Ground Hog Day – same result, again

The folks in Punxsutawney , PA have a lot of fun with this harmless hoax every year. Two things strike me about it: (1) they’ve built a great brand in terms of being the one place in the U.S. where this takes place (2) it’s the same thing every year.
Building a great brand takes years to do. It’s not something that happens overnight. That’s true for any organization, whether for profit, non-profit or even a government entity. It’s also true though that a brand’s equity can collapse frighteningly fast, undoing everything that took years to build. What is the damage being done to Toyota’s brand in the current accelerator recall? It’s taken a hit, coming right on the heals of numerous articles over the past year in a broad variety of publications about their ability to manage their growth properly, prior recalls and the emergence of the Koreans as a real force in building high quality transportation.
Doing the same thing every year can be hugely beneficial to a brand- as long as it’s the right thing. When the things you do to build a brand need a tune up then do it. The world changes. Most likely your brand strategy needs to change too, How much is the question to consider because every business is different.

© 2009 Peter E. McDowell
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