If you've been watching Google (GOOG) and the moves its been making lately, you know that they've been looking for ways to attract more brand advertising dollars. That's the reason it created an "automated" TV ad-buying system, working with Echostar (DISH).
As analyst Greg Sterling said, "A lot of what Google is doing lately is trying to acquire brand advertising dollars. It's trying to create a platform for media buying across all media--online and offline. I think it's very interesting because they're promising to bring new advertisers in and offer more accountability and targeting."
The reason for bringing this up is to strengthen the idea that branding is still a part of the overall marketing picture. A lot of people, who I think are really ignorant of the business landscape, write about the end of a brand being i
mportant. Does that mean that Google is pursuing something that is disappearing? I don't think so.
What a lot of these writers don't understand is that younger people take time to establish their brand preferences. So when studies connected to younger consumers come out, it looks like brands are losing importance, but what's really happening is that brands are being tested out to see which way a consumer wants to go.
This is why you hear about the all-important 18-49 key demo when TV audiences are measured. The reason why that's the most important is that people are less apt to change their preferences as they get older. That's the reason why advertisers target younger audiences because they haven't yet made their decisions.
While this may seem obvious, still it seems like the idea that brands aren't important is communicated all the time. When you think a little about it though, if you're not becoming an important part of a person's life in what your company is, you will be on an endless journey of direct-response marketing.
That's ok, as long as you understand that's what you're doing. But to say that people don't connect with brands and what a company represents is really an illusion. It could even be precipitated by those that are looking to break into the market share of existing brands.
In the end, branding will always be important. That's why Google is going after that market. They've been pretty much a direct-response ad company for a long time. That's coming to an end, as far as growth goes. They know that companies that are branded are where the big money is. That's what they're going after now. Being a brand is what makes it all possible.
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