Brand marketing: relevance and experience

According to a recent ranking, the three most relevant brands in the UK are: Apple, Lego and Playstation.

More than 10k consumers responded to the survey, saying that--for the third consecutive year--Apple is the most relevant brand in their lives. What is relevance? According to the Brand Relevance Index, it means 1) consumer obsession, 2) inspiration, 3) innovation and 4) pragmatism.

Lego is #2 in this survey, a brand that understands consumer behaviour and knows how important personal experience influences relevance. Lego is using event marketing and other in-person experiences to compete in newer markets such as Hong Kong. The Lego House in Denmark is an in-person brand experience built from 25 million plastic Lego bricks.

In fact, more brands are marketing themselves through experiences. For instance, Converse--which makes athletic shoes--refashioned a London hotel into a limited-time brand experience earlier this year.

Watch for more brand marketing via experiences during the holiday shopping season as companies seek to build awareness, preference and purchasing.

Look-alike shoes: Converse sues

Converse, now owned by Nike, markets a very distinctive sports shoe called the Chuck Taylor. The rubber-toed design is an all-American classic, popular year in and year out since it was introduced for basketball players nearly 100 years ago. It takes its name from a basketball star, Chuck Taylor, who joined Converse in the 1920s.

Now Converse is suing 31 companies, saying their shoes have too much of the Chuck Taylor look--and therefore violate intellectual property laws.

Among the firms being sued are Walmart, Kmart, Skechers and Ralph Lauren.
This isn't Converse's first attempt to assert its trademark rights. The company has served nearly 200 cease-and-desist notices in the past few years, telling marketers to stop making lookalike shoes that mimic Chuck Taylor's design. Now it's looking to the court system to enforce its trademark rights.

The marketing point? Success invites imitation. Marketers have to watch for imitators and be sure their brands and trademarks are protected. Otherwise, they may wind up marketing something that devolves into a generic product or category description. Zipper was once a brand. No longer. Converse wants to be sure that Chucks don't lose their brand protection. Just as important, it wants consumers to be reassured that when they buy a pair of shoes looking like the Chuck Taylor classic, it is a Chuck Taylor by Converse.