I have always been something of a marketing person's nightmare I think. I walk into a technology store and immediately start reading the specification sheets of all the cool stuff. The brand name rarely registers in my brain. I am walking around thinking "Wow, 4 GB of RAM in that brand X box!" not "Wow, company X sure make a great laptop!" I look at features first and brand second - if I look at it at all. "What does it do?" is my question not "what make is it?" or "who built it?".
I find myself doing the same thing these days with software. I attribute this to the open source movement for the most part. I am talking around the Internet thinking "Wow, built-in WebDav!", not "Wow. Company X sure makes a great CRM system." I look at features first and brand second - if I look at it at all. Open source software is high on features/detail and low (in general) on brand marketing.
That makes me a problem to be solved - so to speak. If everyone behaved like me what would the world be like? I see no need for the world to fret though, as there is ample evidence that branding is alive and indeed a growing force in the tech world. I am an unusual case in my focus on the under-the-hood details.
My favourite example in recent times in Apple's launch of Mac OS/X Leopard. I truly never thought we would see the day when people would queue up outside a retail store to hand over money to buy a Unix-based operating system. That still amazes me. What a brand!
Then there is the mobile tech explosion of recent years. There is something about mobile technology that makes people very emotional, very quickly. I know for a fact that one of my kids would break down and cry if her beloved Blackberry disappeared. The important word there is "Blackberry" not "cell phone".
All around me I see tech savvy kids that are growing up as brand consumers. There are the Sony PS/3 kids. The Nintendo WII kids. The Microsoft XBox kids. They don't look at the specification sheets too much. They are bought in to brands in a big way.
What will the world of branding be like when these kids get old enough and empowered enough to raise purchase orders for the enterprise IT systems? Will they buy tech by the feature lists or by the brand? Games consoles, mobile phones, mp3 players. Its brand, brand, brand all the way for these kids.
They are tomorrows consumers of enterprise "toys" like CRM systems and switches and laptops. Which ones will they buy? The will start with the brand I suspect. Everyone looking to sell to these kids tomorrow will have to factor that in to their thinking.
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Old enough to remember IBM
I'm old enough to remember IBM brand loyalty - back in the day when mainframes ruled the world. You couldn't go wrong buying IBM - yes it was expensive but service was top notch, the software and hardware were rock solid, and though they might cringe at the price tag the execs in the fancy offices had high comfort levels, maybe even warm fuzzies.I'm old enough to remember American manufactured auto brand loyalty, where each new auto was say a Ford. Foreign autos were taboo if not downright unpatriotic.
And I'm old enough remember supermarket loyalty and a time when supermarkets remained the same market for decades and mother's had their reasons for shopping a specific market.
And I'm old enough to suspect that 'Emotionally yours' isn't telling us anything new - just restating human nature. We're creatures of habit and it's easier to go with the familiar rather than change. In a world where technology changes at seeming breakneck speeds even the most adept look for a 'security blanket', the mindless comfort of familiarity.
Pass me my blackberry please...