Brands Year in Review: 2008 Winning and Losing Brands

With two weeks left in the year 2008, Tim Halloran, President of Atlanta based Brand Illumination; a branding strategy firm that works with branding products and people announces their awards for best and worst brands of the year, 2008.

2008 Brand Winners

Wal-Mart

Tough economic times served as a brutal reminder of how linked to low prices the Wal-Mart brand is. As retailer after retailer announced Chapter 11, Wal-Mart announced that it was posting gains. Throughout the years, Wal-Mart has stayed true to the most important branding principle ? having a consistent, compelling message ? quality items at low prices. During this economic crisis, American consumers are looking to save money ? and everyone knows you save money at Wal-mart.

Wii/Wii Fit

Ninetendo?s Wii continued its torrent sales pace in 2008 and took its ?active game playing? to the next level with the introduction of the Wii Fit, a virtual exercise program with balance board included. The workout program is expected to generate over 3 million sales this year and its parent system proved recession proof, selling over 2 million consoles in November alone, twice the amount in November 2007. Wii has been successful because it is based on a core, fundamental idea ? active game play. Given the overall consumer trend of health and wellness, this core proposition should continue to reap substantial rewards for Nintendo.

I-everything

iPod, iTouch, iPhone, iTunes, iTalk, iLounge, iStation?.the list keeps growing of Apple?s brand that is now distinguishable by a single letter. The ?I?s? have created a revolution in handheld and entertainment devices that has radically changed consumer relationships. Even the iMac has enjoyed a renewed resurgence as a result of the innovative, open-minded halo that surrounds Apple, accurately portrayed by the PC guy vs. Mac guy campaign.

?Green?

Not so much a brand, but a revolution, ?green? has found its way into multiple product sectors. $4 gas prices this summer didn?t hurt, and as a result, the American consumer bought ?green? products like crazy. The Toyota Prius was selling for thousands of dollars over its asking price, Clorox ?Greenworks? natural cleaning products sold over $14million within 6 months (not counting Wal-mart), and the green initiative caused almost all major package goods firms to dramatically rethink how they packaged their products. "Green" is a compelling trend that will only continue to expand in scope and importance.

Barack Obama

And the obvious award goes to Team Obama, who created a brand that generated unparalleled passion by its core consumers through innovative tactics within the political arena. Obama communicated with his target where they already were. He established an on-line community of supporters and created a dialog with consumers through almost daily e-mail blasts. Obama?s brand stayed true to his brand message, and more importantly, true to his image. Obama?s ?Change? message resonated. Unlike his opponents, he stayed consistent. He communicated a calm, cool demeanor. In short, he convinced the American people that he is a leader. For all these reasons, he will become the 44th president of the United States

2008 Brand Losers

Microsoft

Apple continuing to de-position Microsoft (and PCs) as out of date and out of touch, the glitch filled Vista product launch, and the horrendous Jerry Seinfeld ads ? it just wasn?t a good year for Microsoft. Trying to out-cute Apple, the Microsoft Seinfeld-Gates campaign came off as disjointed, inconsistent, and just plain weird. But don?t forget, it is Microsoft ? something tells me they will re-emerge stronger in 2009.

The World Series

Baseball?s crown jewel has quickly become an afterthought mostly due to its own actions. How long has it been since there has been a good World Series? We haven?t had a relatively ?close? World Series since 2003 when the Marlins beat the Yankees in 6 games and in 2002 when the Angels beat the Giants in 7. Add to that the elimination of all World Series day games, the average ending time of a World Series game happening way past midnight in the east and you have an entire generation of kids (and parents) that completely miss baseball?s crowning event every year. Compare what the World Series has become vs. the NFL?s Superbowl and you will see that the World Series brand is in major trouble.

Sirius XM

Neither satellite radio station ever came close to getting the number of subscribers needed to actually put together a profitable business. So what do they do? Merge two unprofitable companies together in the hopes that together they can do better than one unprofitable company. Let?s start with the marketing geniuses who decided that the best way to name this new entity was to combine two immensely disappointing brands and voila, you have Sirius XM. Now that is innovation!

Starbucks

What happens in a bad economy? Housing prices plummet, companies file bankruptcy, and consumers stop spending $4 on lattes. If Wal-Mart is a beneficiary of bad economic news, then Starbucks is one of many victims. The brand will either have to ride the storm out or find products that their cash strapped consumers can actually afford.

Bailout Brands

AIG, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup ? most of us knew these ?brands? in passing and knew that they did something in the financial arena. But we all know them now as the beneficiaries of billions of dollars as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. Not exactly the type of ?brand awareness? a firm desires. And with the auto companies still looking for a handout and rumors of others stepping up for a handout, we hardly have seen the end.

The Republican Party

Ask 74% of the American people, and they will tell you the current President is an absolute disaster. They lost scores of seats in Congress and now are clearly the minority party today. They managed to take the blame for the current economic crisis, when clearly it was equal incompetence from both sides. The Republican brand doesn?t know what it stands for and it has numerous splits trying to move it into their preferred direction. It's time for a brand repositioning.

Tim Halloran is President of Brand Illumination, a branding strategy firm that works with products and people. Tim?s has appeared on major TV news and radio shows around the world, as well as the USAToday, Business Week, and The Wall Street Journal. His unique perspective emerges from over 16 years of strategic consumer marketing, branding, and new product development experience at such international firms as the Coca-Cola Company. Tim provides brand ?illumination? for numerous leading traditional and non traditional brands including consumer products, professional athletes, non profit organizations, and individuals.

A consultant, speaker, and educator, Tim is available for interviews and speaking engagements.

Interviews may be arranged via E-mail: tim@brandillumination.com or phone at 404-218-4117

Check out Tim at http://www.brandillumination.com