Bad Ambassadors

The desire of brands to win advocacy is a generally good thing – it causes firms to think beyond the one-time sale, to providing a product that leaves customers so satisfied that they will not only repurchase but also advocate to other prospects in favor of the brand.   However, like any good thing, it can be done to excess – and at some point pursuing advocacy for the sake of having advocates becomes harmful to the brand.

The consumption of a product is for its functional benefits – but the consumption of a brand is often for non-functional benefits.   I add “often” because some brands are valued for their reputation for quality in terms of functional benefits, but in most cases products are commoditized: the offering of one brand is no better or worse than the next in terms of its functional qualities, such that the only difference is psychological.  This is generally true of most crowded markets where product offerings have become commoditized.

One of the chief psychological benefits is social recognition: Brand X and Brand Y are functionally indistinct, but are associated with certain social groups.  “We” use Brand X and “they” use Brand Y.   So the distinction between the brands is social identity – belonging to one group rather than another.   Hence a person chooses the brand that aligns with the identity to a group to which they wish to belong, and shuns the brand that aligns with any group whose membership is mutually exclusive to the desired group.

And therein lies the problem: when a brand is selected by a group that is considered undesirable by its existing consumers, the alignment of the brand becomes unclear: is it still aligned with “us” or is it now aligned with “them”?  And if it is no longer “our” band, then there is no longer any value to being associated with it – and possibly value in distancing from it because it is no longer in line with the identity of the desired social group (and is in line with the identity of an undesirable social group).

Where the undesirable group has selected the product of its own accord, there is very little that a brand can do to regain its esteem: brand exists in the mind of the customer.   If the brand decides to go with the flow, to embrace the new breed of customers it has attracted, it can remain viable, though the character of the brand and the qualities of the market it serves will undergo a dramatic transformation – in effect, the brand will have changed markets.    If the brand resists the flow, rejects the new breed of customers and attempts to retain its loyal market, it may find that it is fighting an uphill battle.   Success at this will be very difficult.

However, it is very often the case that the brand initiated this selection: it marketed to the undesirables in an attempt to grow its market, foolishly believing that its loyal customers would remain loyal even when the brand became adopted by the undesirable new customers.  It seems to be counting ambassadors, failing to recognize that not all ambassadors are good ones.  This is suicide.