Never Trust your BRAND into the hands of mediocrity

Brand is one of the most valuable yet intangible asset for any company. Brands build their place in the minds of consumers after enormous hard work from Product Development to Distribution and Brand Architecture to Brand Communication. Each stage is important and any mistake can cost beyond imagination. It is equally important for brand custodians to be extremely careful in selecting multi-sensory impulse creators that associate them directly with the brand. Most of the brands communicate majorly via visuals and audible messages.

Interestingly, a few days back I found a remarkable image coming out from a huge brand. I am talking about Mobil1 which is one of the leading synthetic motor oil brand. Now, what comes to your mind if I ask motor oil? Most of the responses that I found were F1/Nascar cars, the car Engine, the oil pack, or a vehicle. Few said, a shield (Referring to Havoline). But what if I tell you that Mobil1 in Pakistan was found with the following image on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Mobil1Pakistan)

Live image from the Facebook page

Well the actual idea what I can understand from this image is that to get more registrations for Mobil1 Club in Pakistan (http://www.mobil1club.com.pk). So those who register for the club will get a chance of winning this A2 version of high end series NOIR by Q Mobile. The phone is Andriod Gingerbread 2.3 with a price of 89 US dollars. [For my global readers, Q Mobile is a mobile phone brand and has given a tough time to established and global giants such as Nokia and Samsung in Pakistan in low price segment]

More interestingly, the cover page of the Facebook page displays this picture.

Q Mobile or Mobile1?

 How on earth a brand can let this happen to itself. But before making any further comment, I conducted a  survey. When asked which brand comes to your mind first? The survey results were shocking:

• 50% identified it with Q Mobile 
• 38% identified it with Andriod
• 12% identified it with Noir
• NONE identified it with Mobil1

Yes, NONE identified it with a brand, who was communicating the message. I seriously don't know how many registered to the Mobil1 club to get this outdated handset, but what I know is that a majority of those who did are not the target market and might end up getting more spam.

Key problems identified:

• Know your BRAND first.
• Hire people who know BRAND.
• Prepare a BRAND Strategy before communicating.
• Make social media a part of BRAND communication strategy.

Note: The Facebook page of Mobil1 (https://www.facebook.com/Mobil1Pakistan) has close to 20,000 likes and it is declared that it is administered by a current employee.