The new understanding of the role of industry and retail, where the industry also wants to be retailer and retailers are dealing increasingly in the procurement of products via sourcing channels, which are also utilized by manufacturers which are no longer manufacturing and these retailers are thus entering into some type of manufacturer function. This new understanding does have enormous consequences for the world of brands.

Manufacturers conduct more and more of a price-tag-marketing via their vertical distribution channels and sell one and the same product at different prices through its respective distribution channel, with the consequence that the consumer buys classic brands mostly from the angle of “where can I buy product x cheapest”.

Many retailers develop their private labels with professional finesse into viable brands. On top of that they buy brands and trademark rights and turn into brand licensees with the goal of achieving better gross margins with their own brands and to become independent of manufacturers and their brands.

The world of brands is undergoing a massive process of degradation, which is something many still disavow. It is not exaggerated, if I say that in all industries and in all markets our view of the brand is going to change drastically in the next few years.

Surely, in this change, the wheat is going to be separated from the chaff, as we have often mentioned before. In other words, not everything that likes to be called a brand today, but truly only is a label, is going to survive. No reason to lament about it, we ought to be happy about it. We need to embrace it when new names develop into true brands. This is how a continual coming and going is created. However, up to a point we are able to influence this coming and going, impact this change.

First of all, we need to pay attention to the brands entrusted to us and make sure they are part of the healthy “wheat”. When I say “we” I mean all of us active in the world of brands. “Chaff” among brands is everything that in its substance offers less than the criteria of SchmidPreissler’s 7-elements-definition: Origin, history, profile, positioning, image, awareness and protection.

It is imperative to create a living space for the brand in such a way that the brand can unfold, grow, feel protected. A brand often is subjected to more dangers from inside a company, than from the outside. A brand needs to be in line with the product, form an activity unit and not veer off in any direction.

Brands can grow very old. Brands can also lose their business performance and in such a case a new generation needs to be introduced courageously and sometimes a brand needs to be replaced by a new brand. Yes, this is possible and maybe it makes sense especially right now in a world of brands undergoing a massive process of change.

The owners of brands spend lots of money every year to find out how well known and popular their brands are. They try to find out what consumers want, what the customer expectation is towards their brand, what the customers relationship is with the brand. But they spend only little money, too little, for prophylaxis, in order to keep brands healthy and high-performance. When it comes to names or young brands which are supposed to be turned into strong, high-performance brands, there is often not enough patience and volition to invest continuously. There is a huge gap between what is being talked about and what actually is done in this connection.

I think we can do a lot to prevent valuable brands from disappearing from the market in this process of change, due to underestimating their true value. And we can invest carefully into young brands, so they can grow into strong brand personalities. If you are aware of what is going on in the world of brands, you have already taken the first step of ending up on the side of the successful ones, at the end of this process. This is what I wanted bring to your attention to with these lines.