How could you explain the success of brands such as Coca-Cola, Ford and GM, which built and positioned their brands with investments in advertising and remain leaders?
Coca-Cola, Ford and GM brands (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac) were built in the distant past by public relations, not advertising. Take Ford, for example. When Henry Ford built the first production line and manufactured and sold an automobile (the Model T) for an incredibly low price, it created an enormous amount of publicity. Then he paid his workers the astounding sum, for the time, of $5.00 a day. As a result, Henry Ford and the Ford Model T were probably as famous in their day as Bill Gates and Microsoft are today. Today, of course, all of these brands need advertising to maintain the brands. But the brands themselves were built by PR, not advertising. What Ford did in his time, Bill Gates has done today. The Microsoft brand was built by PR, in our opinion, not advertising. As a matter of fact, Microsoft received more publicity last year than any company in the world.
Related Questions
- How much credit will you give to your advertising agencies for the success of Perfetti Brands in India especially when Perfetti has always had some award winning campaigns for most of its brands?
- The BPL of America claims $3600 in free advertising, but is it true and please explain?
- What is the value of aided vs. unaided brand awareness?
