We have seen this happen to brands when companies merge or are acquired by rivals . Take an example of pharmaceutical companies where a merger or acquisition results to a new company that has competing brands that serve the same purpose .
The normal practice is to kill some of the brands to ensure there is no cannibalization between the brands from the new company . Otherwise some of the brands maybe repositioned to serve a different purpose from the competing brand within the new merged company .
The other practice is specific to acquisitions where the dominant company swallows the brands of the acquired company killing them with impunity in favor of their own brands . This normally happens over time and organization politics play a big role .
In a marriage both parties leave their parents and become one but usually the wife takes the name of the husband but not vice versa . The current political atmosphere in Kenya is experiencing this kind of phenomenon but lacks clarity because the details of the handshake are not clear .
Hustlers Vs . Dynasties ( The The Thes ) And The Big Brands Trap
One of the major political analysts in Kenya Mutahi Ngunyi argues that Raila got a blank cheque at Harambee House that he can write anything on and bank it . He also suggests that the handshake politics are about the Hustler nation in reference to deputy president ’ s types against the dynasties oftenly referred to as the “ The the thes ” you know those big family names ( The Ngahu ’ s and the likes ).
In the employment world we have seen employers in the USA who used to recruit only graduates from Ivy League universities casting their nets wider to include graduates from less known universities .
From a consumer brands perspective there have been a growing mistrust for big brands with consumers often preferring smaller brands that seem to care more about them and appear more genuine than the bigger brands .
You can refer to our earlier column on self-made brands where we demonstrated how a milking petroleum Jelly has been
growing its sales at a faster rate than big petroleum jelly brands evolving from a veterinary product to a personal care and now baby care brand in the case of Arimis milking jelly .
In political branding Mutahi Ngunyi argues that the Hustler Nation will win against the Dynasties Nation in future political contests of 2022 and beyond .
Post Handshake Being Authentic And Brand Best Self Are Keys To Success
Like we demonstrated on the self-made brands we can conclude that in marketing and politics being authentic is going to carry a super-premium . Depending on the past glories will carry less weight than having an interesting and inspiring life story . Meat consumers will fill dingy nyama choma ( roasted meat which is a delicacy in Kenya ) and drinking joints infested with a lot of flies and disown five star or sanitized meat joints .
I read somewhere that flies around meat suggest that the meat has not been treated with preservative chemicals .
When we are conducting brand audit research we focus on the brand best self . We look for consumer moments of truth where the brand emerges as a hero to the consumer then we support the brand to deliver more of such moments . While it is important to watch your competitors , being self-aware of what you have to offer is more important . In positive psychology they say that however bad a system , there is something that works in it . It further states that , if you focus on that one thing or the few things that are working they will grow .
From a personal perspective it follows that , whatever you focus on will grow . You can choose to focus on the skeletons in your wardrobe or the jewels in your safe and you can be guaranteed of growth in your area of focus .
Post handshake the key is on focusing on what you want to grow be it for politicians , consumer brands or personal brands . Remember that everything that happens - happens for the good .
The problem is that the good is not obvious and often the truth is boring . For a more interesting perspective we have to seek the emerging truth in that Aha moment that inspires one to bring out the brand best self .
Boniface Ngahu is a seasoned marketing research expert and runs the Talking Point column in Marketing Africa magazine . He is the Marketing Director of SBO Research . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : BNgahu @ sboresearch . co . ke , or follow him on Twitter @ bngahu