Survival of the fittest as taught by the brands that have lasted generations
There are successful brands, there are dominant brands, and then there are iconic brands.
A successful brand is one that is profitable and growing, and a dominant one has cornered the lion’s share of the market. But an iconic brand has transcended those distinctions: Bigger than even the product or utility they offer, an iconic brand has become an instantly recognizable cultural phenomenon.
Think of Coca-Cola, Apple, Google, Rolex, Nike, and Disney; locally, there are brands like Bench, Jack n’ Jill, San Miguel Beer, Jollibee—each one has not just market share but also mind share, or a share in public awareness.
Douglas Holt, author of How Brands Become Icons, speaks of how iconic brands tell a special kind of story—a myth—and become a representation of cultural values reinforced via advertising and promotions, distribution, and even customer service.
“Consumers come to perceive the myth as embodied in the product. So they buy the product to consume the myth and to forge a relationship with the author: the brand,” he explains in his article, “What Becomes an Icon Most?” for the Harvard Business Review.
Holt speaks of how Nike’s customers tap into the brand’s myth of individual achievement through perseverance—inherent in its slogan of “Just Do It.” Or how Apple’s customers in the 1990s bit into the brand’s myth of “rebellious, creative, libertarian values at work in a new economy.” Even the death of Steve Jobs, and the ongoing smartphone wars, hasn’t erased the goodwill Apple has earned through the years: It topped, for the third consecutive year, the list of most valuable brands for 2014 by valuation consultancy firm Brand Finance. Also on that list: Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Disney, Rolex, and Ferrari, among others.
Iconic brands are relevant, or at the very least cannot be ignored. And yes, it takes time for a brand to become iconic, as sustainability has become a lot tougher—one only has to look back at the experiences of some of our existing and fallen icons.
“There’s a vulnerable market leader, there’s a strong market leader, there’s a dominant market leader, and a formidable market leader,” says marketing research analyst Eduardo “Ned” Roberto, who has served as consultant for Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Citibank, Pfizer, Nestlé, AC Nielsen, among others.
“Once you reach that formidable market leadership, you are iconic. You continue to increase your market share and dominate the segment or the category that you are in,” he adds.
It’s easier said than done, because there will be challengers at every corner. “The barrier to imitation is almost zero,” observes Roberto. “The imitators come in and will be able to match you, and sometimes a few of them will even excel you.”
Every founder wants his brand to be iconic, more than just a convenience or an option, but a crucial part of the target consumer’s identity and lifestyle. Every brand works to become a market leader, a dominant one, even a formidable one.
The question is: How?
CHOC NUT
BE THE FIRST, IF NOT THE ONLY
Many brands inch their way to the top by cultivating something new; but then the copycats close in. However, as the prime mover, you have a distinct advantage, with very little competition at the onset.
Such was the case with the brand Choc Nut, self-styled “peanut milk chocolate,” manufactured by Annie’s Sweets Mfg. & Packaging Corp. It was the first of its kind and therefore different from any number of pure chocolate or pure peanut sweets. The crumbly, almost, coarse powdery texture and distinct taste so characterizes Choc Nut that it remains the go-to brand in its category.
The secret is finding the right segment that has a clear need for the brand; once you have that, and you're the only one who continues to satisfy that segment, you will be its brand.
“Choc Nut through the years has been practically the only such ‘chocolate,’ but really peanut powder, in the country,” says Ernesto Gatchalian, former president of J. Walter Thompson and Campaigns & Grey, and now managing director of J. Romero & Associates. “What you may call truer chocolate brands—like Ricoa and Serg’s in the past—have not really eaten into the brand of Choc Nut. They were operating in different markets, so they were still the only game in town.”
Gatchalian says that even when variations on the same product type came out, Choc Nut remained top of mind because of its prime mover status, which few brands today can claim. “Kids in grade school became enamored of it, [since] it’s probably the only thing they could afford, and its simplicity appeals to people,” says Gatchalian. “It’s doing very good business in the U.S., among people who grew up on Choc Nut.”
Roberto says becoming iconic means finding your niche. “Iconic brands occupy not the entire market, but the segment, so the secret is in finding a segment that has a clear need for the brand; once you have that, and you’re the only one who continues to satisfy that segment, you will be its brand,” he says.
BRAND SUPREMACY
Jez Frampton, CEO of brand consultancy firm Interbrand, says that to lead, brands need to approach today’s marketplace differently:
Advance a vision. “If you want brand fans, loyalists, and ambassadors, you must have a vision of the future that inspires—and you must communicate it.”
Join the conversation. “Your brand is increasingly shaped by consumer opinion and demand—and decreasingly under your control. While keeping communication to a minimum might seem the best way to avoid trouble online, sitting out the conversation may be more risky.”
Don’t wait—innovate! “Whether it’s a subtle refinement or a category breakthrough, the important thing to remember about innovation is that when it hits the mark, it’s because the company has satisfied an unmet need.”
Source: “The New Rules of Brand Leadership” by Jez Frampton, Best Global Brands 2013
ICED GEM, SAN MIGUEL, AND JOLLIBEE
CREATE EMOTIONAL TIES
There’s a reason why we look fondly at Choc Nut, and even brand behemoths like Jollibee, Coca-Cola, and San Miguel Beer: they tug on emotional ties. Nostalgia is one “strong brand-building factor,” says Gatchalian, “although it does take time to build.”
Iced Gem Biscuits by Khong Guan Biscuit Factory and Ritz Food Products Corp., started as a novelty item in 1984, and became a childhood staple. It was first sold to children aged 5 to 12, and later teens and adults. “Kids grew up, but their love for Iced Gems didn’t fade. It was somehow passed down. You can still hear people say, ‘Paborito ko ito noong bata pa ako!” says Sheileen Chua-Dee, trade marketing manager.
For San Miguel, there was also the sense of community. “San Miguel [sponsored a basketball team which won] competitions all over the world, one of the very few things Filipinos can be proud of before the world. That was a huge thing about building an emotional brand,” says Gatchalian.
The same formula applied to its hard liquor brands. “Ginebra San Miguel did it by building very strong emotional ties with the drinkers by featuring ordinary fisher folk, laborers, having a Ginebra San Miguel break at the end of the day—with the tag ‘Ang inumin ng tunay na lalaki,’ which struck a chord,” he adds.
Jollibee has become an extension of home. Whereas the world standard for the fastfood burger has been McDonald’s, Gatchalian says Jollibee is differentiated as “the hamburger with the Filipino taste,” immortalized in the “langhap sarap” campaign highlighting the trait of Filipinos breathing in the scent of the juicy burger before biting in. “Chickenjoy” conjures a “happy meal” (no offense to McDonald’s), plus it has remained affordable.
“Have you ever heard low-income people, say, ‘Para may pang-Jollibee naman’? I’ve heard it in laundry products focus groups—they are always on the lookout for cheaper products that do the job and part of what goes on in their minds is ’pag nakatipid ako dito, may pang-Jollibee na ang anak ko.’ Jollibee is the one treat that they can afford as a family. That is very, very strong. It gets ingrained into your head that Jollibee is your friend. Jollibee is one lift you get out of your dreary, hard existence,” says Gatchalian.
Nostalgia is one strong brand-building factor, although it does take time to build.
MAXX
BE EVERYWHERE
Simple availability, says Gatchalian, is just one factor in becoming iconic. If you don’t make yourself available, your consumers will shift to a competing brand that is more accessible. If you do not treat your suppliers and service providers well, someone more accommodating will eat into your share of the market.
Seamless distribution retains your hold on the market. In the past, this was fairly simple, as in the case of local brands that became dominant simply because there was very little access to the imported brands. There are also the crucial battles, as in the fight between Storck (now Starr) menthol candy and Maxx in the 1980s. The turf in question: cigarette vendors who could be persuaded to sell one’s candy, so long as consumers were willing to try it out.
“They built [growth] by getting Storck to the cigarette vendors,” says Gatchalian. “[Maxx] saw that one of the secrets, of Storck was the distribution dominance that they had, so they moved to take away that dominance.”
It didn’t help that Storck at the time was grappling with importation issues and rumors of lead poisoning from its wrapper, Gatchalian recalls. Meanwhile, Maxx had risen to prominence by using Max Alvarado, a kontrabida turned comedic actor, as its product endorser; Maxx became an acceptable alternative.
“In the case of Maxx, it was: one, to overcome the distribution dominance of Storck; and two, the memorability of the brand, and they did it through Max Alvarado,” says Gatchalian.
WHITE CASTLE WHISKY AND FAMILY RUBBING ALCOHOL
GRAB ATTENTION, AND HOLD IT
The White Castle girl, clad in a red bikini, leading a white horse on a beach: This is the original calendar girl that has—like it or not—captured the attention of Filipino males. “Every year, we produce the calendars,” says Olivia Limpe-Aw, president of Destileria Limtuaco & Co. Inc. She says they haven’t done any tri-media advertising for White Castle in recent years, but have kept up the calendar tradition that started in 1969.
It’s not just about having a standout product, or a well-functioning distribution system, but getting the word out—“distinctive communications, [even if it is] not always intelligent communications,” says Gatchalian.
Sometimes these can be outright silly, such as the TV commercial of Family Rubbing Alcohol in the 1980s, featuring a kitschy Carlos Padilla Jr.—famous for refereeing the fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975—delivering the tagline of “Hindi lang pampamilya, pang-isports pa!”
“Everybody was laughing at the damned thing, but because everybody was laughing at the damned thing, everybody remembered,” explains Gatchalian. “Brands can be made by lucky, even stupid, accidents.”
GOLDILOCKS
BE INCLUSIVE AND EXPANSIVE
When Goldilocks first opened in 1966, there was very little competition. Its founders—sisters Milagros and Clarita Leelin, and their sister-in-law Doris Leelin—envisioned a place to have coffee and snacks while you wait for that fantastic birthday cake for your child. “People would go out of their way—it became a status symbol,” says Pinky T. Yee, marketing manager of Goldilocks.
Generations of Filipinos have at one time or another either had a Goldilocks cake, or partaken of pasalubong in the classic mamon, caramel popcorn, and polvoron offerings. It has become a cultural product, even appearing in a book of Filipino idiosyncrasies titled You know you’re Filipino if…. “It says there, ‘You know you’re Filipino if…Goldilocks means more to you than just a character from a fairy tale,” shares Yee.
Goldilocks opened eight branches in its first decade. Relatives who migrated abroad took the brand with them, opening in Los Angeles in 1976, in San Francisco in 1979, and in Vancouver in 1984. The Philippine bakeshop hit its stride after the EDSA Revolution in 1986: when the local malls opened, they were right there. As of March, they had 412 stores nationwide, 286 of which are franchised.
In 2010, the Philippine franchisor also licensed a Goldilocks bakeshop in Thailand, alongside distribution outlets in Hong Kong, Japan, and other parts of Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Europe. This does not include affiliates in North America. The USDA-certified facility in San Diego serves, not just supermarkets like Costco, but also the U.S. Military and the U.S. Navy.
“Soldiers in Afghanistan enjoy Goldilocks lumpiang shanghai,” says Yee. “This is how you become iconic: when the customers themselves equate your products to being Filipino. Say you go abroad—what [other] food brand can you bring and export to another country that is uniquely Filipino?”
CARONIA, VINO DE CHINO, AND SO-EN
MOVE WITH THE MARKET
Caronia, the very first local brand of nail polish launched in the country in 1968, owes its recall to another silly jingle, which ironically mispronounces its name. It has now reworked its image from a musty “old lady” brand, back when it was endorsed by Vilma Santos, to a much younger, hipper brand.
In 2005, Caronia not only changed its logo and bottle to fit the new image, it hired Aia de Leon, vocalist of rock band Imago, as its endorser. To touch base with their new teen and pre-teen market, they’ve latched on to the arts, holding a concert in 2013 and partnering with Ballet Philippines for the foundation’s scholarship program. They’re also very active in social media because the youth are vocal online, says Olivia B. Bolico, Caronia brand manager.
Consumer-defined positioning is important, says Roberto. He warns that an iconic brand can become an artifact “when it loses its command of the unserved and underserved need of the consumer.” “Always, your power as an iconic brand comes from the consumer, so don’t forget the consumer,” he says. “The only way to grow your business is to multiply your participation in more and more emerging segments.”
Limpe-Aw, for example, says that herbal drink Vino de Chino—introduced over a century ago as See Hok Tong, from which Filipinos derived the generic name “sioktong”—was always marketed to “macho men” but now also caters to a female following. “The women found out that [because it has blood regulators], it helped them whenever they have dysmenorrhea; it’s also good after childbirth,” she says.
Caronia, meanwhile, has continuously evolved according to the dictates of the market. Not long after founder Bellen Ang launched the brand under family-owned Vibelle Manufacturing Corp., the company dropped its flagging pomade business, focusing on Caronia instead.
In 2000, they added a professional nail care and foot-care line. While 80 percent of the business still remains nail polish, the brand has become more adventurous—from the original shade of Pussy Red, they’ve increased to over 80 FDA-approved colors. “You have to maintain innovation. You have to move with the times,” says Bolico.
Similarly, lingerie brand So-En, for the past 40 years, has catered primarily to women in their 20s up to seniors. But it had to adjust to a more diversified market via a “segregated product line called Essentials,” which also appeals to a younger audience.
“It began conservatively, straightforward, no fuss…[but] our market today is hipper, more sensitive to criticism, more attuned to what’s cool, what’s in and what’s fashionable. This has pushed us to be ‘younger’ and up to date in our styles, meaning we play with vibrant colors, or we provide more prints, play with fun garters,” says Aislinn Chuahiock, So-En Garments Corp. marketing manager. “We’ve always maintained our basic cuts, we just made them more attuned to the times.”
GRAB THE OPPORTUNITY
Iconic brand-makers keep discovering a new opportunity where none thought to look. Roberto calls this entrepreneurial trait as “insight-ing” and credits Nobel Prize laureate Albert Szent-Gyorgyi with its definition: Seeing what everybody has seen, but thinking what nobody has thought.
Insight is also useful when sustaining—or reviving—market leadership: Harley-Davidson’s comeback after bankruptcy, for example, meant catering not only to “devil’s riders” but also the heretofore ignored fanbase of clean-cut office hounds who had a yen for weekend daredevil rides. “They were able to revive the product, and it stayed as an iconic brand, with another segment,” says Roberto.
Even iconic brands aren’t invincible. Eastman Kodak was the global name in film—and gave the world the core technology for digital cameras—but declared bankruptcy in 2012. The company is currently focused on digital printing, commercial imaging, and packaging.
“Brands once strongly established become very hard to topple except when a significant innovation comes in. But, once discredited, they become almost impossible to recover,” says Gatchalian. “Look at the big brands today that have become dominant, but also very quickly, have been toppled—Nokia, BlackBerry... It’s not just a matter of keeping up with the innovation. That’s the story today for our entrepreneurs: Lead the innovation.”
This is how you become iconic: when the customers themselves equate your [brand] to being Filipino.
Originally published in the June 2014 issue of Entrepreneur Philippines.
Illustrations by Sonny Ramirez.