre of branding.
Sure, many suppliers can be easily intimidated into not litigating in cases of 'crossover' pack designs, and expensive legal help can optimise the hair-splitting in-court encounters with those that insist on making a stand, publicly..
However, the real issue is the damage caused to a retailer's integrity-image by being seen to be the party to a deception, a misleading impression affecting the consumer-shopper in the aisle, already busy second-guessing the content of their private label burgers...
The emergence of the super-savvy consumer-shopper, coupled with the aftermath of the horse-meat scandal, now makes it even more imperative that a retailer prevents what could be a tell-a-friend endorsement morphing into a 'tell 10 friends' criticism...
....thereby converting a raison d'etre into a raison d'eath...
On the contrary, in preserving hard-won brand integrity, suppliers have learned that keeping within the 'spirit' of the law is a fundamental part of the unwritten 'contract' made with the consumer, and is in fact, the raison d'etre of branding.
Sure, many suppliers can be easily intimidated into not litigating in cases of 'crossover' pack designs, and expensive legal help can optimise the hair-splitting in-court encounters with those that insist on making a stand, publicly..
However, the real issue is the damage caused to a retailer's integrity-image by being seen to be the party to a deception, a misleading impression affecting the consumer-shopper in the aisle, already busy second-guessing the content of their private label burgers...
The emergence of the super-savvy consumer-shopper, coupled with the aftermath of the horse-meat scandal, now makes it even more imperative that a retailer prevents what could be a tell-a-friend endorsement morphing into a 'tell 10 friends' criticism...
....thereby converting a raison d'etre into a raison d'eath...
No comments:
Post a Comment