Finite lifespans and mortality of commercial brands

¶ … Brands Have Finite Lives?

The idea of whether a brand has a finite life has been debated for some time. Some people think that a brand can live forever if people associate with it and like it. Others think that all brands must disappear eventually. This brief paper takes the position that brands can live on indefinitely, but there is a caveat to that -- the brands must be able to grow, adapt, and change with the times. If they can't do that they will surely die, but that has very little to do with the finiteness of the actual brand and everything to do with bad management of said brand and what it represents to buyers (Becker & Murphy, 1993). There is no reason for a brand, when managed correctly, to ever become obsolete.

People associate a brand with the specific products that the company produces, which certainly makes sense. Companies that want to get ahead, though, and that want to keep increasing their brand, have to pay close attention to the trends for their product (or products) and for products that are similar to theirs and that are made by other companies (Becker & Murphy, 1993; Kapferer, 1997). If they do not do this, they will become obsolete both as a brand and as a company, which leads to almost certain demise. The good news is that all of that can be avoided -- and rather easily -- by just ensuring that the company keeps the brand and the products associated with it alive and fresh in the minds of consumers.

Some products lend themselves to this kind of treatment more easily than others, of course, and that is where the strategic management of brands and their associated products comes into play for companies (Kapferer, 1997). Strategy is vital to a successful business, and when a company struggles to keep a brand alive because society and competing products have moved on it can cost a company more than it can afford. Companies do not necessarily have to stay on top with their specific brand, but they do have to stay competitive. Many companies hire people who work specifically toward keeping brands popular and looking at customer trends, so that a brand can continue in the marketplace (Clifton & Maughan, 2000).

Opponents to the idea that a brand can live forever point out the many popular brands that have died out in the past. True, there have been a lot of brands that have gone the way of the dinosaur. But there are also many brands that are still around, and that have endured. They are the same companies and the same brands, but in most cases they are not the same products. They have stretched their brands and extended them, and that has allowed them to remain competitive within a changing marketplace. Brand stretching and brand extension are both very significant tools for almost any company when it comes to keeping a brand not just alive but thriving (Clifton & Maughan, 2000).

Brands that are allowed to grow and change according to what customers want and need will stick around, provided the products are good quality, reasonably-priced, and well-marketed. Brands that refuse to change because 'that's how we've always done it,' will generally fade away completely. Some of them manage to hang on, but they lose a great deal of their market share to newer companies that are giving customers what they want in today's market. Then these older companies lament the fact that customers do not seem interested in them anymore and they wonder what they can do. They could have avoided all of that.