How to Destroy Your Brand
Recently, GQ made Kim Kardashian the man of the year.
This was clearly a marketing ploy to generate some buzz for a dying brand.
I guess the marketing ploy worked because I’m talking about it.
The reason Kim Kardashian was made the man of the year was because she has a business that sells stretchy pants to male athletes.
Still though.
It’s called Man of the Year.
There was no man to give the award to?
This is a case where rules were being blurred.
In school, we hated rules because it inhibited freedom.
However, with brand building, rules are great.
It allows a brand owner to see what they should do and more importantly, what they shouldn’t do.
Lifetime and BET Network
2 networks that had great rules growing up were Lifetime and BET.
Don’t tell anyone… but I would watch Lifetime every now and then.
I wouldn’t seek it out or anything.
Instead, my mom would be watching the station, and I wouldn’t look away.
A lot of the shows and movies were entertaining.
I soon found out that Lifetime was a station for women.
‘Huh?? I didn’t know that!!’
I was embarrassed.
BET was another good example of a brand with rules.
The rule is in the name.
Black Entertainment Television.
This station creates a specific genre of content.
That rule gave the brand its identity.
Both stations know who they serve.
What Happens When Rules Fade
Most of these big brands are dying nowadays.
Because in today’s climate, it’s hard for big networks to abide by rules.
Think about MTV for example.
Just like BET, they had their rule in their name.
Music Television.
But how often do you really see music on MTV nowadays?
Most of it is just reality shows.
There’s a reason for this.
It’s because most people don’t stay on MTV long when they are only playing music.
Viewers tune in when their favorite song is on, then they tune out.
Due to the changing media landscape, MTV had to drop their rules.
And due to dropping their rules, MTV now lacks identity.
Gillette fell for the blurred rules movement a few years ago.
They made a cringe ad campaign on toxic masculinity.
The campaign lacked identity.
I get what they were trying to do.
They were trying to show the correct way for men to behave and the incorrect way for men to behave.
In that contrast, they hoped to attract more good men.
But that’s not how the public viewed it.
In mainstream media, men are often villainized.
When a brand that is meant to cater to men, began villainizing men….
They lost credibility.
Gillette never fully recovered from that moment.
They lost a lot of market share due to not abiding by their rules.
When the world changes, a brand is tempted to blur its rules.
A lot of times, blurring the rules makes monetary sense.
I wonder how much money Gillette and MTV made from selling out?
But all the money in the world can’t buy back brand identity.
Should You Ever Blur Your Rules?
I believe it’s hard to never blur the rules.
Some may call it evolving.
For example, imagine there is a guy who is a top creator on Vine.
For him, his initial rule was:
‘Create compelling Vines that deal with traveling.’
When YouTube comes to him and says:
‘Sign a deal with us.’
This Viner can say:
‘No! I want to create compelling Vines that deal with traveling.’
What about when Vine shuts down?
Now this guy MUST break his rule.
He has no other option.
In this scenario, this is a game of evolution or die-out.
In other cases, it’s not that deep.
The world will change, sure.
But that’s when we have to decide…
Are we going to change or nah?
Let me give another example.
Imagine you own a men’s fashion company.
Right now, your rule is:
‘Sell clothes that men can wear 50 years from now.’
This mantra prevents you guys from hopping on trends.
As of late, more men have been wearing skirts.
Many men view skirts as fashionable and comfortable.
Other men’s fashion companies are adding a men’s skirt line for an additional revenue stream.
What do you do?
You reference your rule:
‘Sell clothes that men can wear 50 years from now.’
Now you are stuck.
- What if this skirt thing is not a trend?
- What if it’s something more men are going to wear 50 years from now?
- Should you add skirts to the wardrobe line?
Questions…
And now you must make decisions.
The Power of Saying No
Just because there are a lot of right answers out there does not mean the answers are right for you.
If I ever owned a men’s fashion company and I was presented with the decision of:
‘To add a men’s skirt line or not.’
The answer would be a resounding, fuck no.
Saying no in such an emphatic way feels therapeutic.
It makes me feel more loyal to my brand.
The thing is, we can’t always be so bullheaded when the environment around us is changing.
Every now and then, we need to update some core values.
Or add clarity to what those core values mean.
Other times, there will be a gut feeling that guides us.
Even though the world is showing different data, the inner compass is saying something else.
The inner compass will often speak in a resounding way:
‘Fuck no or Fuck yes.’
That’s when we must make a decision.
Do we follow the world, or do we follow the inner compass?
Companies like GQ, Gillette, and MTV don’t really care about that compass.
They are too big to notice a compass at all.
But as an individual brand owner, you can listen to that compass.
Do you break the rules, upgrade the rules, or follow the rules?
The decision is all yours.
