by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) The temptation to try and appeal to everyone, to be a broad church, is strong. The problem is — it’s impossible. Building a powerful brand requires focus, not distraction. Brands can only have one ideology, not many.
Search results for: Alistair Mackay
Brand Politics: The reign of the evangelists
by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) Brand evangelists can be hugely damaging for a brand, whether in politics or the private sector. It’s not just people bad-mouthing a brand that can influence others to avoid it; it’s the characteristics of those singing its praises, too.
Brand Politics: After-sale marketing — where political branding falls down flat
by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) Political parties really don’t get after-sale marketing. Just as with consumers after having made an important and expensive purchase, emotions run high after an election and the risk of “buyer’s remorse” is real.
Brand Politics: Seeing red — what EFF teaches us about brand-building
by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) I can think of very few brands that have risen to prominence as quickly as the EFF has. Even Google and Facebook, the textbook meteoric risers, took a few years to establish themselves. The political party has done it by applying some fundamental marketing principles, and some clever guerrilla-marketing tactics.
Brand Politics: The rules of branding ayisafani
by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) One good thing to have come out of this #ayisafani debacle, I hope, is that it has taught white South Africans a bit about conjugation in isiZulu! The phrase, which translates as “it is no longer the same”, has been expertly used by the Democratic Alliance in a recent campaign across TV and social media.
Brand Politics: Unite and conquer
by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) What is the 2014 version of advertising that crosses racial divides? Segmentation strategy in South Africa is difficult: we don’t like to be treated differently, and we recoil from brands that pick up on any differences. That creates a tension for marketers.
Brand Politics: Voters as heroes and the art of brand loyalty
by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) How do our political brands get such fervent support, even in the absence of tangible products and services and, in some cases, poor or skewed records of delivery? If private sector brands could illicit such customer loyalty, their marketing directors would retire at 40 — rich, happy and fulfilled.
Brands & Branding: Brand use transcending generations
by Snethemba Phakathi & Adrie le Roux. This case study seeks to explore how Sunlight Liquid has established and maintained brand loyalty among lower LSM groups.
Brand Politics: City brands & the ‘world-class’ positioning myth
By Al Mackay. SA cities are struggling to define their brands, pulled as they are between wanting to seem “world-class” and responsive to all who live in them.
2014 Big Read: The 10 best-read marketing stories of 2014
We list the 10 most-trafficked marketing related stories on MarkLives in 2014.