The Good, the “Brand” and the Ugly of 2009

For the third year running, here is my roundup of 10 things that soared or soured and a few in between, for the brand year that was – 2009.

It was slim pickings for brand good, with the tough financial conditions acting as a smokescreen for more brand bad and ugly than I have seen in quite some time. In fact, many familiar faces could have made a repeat appearance, so to keep it interesting I have relegated some of those usual suspects to a “Hall of Infamy” section at the end. As always although numbered, is in no particular order. Enjoy!

#1 Banks. In the past year banks have pretty much become the definition of a love/hate relationship. We need them, but with their shrouded practices, government protection and split personalities, we find it impossible to trust them. I once said to a banking client that if you feel you have to say you can be trusted, perhaps there were issues that needed to be addressed. I am rethinking that these days, maybe saying it might encourage a few more to actually act in ways so they can be.

Australia certainly got off lightly when compared to the rest of the world, but our Big Four still give us plenty to gripe about. From gobbling up the competition to maintain their domination, to playing the brand equivalent of “who can I be now?” with their positioning (last year Commonwealth Bank, this year ANZ and Westpac), to rate rise lotto – none of them are looking all that good. This leaves customers and stakeholders alike with the choice equivalent of a shell game. Brand ggly and falling.

A special mention goes to the recent Westpac woes. Despite a recent brand valuation marking them as number two of the most valuable publicly-traded brand in Australia, a spate of bad press kicked off by their recent generous rate rise (generous to them) shows no signs of abating. Even the sparkling glow of CEO Gail Kelly is taking a hit, as people question not just rate the decision, but the ongoing response to it. Will it do long-term damage to the Westpac brand? Only time will tell, but in the meantime it might be good idea for them to lay off the banana smoothies for awhile!

#2 Vegemite. I am a “Vegemiter” from way back, but the iSnack stunt, I mean roll-out, gets Vegemite/Kraft a brand bad. If it was a serious attempt to name the new product then it’s time for some marketing people to head back to school, and if (as many suspect) it was nothing more than a stunt to get media attention – then treating a storied Brand like Vegemite with such a cavalier attitude deserves all the loathing that was heaped upon them.

Only time will tell if the new product helps overall Vegemite sales or cannibalises the original’s market share. In the meantime renamed Cheesybite can be found on supermarket shelves near you and if you are the nostalgic sort, you can still buy a jar of iSnack on ebay for about $4.

# 3 V Australia. By expanding Virgin Airways further around the globe, Branson and his cohorts get a brand fantastic. Anytime a little competition comes to town in an otherwise monopolised market it’s time to do a little dance. And the addition of V Australia to the Pacific route has thousands of weary long-haul fliers making like Baryshnikov.

With typical Branson verve and tongue firmly planted in cheek, the first flight from Sydney to LA took off giving flight to an old-fashioned fare war that made travel between Australia and the US the most affordable it had been in years. A welcome development after the decades long rape and pillage of Qantas and United. I have yet to try the service myself, but count me as one who will be gladly take up my seat on one the brand new V Australia jets as soon as the need arises.

#4 Apple. There is good Apple and bad Apple. But even bad Apple isn’t totally rotten. Good Apple keeps bringing us the game changing products that are way too cool for school and have everyone discovering their inner geek. And with news that a new Apple “tablet” is on the way you can almost hear the collective squeal of excitement. In the meantime “bad Apple” is slapping injunctions and cease and desist orders liberally across the globe. I for one have to admire their unapologetic willingness to defend their brand(s) at all cost.

And no one could claim they are biased in their application of policy with everyone from Supermarket giant Woolworths, to small independent computer stores feeling the sharp end of a writ.

In many of these cases the businesses being targeted have been happily riding the coat tails of Apple’s brand profile for years and are irked when Apple decides to cut them off, but in other cases (hello Woolworths) they seem to be reaching just a tad. As long as bad Apple doesn’t start claiming trademark ownership of the actual fruit I guess I will remain happy to continue enjoying the brand good.

#5 Pacific Brands. This year they joined the long and undistinguished ranks of companies that have built their brands on the premise of being uniquely and unashamedly Australian and then shipped their manufacturing offshore and earn a brand bad in the process. Now we know there are business realities at play and the ability of Australian manufacturing to compete piece-for-piece with Asia is slim to none.

However, the combination of recent increases in executive salaries and government subsidies meant to help them stay competitive left more than a few wondering about the ethics of the people at the top. Perhaps even more challenging for the coming year will be convincing people that the brands they love to call Australian still are, once they have a “made in China” label sewn in the back.

#6 TED. Hi, my name is Michel and I am a TED addict! The Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference really does do things worth talking about and don’t let the clunky name fool you, all you need to remember is TED. Take a bunch of really interesting well known, marginally known and unknown people from around the globe. Put them onstage with a broad theme and a time limit. Surround them with a thousand other interesting minds and let the video roll. For years just the purvey of those lucky enough to wrangle and invitation could attend (and with enough disposable income to pay the not insignificant fee for the privilege). Today, TED online and in vodcast brings the archive TED talks from the seminal conference and other spin-offs around the world so idea junkies can get a daily fix. It’s free. It’s compelling viewing and listening. And in a new twist the people at TED have launched TEDX – a platform so anyone anywhere can hold their own mini-TED. Ideas worth spreading indeed. Being addicted to something has never been so brand good for you!

#7 Greenpeace. In the current economic climate not-for-profit organisations need to be doing everything they can to keep their supporters on board and happy. That’s why Greenpeace’s decision earlier this year to automatically up the contribution amounts of its monthly donors via an “opt out” approach, came as such a shock and rightfully raised the ire of many. As I noted at the time – not saying no is NOT the same as saying yes. A lesson that every organisation would do well to remember. Brand bad.

#8 Connex. Adios amigos! Thanks for the memories. It was fun while it lasted. Making a repeat appearance from number three last year they get the brand repeat offender, not for the total and utter system wide failure during the heat wave early this year, but for their complete abandonment of their customers when things got tough. No information, no replacement services, customer service free ticket stunts that only made things worse. It was a bit like watching someone throw petrol on a fire. Turns out it was the last hurrah as they were unceremoniously dumped and replaced with the Metro. But with many of the underlying issues unresolved we might just see them make an unwelcome appearance next year – but I really, really hope not, and in a show of support I am giving Metro a six month window to get the mess Connex no doubt left behind sorted out before I start to judge them.

#9 Queensland. More specifically, Great Barrier Reef Islands, for their “Best Job in the World” campaign, a shining brand good bright spot among the gloom. I rarely talk about the marketing side of brand (because so many others already do), but once in awhile an idea captures both the imagination and the core of the brand in the very best ways. Living on a tropical island and getting paid for it has to be up there on the all time fantasy existence list, and few are more desired than the Great Barrier Reef islands.

The perfect alchemy of location, wish fulfillment and uniqueness led to a worldwide blizzard of publicity. The results aren’t in yet but so far the job search seems to have been money in the bank. With the lucky winner set to hang up his flippers at the end of December, the challenge will be – what’s next?

#10 Tiger Woods. For the first time a personal brand makes the list. And in spectacular brand ugly fashion. After his recent feted and, as it turns out, fateful trip to Oz, Tiger is taking a leave from golf to focus on his personal life after being outed for scoring as much off the course as he was on.

When you are as high profile as Tiger is, what you do ceases to have a personal, professional boundary. Right or wrong, that’s just the way it is. And when your actions are shown as so out of sync with the cultivated image, the resulting loss of trust can be almost impossible to rebound from. Just another instance to prove the rule – no one (company or individual) can keep up a pretense forever, eventually the mask slips and what lies beneath it can undermine or even destroy the most storied of brands.

Hall of Infamy

Otherwise known as a holding cell for repeat brand ugly offenders.

Qantas: We know it’s a tough time to be an airline. But some are finding the going tougher than others and from its tone deaf handling of a aftermath of their mid-air emergency (compensation by seat class anyone), to continued safety mishaps, ongoing customer service woes, and a CEO who doesn’t think there are any major issues, Qantas have a way to go before they climb out of this particular basement.

Liberal Party: Just when things were looking up, along came the environment crisis and the Libs find themselves swamped by their inability to deal with being in opposition. Three leaders in 12 months, policy positions that have more sides than a Rubics cube (and get manipulated just as often), and a seeming inability to maintain a party line for more than five minutes, all combine to present a picture of a deeply fractured organisation that not only can’t decide what it stands for, but seems to not even know where to start looking.

Telstra: Quite honestly this one is a matter of degrees, seeing much like the banking industry, telecommunications in general suffers from a chronic inability to deliver anything like service. However, a quick look across the landscape puts Telstra out ahead of the pack when it comes to a fundamental inability to consistently deliver on their promises.

The transgressions are too numerous to mention but a personally observed favourite was the well-attired senior businessman trying to get someone in a Telstra store on Bourke Street to help him, only to be told they couldn’t and that he needed to call customer service, but that he could use the direct line they had there to do it. 45 minutes later he was still on the phone and trying to get someone to help him. Pretty sure he won’t be interested in volunteering to be one the customer feedback crowd Telstra is currently trying to recruit!

Think something deserves to be on this list that isn’t? I am always interested in a good, “brand” or ugly story so post a comment and tell us about it.

Thanks for reading this year, I appreciate it and wish you joy and peace for the year ahead.

See you again in 2010.

Michel Hogan is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment.