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Nestle, McDonalds, Bic, VW, and Daimler Benz all suffer from the same problem: marketing people with too much time on their hands. As Forbes' Jack Trout points out, there's nothing more dangerous to a brand than a marketing staff that can't leave well enough alone. It can take a company years to recover from a branding blunder. Mr. Trout sums it up in two sentences "A brand can only stand for one thing in the mind; the more things you try to make it stand for, the more the mind loses focus on what you are. Endless variations give marketing people something to do while they do long-term damage to a brand or a company." Are you listening, Rick, Tom, Alan, Dieter, Wendelin and friends?
3 Comments on “Trout to Carmakers: Stop Making So Much Stuff...”
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Stendal Syndrome
Reminds me of the story of the first Russian refugees that came to NYC in the 80’s. They were so overwhelmed by all of the choices that some of them actually went back to the USSR.
I think everyone knows who to blame for the Phaeton and the mess that was DaimlerChrysler. Not marketing people.
Maybe someone should send this article to Steve Jobs before he makes a terrible mistake and takes Apple Computer into the portable music player or cellphone businesses.