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The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

The Third Wave of Branding Evolution

Successful Brand-Consumer relationship evolved dramatically through

time and its considered to be a crucial paradox in contemporary

challenges facing brand marketers. Many decision makers have realised

that they need to grow their brand in many directions, locally and/or

globally, while at the same time, they needed to maintain a superior

relationship with their brand community, (if they have one!).

But, have you asked yourself, how the relationship between brands and

their customers have developed during the past century?

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

How the branding concept had changed from a mere symbol and

identification of a brand toward an active and sticky community?

My humble research found that some scientists have already

documented the branding evolution through time, and that could be

organised under three major Waves[1].

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

The First Wave of Branding

Here brands were acting as endorsers of the physical qualities of

products.

This is the stage where brands were more like trade names, i.e. kind of

Labels tagged on products, which allowed people to make a simple

association about the manufacture and country of origin[2].

Here, the early definitions of branding were influenced by the sole

Discipline talking about brands, i.e. The Law! Where back in the time,

different ranch owners had to place a mark on their cattle to ensure they

were not stolen, and by law that specific mark could act as a decisive

factor.

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

The Second Wave of Branding

Here the brand does not say only something about the product but the

user as well. Therefore, brands of this wave are brands which aimed at

building-up affinities, establishing rapport and harmony between their

product/service and its target market[5]. Prestige & Master Brands were

a big part of this wave, both categories aimed at communicating their

efforts through featuring different consumption situations of their

customers.

Some believe that at this very wave, cognitive psychology became the

dominant theory in marketing.

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

Branding was associated with dominating portion of the space within

consumers minds.

Brand building efforts meant to link a brand name to a single consumer

benefit and mere repetition advertising. Believe it or not, TV.

Commercials were significant influences on theorizing the branding

concept. Mostly, they ran for around 30 seconds (in average),

accordingly and in order to be effective, different brands had to promote

a single concentrated idea: the famous Unique Selling Proposition

(UPS).

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

P&G at this wave was the example of an ideal branding, each of its

different brands (e.g. Tide, Pampersetc) was summarized by on a single

proposition [6]. Some brand equity researcher believed that it was

because of the dominance of USP a brand extension strategy created so

much surprise and excitement in the industry. For the characteristics of

the second wave of branding, I found that the definition of branding

provided by Kevin Keller at 1998 is most suitable to describe this wave.

He stated A brand is a product that adds other dimensions to

differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the

same need. [7]

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

By now, Im sure you have already realized that branding efforts are not a

one-way communication channel. Well, it turns out that even customers

are becoming more sophisticated than ever before. The fact that it is

difficult (sometimes impossible) to differentiate different customers in a

personal fashion led us to our next wave of discussion.

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

The Third Wave of Banding

Here where youll find a large portion of todays famous and successful

brands. Here are the brands that could interact with consumers on a

personal level or sort of!! These are brands which consumers feel that

they have built by themselves, having the feeling of belonging (e.g. a

tribal brand like Apple). Those are not only having two-ways

communication, but a community around them [8].

Successful brands in this wave are the ones who are not only have the

capacity to interact with their consumers, but also have a space for their

brand lovers to fill-up some part of their brand story.

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

Brand marketers within those brands have actually managed to utilise

such a space strategically.

Some third waves brands have had the market shaken. Those brands are

the ones that engaged customers loyalty, based on emotional ties and

consumer commitment. Thats why many of the latest definitions of a

brand underline the role of communities.

No fans, no brand! [9] Nowadays, if a brand wants to be visible globally

especially within different channels of the social media -which is

considered being a big influence on this wave- they must have friends,

followers and adepts.

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

Some Implications for Brand Strategists!

Honestly, there are so many implications at so many levels. Though, you

might have noticed that the gap between successful brands and their

consumers/fans are becoming smaller and smaller than ever before.

A key factor that could open the door to so many hidden doors is the

mental paradigm of the people behind the brand. What really matters in

todays challenges is to be sure that you and your entire team have

embraced the closeness with your fans.

In many situations, you as a brand strategists have to overcome the

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

challenge of transforming your entire brand from a brand name per se to

a brand that commands trust, respect, passion and engagement with the

market. Today, successful brands are already embracing each and every

opportunity to engage with their communities.

One of the biggest goals in your branding strategy should be creating a

highly effective, efficient, attractive and unique community that could

advocate the values of your brand, allowing everyone to be immersed in

your Brand Story and its Brand-Sphere.

The 3rd

Wave ofBranding

EVOLUTION!

Well, do you have any additional implication in mind? Can you relate

the current situation of your brand to any of the three mentioned

waves? What do you think?

Join the conversation and be among the first to share their ideas with us

by leaving a comment in here

http://www.beyondbrandbuilding.com/the-third-wave-of-branding-

evolution-and-why-you-should-care/

For more scientific references about this topic, you might check the resources below

[1,2,5&8] Beyond Marketing: The Brand Story By Alexandra Craciun

[3,6&9]The New Strategic Brand Management: Advanced insights & Strategic Thinking By J N

Kapferer

[4] Managing Brand Equity By David Aaker

[7]Strategic Brand Management By Kevin Keller

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