Apple. Honda. Whole Foods. Southwest Airlines.
What do they all have in common? People talk about them without being asked to do so and during the course of normal conversations. These brands have become self-propelled. Consumers have become one of their most important media buys.
Does this mean that these companies can stop their advertising? Can they disband those PR groups and maybe coast on the social media front? No, no and no.
Because excellence in each of those areas coupled with incredible customer experience is what is propelling their brands. Apple is famous for creating so much anticipation and speculation around every product launch. Whole Foods continues to lead the way in grocery (if you can even call them that) innovation and experience. Honda and Southwest routinely use smart advertising to keep their fans engaged and ensure they have a significant share of mind.
Maybe because it's the holidays and a lot of folks are about to spend a lot of time at Christmas parties, family events and office parties talking to lots of other folks, I'm thinking a lot about self propelled brands. I've given a couple of simple examples above but really, how does a brand become self propelled? It seems to me this would be nirvana for any company-- becoming a self propelled brand. But what companies have succeeded and more importantly, I'm wondering if there are any examples of companies that have tried and failed? Those would be great case studies of learning.
So I guess this post is really more of an invitation to you to participate via the comments in what I think is going to become a more important conversation in 2010 and beyond. So, what'cha got people?
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