A First Rate Tragedy

There is this site that I subscribe to which provides me articles to keep me updated on the latest trend for brand & marketing. This week's top article was about marketing language, and the risks we take today in the words we use for our brands.

Of course risks are not without failures, and they cited the great British explorer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott. He led a team who had dreams to be the first explorers to land on the South Pole. Due to harsh weather conditions, only a handful of the group of explorers finally managed to reach their destination, after much suffering. Tragically, they were to find out that the Norwegian party had beat them to it. The rest of the team, including Captain Scott himself, died in the return journey.

It was in his final letters he sent home that were truly moving, ending with "I do not think I can write more" as he lay in the snow, dying. For me, the greatest tragedy was that this man who had given his whole life to his passion for exploration, who won great fame, ultimately failed in the greatest undertaking of his life. It wasn't that he lacked passion, perseverance or skill. It was just that he wasn't the first to reach the South Pole. Buy a copy of his journal at Amazon.

It's easier to accept the failures we read about when someone lacked the passion, or the character to achieve his/her goals. But it is also a very real fact that the battle does not always go to the one who is faster or stronger. When these events happen, they are remembered as tragedies.

Taking a corporate slant, branding is always also a risk. While market research and survey can guide you to which positioning you should take, it cannot guarantee that the values you associate your brands with will always work in your favour. And all of us have seen great brands fall flat on their face before. It's happened to the biggest brands out there - Coca Cola, McDonalds, IBM and Virgin. Read all about it in this book: Brand Failures. However, you might not be so lucky to survive brand failures like these companies did. It takes a lot of genius to save or revive a brand.