by Masingita Mazibuko. Wake up and smell the coffee, marketers; no-one really, truly, honestly, genuinely, absolutely needs your brand. That’s why the brand’s relationship with the intended consumer, as well as its product intrinsics, is such a crucial element of the marketing mix.
Earlier this year, at a gathering of some 650 retailers, Thierry Stern, the 44-year-old president of celebrated watchmaker Patek Philippe, delivered a rather odd speech. In it, he informed his audience that “Nobody needs a Patek.”
So why do people want a Patek?
It is an extraordinary product that has taken extraordinary lengths to remain relevant, including funding an experimental laboratory (Nouvelle Technologie) with the mandate to find 21st-century solutions to improve 15th-century spring technology.
It also expands time and money protecting its customers’ investment in the product by, for example, committing to work on any Patek dating back to 1839 (a promise that requires maintaining an archive of five million components and a collection of tools that were used 175 years ago) and carefully managing levels of supply, no matter how intense the demand, so that Patek retains its rarity and cachet.
I think the secret for its sustained success is that Patek exists where product and desire overlap. In this place, price becomes irrelevant.
But which comes first, the ephemeral element of the equation (desire) or the physical (product)? I believe it’s the former because you will only know what to deliver if you understand what is desired.
And the value proposition exists at the nexus — or meeting point — of what the product constitutes and what it means to the consumer… regardless of the price.
Can we grow brands such as Patek on the African continent? Could these be Afro-centric brands?
If by Afro-centricity we mean tapping into the African world and understanding the role the brand plays in this world, yes. If we mean going beyond simply filming in an African environment and including a few vernacular terms in the dialogue, yes.
If we don’t. Well, Africa doesn’t need a Patek and Africa doesn’t need your brand either.
Masingita Mazibuko is a marketing director at Unilever. The views expressed within this monthly “Africa Style” column are, however, entirely her own.
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