To generate a successful brand in the social media era, a marketer has to do three things. The marketer must reposition the brand, brand the product, and then position the brand. In this article, I want to merge on explaining how to reposition a brand.
In many cases, a great marketer is analogous to a great general. This is why marketing professionals should study and be aware of forces history. Repositioning a brand in the social Media era is analogous to how the Battle of Gettysburg was won while the American Civil War. In each case, success hinged on the repositioning of a brand (the Union Army) in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent brand (the Confederate Army).
A Map Of Pennsylvania
Let me give the reader some background in explaining this analogy. The Battle of Gettysburg changed the paradigm of the Civil War, just as repositioning changes the paradigm in branding a product. Gettysburg is in Pennsylvania and it is settled at the confluence of 6 roads. On a map, Gettysburg looks like a wheel, in the middle of six spokes. This battle took place July 1-4, 1863. Prior to this battle both armies were searching for each other. Both armies knew that a major battle was advent and the supervene of this battle would have a large impact on the final outcome of the war. The South knew that they were one big victory away from having Great Britain recognize the South.
If this recognition happened, the Union understood that it would probably have to sue for peace. The North and South understood that if the Army of the Potomac lost an additional one major battle, the war would be lost. Both armies knew the significance on the outcome this battle. The Union had 90,000 forces and the South had 70,000. It seems funny in today's world, of instant transportation that two armies of 160,000 forces spent two weeks traveling around the Pennsylvania country side, finding for each other, to engage in a battle that was going to conclude the outcome of the civil war, but this is what happened.
On the morning of the July 1 an progress team of Confederates on a contribute mission literally bumped into their Union counterparts in the center of Gettysburg proper. A small skirmish began and the Union forces were doing very well. Then a Union general made a fateful decision that won the battle of Gettysburg and at last the war.
The foremost Union general was a general named John Buford. His forces were winning, but general Buford knew that the Confederates he was fighting were only a vanguard for general Robert E. Lee's larger army of 70,000 troops. Buford had the foresight to know that it was going to be in Gettysburg that the major battle of the war was going to be fought.
Around Gettysburg, there are many high hills called the Big Round Tops and the diminutive Round Tops. In the era of the Civil War, the army that held the high position on hills had a strategic benefit that an opposing army would have a hard time overcoming. general Buford observed those hills and he did what a successful marketer should do. In competitive against a rival brand, a marketer (a general) must redefine the store (the battle) and reposition their brand ( in this analogy, Buford repositioned the Union troops).
At this point, he retreated from a skirmish he was winning and repositioned the Union forces on the hills overlooking Gettysburg, and then sent for reinforcements, as did his Confederate counterparts.
Social Media creates mammoth scale for a marketer. Almost 1 in 4 citizen in the entire world belong to a social media platform. These citizen are constantly interacting with one another. Let me give some predicted statistics. Because of social media, there is a proliferation of products, messages, and engagement. Each minute, there are 98,604 Friendships beloved There are 55,304 Links shared each minute. Two million websites are integrated with Facebook, and this whole is constantly rising. On an average supermarket shelf, there are over 10,000 brands. Each day, an average individual hears in the middle of 3000 to 4000 messages.
Because of this constant engagement and scale, markets are constantly changing. A product is constantly going to have to reposition its brand. To generate a world class brand, a marketer must constantly redefine their market, and reposition their brand, to take advantages of its strengths as general Buford did.
An example of this is singer Kelly Rowland. She is presently repositioning herself to generate a brand in dance R & B music. Kelly is a very successful brand, but the R & B store has evolved to a more dance space. Kelly has decided to brand her music repositioning her brand around very beloved dance videos. Kelly has done what any successful marketer must do. In a changing market, a marketer has to constantly reposition their store to generate a brand---much like general Buford did at Gettysburg.
Dean Hambleton
dnhambleton@gmail.com
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