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Introducing Short-term Brands: A New Branding Tool for a New Consumer

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Article in Journal of Brand Management · May 2000

DOI: 10.1057/bm.2000.23

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T h e J o u r n a l of B ra n d M a n a g e m e n t V o l u m e 7 N u m be r 5

Introduc ing s hort-term brands: A new branding

tool for a new consumer real ity
Dan H e rman
Address: 4 Peat Haschulchan Street, Tel-Aviv 67444, Israel;
Tel/Fax: +972-3-6957546; Mobile phone: + 972-54-260924; Website: www,danherman,com;
E-mail: dan@danherman. com
Received (in revised form): 1st February, 2000

Dan Herman, PhD runs his o wn firm and is a INTRODUCTION

consultant on competitive strategy and brand de­ Assume that you are about to introduc e a
velopment to some of Israel's most prominent new product into the market . If it were a
corporations. new version of an existing branded product
Dr. Herman lectures at the Bar-llan University that you already have in the market, for ex­
in the Master of Communications program where ample a new flavour of a dairy product, the
he also serves as an MA Thesis A dviser, and at inclination would b e to extend the brand.
the Management College in the MBA program. Conventional marketing wisdom has it that
Positions held in the past include: Senior VP introducing a new product under a familiar
at Dahaf Group, a leading marketing communica­ brand name will stimulate more consumers
tions agency, CEO of Cyrano - Competitive to try it, while saving marketing efforts .
Strategy Consultants, Executive Marketing Direc­ When the task is to create a new b rand
tor of Migdal, Israel's leading insurance and fi­ (whic h usually implies a new produc t
nancial services group, and Executive Director of launching, a s well) , the same c onventional
Strategy and Research at Baumann-Ber A dver­ wisdom encourages long-term thinking.
tising (Saatchi & Saatchi). ' Conventional marketing wisdom' is a
Among the many organisations he has worked system of assumptions and beliefs , so widely
with are: Apple Computers, Coca-Cola, Unilever, accepted that any other possibility seems un­
Motorola, Holiday Inn, Suzuki, Chrysler, Warner likely. H owever, is it possible that it might
Brothers, as well as Israel's leading companies in cause us to fail? Is it plausible that in many
the fields of banking, telecommunications, dairy cases, introducing a new b rand would suc­
products, public transportation, drugstore chains ceed more than extending an existing one ,
and many government agencies and political par­ as successful a s it may b e ? I s it even possible
ties. He is author of numerous journal articles and that often, long-term planning of b rands
serves on the editorial board of Otot - a monthly might lead to business failures? Accumulat­
publication of the Israeli A dvertisers A ssociation. ing data, in I srael and els ewhere, indicates
that these conclusions are bound by the new
reality in the marketplace. The b asic 'truths '
ABSTRACT of brand theoryl , 2 are threatened by a deep
Consumers exhibit recently an unp recedented change that has taken place in consumer be­
willingness to try new brands and a priference Jor haviour.
brand-variety over brand-loyalty (even loyalty to a
consistent repertoire if brands), resulting in dam­
age to brand survivability, To cope, marketers now BRANDS IN CRISIS
The Journal of Brand
Management, Vol. 7 No. 5, need an additional tool to the Jamiliar Long-Term E xperts of c ompetitive strategy 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 have
pp. 330-340.
2000,
© Henry Stewart Publications, Brand (LTB): the proJessional creation and man­ been dwelling on the new reality of market
1350-231X
agement ifprof itable Short-Term Brands (STB). frenzy and wild competition for more than a

P a g e 330
 He r m a n

decade. Early in the nineties initial data was The res earch was based on store scanner
published indicating that one of the charac­ data for a combined panel of consumers of
teristics of the turbulent marketplace is dam­ Niels en and Information Resources I nc . ,
age to the survivability of b rands , the composed o f 2 8 ,000 households . The re­
pinnacle of modern marketing. The damage search examined 1 , 2 5 1 brand of p ackaged
became manifest in: goo ds in 14 consumption categories. Brands
that were introduced to the market or left it
Failure of a high rate of new brands at­ during these two years were not included.
tempting to p enetrate the market. S usan O 'dell and Joan Paj unen chose to
Shortening of the life exp e ctancy of give their book the title ' The Butterfly Cus­
brands , even successful ones in terms of tomer' . 1 1 This is an apt description when
sales volume. the rate of annual abandonment in cate­
Success of lower priced private labels of gories like cellular phones and credit cards ,
retail chains , at the exp ense of estab­ in Europ e and the USA , is ab out 25 per
lished brands . cent of the customers. The customer base of
Shrinking of the 'premium' the con­ such a firm changes every 3-4 years.
sumer is willing to p ay for a known C onsumers are not loyal , because they
brand (even Marlboro) . perpetually move o n to new p ro ducts and
brands . ' Actimel ' , the probiotic yogurt of
For some reason, 1 99 4 was a focal year in Danone, was introduced into the I sraeli
this process. Among other voices, The Econo­ market in D e c emb er 1 99 8 . A survey p er­
mist, The Financial Times and The Independent formed 1 2 the same month showed that
have all published articles suggesting that about 1 5 p er cent of the Jewish adult popu­
brands are in trouble. 8 Gabriel and Lang9 lation tried the product within a few weeks .
summed up ' I t is now being argued by cer­ In the coffee category, in which the con­
tain commentators that one hundred years of sumer is assumed to have lasting preferences,
brands may be drawing to a close' . 44 per cent of the instant coffee drinkers
Common brand theory maintains that have tried Elite's 1 3 new 'Aroma' within five
brands are built for the long term and the months of launching in February 1 999. 1 4
value of the brand to the marketer (Brand Whoever thinks these swift and sweeping
Equity) stems, b oth directly and indirectly, changes are unique to the foo d market
mainly from consumer loyalty. But it seems should c onsider the entry of Teva's ' Meri­
that consumer loyalty (even loyalty to a con­ dol'lS toothpaste to the 1 9th place on the fi­
sistent repertoire of brands) is a disappearing nancial scale of non-fo o d brands in 1 99 8 ,
phenomenon. according t o Nielsen Israel. Meridol i s now
Researchers at Leo B urnett 1 0 p ublished the second most popular toothpaste brand,
comprehensive research that trailed brands after Colgate, in a category renowned in the
in the American market during two years of past for its stability due to consumers ' firm
the mid-nineties. The main findings were as habits.
follows : Can these success stories be attributed to
strong umbrella brands ? Apparently, they
Most of the brands (60 per cent) lost cannot. A survey c onducted in August
market-share. 1 999 1 6 suggests that 58 per cent of the sam­
Only 1 5 per cent of the brands enj oyed ple tend to try yogurts in new flavours that
loyalty of the maj o rity of their con­ are intro duced under the brands Danone
sumers (according to Leo Burnett's and Emmi, at least from time to time. Of
Buyer Strategy Segmentation system) . those who took p art in the survey, 81 per

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I n t r o d u c i n g s h o rt-term b r a n d s

cent stated they would have tried such new The fact that products are similar in
products even if they were marketed under characteristics and quality makes con­
different brand name s . They constitute 92 sumers feel that trying a new and unfa­
per cent of those who try new yogurt miliar brand is risk-free.
flavours 'usually' or ' always' (those who try The competitive pressure leads manufac­
' usually' or ' always' - 33 per cent) . These turers to offer a larger variety of prod­
findings are consistent with Nielsen's evi­ ucts and product versions in an attempt
dence that umbrella names have little influ­ to answer preferences of decreasing
ence on the success of new brands . 1 7 groups (ie variety of car classifications) .
How about more durable and costly The result is inability to continually sup­
products? South Korean cars penetrated the port (in advertising, for example) the
Israeli market in the mid- 1 990s . In j ust two entire range.
years , their combined market share was Media fragmentation has increased the
more than 1 5 per cent. In 1 99 9 Hyundai price of reaching consumers through ad­
was the second best selling brand of family vertising. Thus, many US marketers re­
cars and most of them did quite well. Exam­ sort to database marketing. Alas , direct
ples are ample in most, if not all, consumer media that are being used (like mail) are
goods and service categories . often less effective in creating brand
Admittedly, the above trend is only a par­ image than mass media (like television) .
tial description of the current situation . Si­ The new interactive media may be cre­
multaneously the continuing strength of ating a new reality in this respect.
established mega-brands has been observed. Price competition and intensive use of
Global brands - such as McDonald's , promotional sales have made companies
Nescafe , Nike, Microsoft, Sony and others reluctant to allocate funds for image ad­
- unite consumers ' way of life worldwide. vertising.
The interest in brands has never been so
acute. Nonetheless , Landor and Interbrand
show repeatedly that most of the brands oc­ CHANGE IN CONSUMERS'
cupying positions in the top 1 00 list have PREFERENCES AND BEHAVIOUR
been there for 25-50 years , suggesting that The aforementioned explanations emphasise
mega-brands are becoming a rather exclu­ behaviour of marketers and its results. Al­
sive club. though these explanations are valuable, a
Several explanations have been offered in further complementary one can be added,
an attempt to understand the reasons for the which is merging with the trends described
brand crisis: above to create the new situation in the
marketplace: a radical change in consumers'
The markets in the USA and Europe are preferences and behaviour. In fact, it is pos­
mature and saturated. The growth rate sible to detect two such changes:
of the market is derived from the natural
growth rate of the population. Attempts Unprecedented openness to try, both
to introduc e additional brands cause new products and new brands.
'brand explosion' . Preference of brand variety and novelty
The dense competition leads to com­ rather than brand loyalty.
munication overload for the consumer.
New brands often fail to have enough Analysis of TG I Israel 1 999 data shows
impact and the images of existing brands considerable levels of acceptance
are eroded. ('completely agree' and 'tend to agree') of

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statements expressing willingness to try new terised by s everal phenomena worth men­
products (most consumers use the word tioning:
'product' for both 'product' and 'brand') :
Consumers are facing a huge variety of
-'When I see a new product I usually buy choice options . Revolutions in trans­
it to try' - 20 per cent. portation, communications and infor­
-'I am often convinced by commercials to mation are rendering the world more
buy the advertised product' - 24 per acc essible. Consumers can choos e
cent among different places to visit or live in.
-'I like b eing in tune with the latest fash­ They are exposed to a large variety of
ion' - 35 per cent. people , cultures, worldviews and
- ' I like buying gadgets and new products lifestyles. They face rich assortments in
for the house' - 36 per cent. every aspect of life, including consump­
-' I like trying new food products' 47
- tion. Furthermore, we are bound to
per cent. make more and more life shaping
choices: our leaders, spouses and profes­
A survey conducted in February 1 999 1 8 sions . Even the responsibility of our
presents the following preferences: identity is, to a great extent, ours. They
have the right and even the obligation to
1 1 per cent are of the opinion that new ' discover' , define and develop ourselves.
products are usually better than existing They choose from a wide social-cultural
ones . 'menu ' of identities. Social mobility
1 5 per c ent generally prefer new prod­ through education and entrepreneurship
ucts to familiar ones in supermarkets/ is without precedent. The resulting devel­
drugstores. opment of human capability to cope with a
5 4 per cent think that whoever does not variety and choose from it (and the legitimi­
try new products is 'out of touch' . sation to invent new possibilities) is one of
5 8 per cent like to try new products fre­ the most important changes to occur in our
quently. time.
64 per cent think that whoever does not The exposure to various possibilities ev­
try new products loses. idently undermines our b elief in ' one
absolute truth' or 'the right way'. This is
,
Rogers 1 9 famous 'Diffusion of Innovations ' the phenomenon at the basis of post­
Curve defines 3 per cent of the population modernity. Together with other
as 'innovators' , 1 4 per cent as 'pioneers ' , and processes, this fact has weakened social
34 per cent as ' early maj ority ' . The above structures and institutions as well as au­
data suggests an expansion of these groups thorities. It enabled a new openness to
by about a third. the different, the other, and the new.
The changes that oc curred among con­ Due to the weakening of institution­
sumers can be viewed within a wide context alised sources of legitimacy, the individ­
of cultural, social and psychological change ual faces ' c ulture ' , ' society ' , and even
processes that transpired during the 20th ' the world' , without the mediation of a
century. These changes are typical of West­ community. Our community is no
ern opulent societies. The following issues longer unitary and significant. A com­
deserve (and have already received) a more munity is defined in a flexible and
elaborated and in-depth discussion. The in­ changing manner. We take part of
dividual's life in a modern society is charac- groups that are disconnected from one

P a g e 333
I n t r o d u c i n g s h o rt-term b r a n d s

another. Some of these communities are historian Theodore Zeldin, 'it is time to
imaginary or virtual . Our affiliation is reconsider whether man wants to dedi­
temporary, in many cases . cate all of it to riding the same bus' . 24
The fast pace of changes during the
20th century has led to an erosion in the These phenomena and proc esses shap e a
status of tradition and ' elderly wisdom' consumer (person) who lives a new reality
in favour of admiring the new and wor­ of life and has new characteristics:
shipping youth. This is especially true in
light of technological developments and Many people have more than one career
the possibility of social and economic during their working years and certainly
success at a young age (in hi-tech or the work in several organisations . In the
stock market, for example) . ' Routinely, February 1 99 9 survey, 36 per cent an­
most of the truths a person over 40 grew swered that they had personally under­
up b elieving, are now questioned' , gone a s elf-willed career change. This
wrote Judy Lannon. 20 finding is supported by the preoccupa­
Writers who describe the postmodern tion of literature and media with 'sec­
era claim that we live in a p erpetual ond career' and by the multitude of
' now' in which the past loses its value routes available for retraining. Even 'IDF
and the future is unknown . The focus 2000' , the multi-annual planning of the
on the present, to which we are re­ I sraeli army up to 20 10, heralds the
quired to adapt quickly, emphasises im­ transfer from long-term and safe careers
mediacy. For example : almost constant of professional army personnel to short
availability and immediate communica­ and worthwhile careers that can com­
tion (thanks to E-mail and cellular pete with civilian positions. 25 In an arti­
phones) and other instant gratification cle concerning pension funds , Aviva
(fast food) . Rosen 26 refers to the changes in career
In p sychology the notion that we have patterns : 'In the last decade things over­
one integral self, has been questioned. turned. Gold watches received by veter­
According to Grodin and Lindlof: ans of two, three or four decades of loyal
'Destabilisation of the self, is one of the employment in one company have be­
characteristics of postmodernity . . . indi­ come a term of derision ' .
viduals may find that they no longer Many experience more than one family
need a central core with which to evalu­ unit in their lifetime and certainly more
ate and act' . 2 1 Therefore, they can afford than one meaningful intimate relation­
to be a ' different person' each time, ship. According to the I sraeli Central
with different p eople, in different con­ Statistics Bureau, the number of divorces
texts . According to Kellner : ' Identity in Israel has reached 8 , 500 annually, and
becomes more mobile, multiple, per­ increasing. This numb er represents 0 . 5
sonal, self-reflexive and subj ect to per cent of households in the country
change and innovation' . 2 2 Radical theo­ and 1 0 per cent of all marriages are dis­
retical approaches 23 describe a coalition solved before their 1 0th anniversary.
of sub-personalities as an alternative D uring p ast decades several theoretical
model to the common concept of a uni­ and research approaches were developed
tary personality. to segment and describe consumer
In addition, it must be remembered that groups according to values, attitudes and
life expectancy has grown. 'When life lifestyle characteristics (,psychographic'
goes on for almost a century' wrote the descriptions) . During the last few years

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professionals claim that these segmenta­ chances of success have been reduced. Nev­
tions are no longer valid since many ertheless it can be claimed that the common
consumers of our times 'belong' to dif­ theory does not as yet provide a compre­
ferent classifications on different days of hensive enough solution to address the new
the we ek and even during different behaviour of consumers . Therefore, an
hours of the day. adaptation of the theory is necessary. Some
Publicis researchers spotted a new con­ of the marketers have already adapted their
sumption phenomenon of the 1 990's : behaviour to the new reality. Two types of
unification of contrasts or the era of 'this changes can be distinguished:
,
and that too 27 Both men and women
no longer acc ept that career will come Changes in management l' 'regular' brands
at the expense of family life or vice versa Two versions of long-term brands devel­
- they want both . Consumers want oped during the history of brands:
uncompromlSlng combinations of 1 . 'Evolving Brand' - introducing
gourmet taste with few calories, beauty improvements and innovations in a
and comfort, low price and high quality. product without altering the brand
They are willing to accept combinations name. A perfect example is the Power
of science and nature, conventional and Rangers brand introduced to the market
holistic medicine. The trend created a at the beginning of the 1 990's . Recently,
wave of '2/3/4 . . in l ' products : sham­
. the fourth generation was presented.
poo and conditioner, tooth paste and Similarly, there are many examples of
mouth wash . ' FUSI ON in the kitchen, ' new and improved' products or even a
design, lifestyle - that is fashionable ' , completely new product under the same
writes Aviva Lori, ' A mixture of E uro­ brand name (tablets instead of powder
pean-American-Japanese with a delicate for dish washers) . This approach is dif­
flavour of ethnic Peruvian at the ferent from the classic brand, such as
edges' . 28 Coca- Cola - a product that does not
change.
The emerging portrait is l' a person and consumer 2 . 'Variety Brand' - a wide variety of
who is led by a new basic motivation: ambition to product versions under the same brand
exhaust all possibilities and the fear of m issing name (Swatch, for example) . Many
out on something. This motivation might be one brands have expanded their variety in
of the main causes of the brand crisis described order to offer different market segments
above. products that s uit them ( ' light' and
'medium' versions of cigarettes) as well
as to offer the consumer variety and re­
MARKETERS CHANGE THEIR newal without having to ' abandon' the
BEHAVIOUR brand. As is well known, sometimes
Once the contemporary consumer and the brands are being extended to other
reality of his life is understood, it is easy to product categories .
identifY the limitations of the present brand Brands planned for a limited 'life expectancy'
theory. A prolonged devotion of the con­ According to common brand theory, a
sumer to a brand appears less likely. The au­ brand that 'lives' a short period of time
thor would like to emphasise that he does (when compared to brands of the same
not claim that long-term brands are obso­ product category in the past) is a failure.
lete. Nonetheless, it seems that creating Recently, however, in many cases a
them has become more diffi c ult and the brand is a success in terms of the sales

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I n t r o d u c i n g s h o rt - t e r m b r a n d s

volume it reache s , but its success is create long-term brands (LTB) . A further
short-lived. I n c hildren's entertainment, option may be presented: professional and
for example, c haracters such as Mulan purposeful creation of short-term b rands .
s u c c e e d for one s eason in c ontrast to The main reason to plan short-term b rands
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the is the fact that c onsumers have made many
pas t . In cars, b rands such as Clio are brands ' short term' anyway. The data pre­
suppose d to succeed for 5-7 years in s ented indicates that the chances that a new
c ontrast to Ford Fiesta or Renault 5 . b rand will succeed in the short term are
There is a great variance in life ex­ larger than its chanc e s to s u c c e e d in the
pectancies of brands among product cat­ long term. Consumers ' willingness to try a
egories, of course. new b rand does not fall short of their will­
The term ' short-term brand' does not ingness to try a familiar and extended brand,
yet exist in the language of marketing and might even surpass it.
professionals . To many it will sound like Base d on c onsultations with managers
a paradox since according to c ommon and participants in seminars c onducted on
brand theory, b rands are ' meant to last the issue, many marketers accept short-term
for the long term' . Nonethele s s , many b rands at first as bad n ews ( 'why invest in
marketers have b e gun to introduc e something for the short term? ' ) . There i s ,
b rands anticipating that their life ex­ also, a n understandable tendency to explain
pectancy be limited. Changes in man­ away a new concept by seeing it as merely a
agement of such b rands , were intuitive, new name to a known one . S ome mistake
lacking an organising term and a ' short­ short-term brands to be a renaming of
term brand theory' , and were often trendy products or fads . T his may lead to
done in an atmosphere of resignation to missing the true potential of the new c on­
reality. c ept. Characteristics of trendy products and
I f the following list of examples of fads are indeed notic e able in short-term
brands that were successful during a rel­ b rands , but they are now evident in more
atively short period of time are re­ product categories than ever before, thus
viewed, it will be rec alled that in all of creating a qualitatively new phenomenon.
thes e c ategories, c onsumers behaved Even if short-term brands were conceived
more consistently (,brand loyalty' ) in under duress , they do present a new kind of
previous generations . The categories are business opportunity to marketers , b e c ause
extremely divers e : food (frozen yogurt) ; they offer the consumers b enefits that are
toiletries and cosmetics ( CK 1 ) ; diets not present in long-term brands .
(Slim-Fast) ; games (Tamaguchi) ; enter­ It is widely accepted that beyond the func­
tainment (Pocahontas) ; music (disco) ; tion of the product, b rands offer the c on­
vacation destinations (Palma D e-Ma­ sumer social and psychological 'value added' .
j orca) ; exercise (aerobics) ; technology The main means to create such value is, in
(Pentium) ; c ars (Punto) ; and there are most cases, advertising. Advertising a brand is
many more. often meant to create a desire to purchase it
by arousing in the consumer expectations to
b enefit. When the b enefit stems from the
SHORT·TERM BRANDS (STB) function of the product, the role of advertis­
Most of those who reacted to the changes in ing is to make evident in the consumer's
the marketplace describ e d above, assumed mind the advantages of the brand as a source
that a bigger effort must b e made and act a of b enefit compared to alternatives . In con­
little differently in order to c ontinue and trast, when b enefit is ' value added' the ex-

P a g e 336
 He r m a n

pectation to benefit is a self-fulfilling Short-term brands also offer the consumer

prophecy. The mere expectation of the con­ 'value added' benefits . A preliminary study
sumer, and sometimes his environment, to of focus groups conducted in the spring of
benefit - is the source of the benefit. 1 999 29 helped distinguish the psychological
Several types of 'value added' are familiar and social benefits that consumers gam
to us since they characterise long-term through buying new brands:
brands:
It signals to others that you are up-to­
Known brands reduce anxiety regarding date ('cool ' , 'fashionable') , part of a con­
mistakes in choice and c ontribute to tinuous signaling of affiliation and even
making our reality more predictable. status .
Choice requires less effort. It conveys a message of 'youthfulness' .
Some brands , according to their sym­ I t strengthens the self-image of a 'mod­
bolic meanings , enable c onsumers to ern person ' and nurturing a feeling of
demonstrate affiliation to a certain social livelihood and connection to what is
group, status, or certain identity (Yuppie happening in the world around us.
!intellectual/bohemian) . Sophisticated It provides a feeling of refreshment, re­
consumers use various brands at various newal, stimuli, invigoration.
times in order to ' get into' the role, and It caters for mood management (break­
also to communicate it to others. ing routine, liberation from a feeling of
Consumption of certain brands is useful 'being stuck') .
to strengthening self-perc eption as 'so­ ' New' sometimes implies improved
phisticated' , ' conscientious' , 'updated' . . . quality ( ' the most updated') which in­
The advertisements of established brands creases security in the choice.
constitute a source of authority to learn­
ing accepted values and norms of behav­ The focus groups study revealed that finding
iour: what is ' right' , what is ' good' , and trying new brands constitutes a factor in
what will bring happiness? the marital, familial and social life. Openness
Sometimes brands serve as ' the long to the new is obvious mainly in products
arm' of the consumer, ' doing something with experiential and/or social character and
that I would like to do myself but can­ is also found in products like toothpaste or
not' (eg save the rain forests) , or ' acting body lotion (to which 'the skin gets used to
as I would like to but dare not' it and it stops being effective after a period of
(provocative, protesting, rebellious) . time' , as one of the participants testified . . . ) .
Certain brands participate in the internal Evidence to the 'value added' benefits of
dialogue helping enlist motivation for buying new brands was also found in the
action. rate of agreement to statements in the Feb­
Some brands facilitate fantasies of om­ ruary 1 999 survey:
nipotence, of unlimited sex appeal, of
importance, of adventure . . . 'When I am in a bad mood I sometimes
An additional type of sophisticated buy new products to improve it' - 22
brands are those that formulate in the per cent.
consumers' minds a promise of a certain 'I buy new products in order to break
feeling and consuming the product be­ the routine and relieve boredom' 38 -

comes a means to 'connect' to that feel­ per cent.

ing and experience it (much like buying 'When I buy a new product I feel re­
a ticket to a certain genre of film) . freshed' - 55 per cent.

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I n t r o d u c i n g s h o rt-term b r a n d s

Each type of brand, long term and short lower than among the rest of the popula­
term, fulfils a basic human need. Long tion . In contrast, interest in talk shows, TV
term, the need of stability, continuity, and game s , films , satire and cultural pro­
security. Short term - the need of renewal grammes - is relatively high . They enj oy
and of sensual, emotional and intellectual c ommercials more than the rest of the
stimulation. population . Psychologic ally, it s e ems that
these people are adaptable, emphasise so­
cial life, self-monitoring and escapists to a
HOW TO MANAGE SHORT·TERM certain extent.
BRANDS I t is particularly advisable to create a
This paper endeavours to formulate a short-term brand when a strong market
knowledge base for creating and managing leader already exists, when technology is
short-term brands started with learning unstable, when market experience indicates
from the accumulated experience in market­ a short live d interest of the consumer in
ing and advertising products and services in brands , as well as in product categories in
fields in which brands typically have limited which one or more of the following apply:
life expectancy : fashion , movies, children's
games, etc. To that, observations have been Product consumption is accompanied by
added and generalisations made from occur­ sensual experience.
rences of short lived but indisputable suc­ Use of the product is publici observable
cesses of brands in other categories. I t has and connected with social interaction or
reviewed professional literature, talked with can be used as a topic for conversation.
managers, and analyzed dozens of cases . The B enefit of the product is doubtful but
limited scope of the present paper precludes the desire for the b enefit is strong
the possibility of presenting the conclusions (diets) or the benefit perceived is at the
in full (including the organisational and fi­ fantasy level.
nancial aspects of managing short-term
brands) . Nonetheless, the following are sev­ When introducing a short-term brand to
eral principles and practical suggestions that the market, it is recommended to consider
might be useful. the following:
Analyzing characteristics of those who
agreed with TGI statements indicating a The product will usually be based on a
tendency to try new products, as well as a formula that has succeeded in the past,
cluster analysis performed on the findings of with the addition of no more than one
the February 1 999 survey, raise the follow­ new element.
ing description of the most significant target The product will be simple to under­
group for short-term brands (about a quar­ stand and use, and will be offered at a
ter of the population) : limited number of versions.
A high rate of women and of ages The packaging will be remarkable and
2 5-45 (thereby a high rate of families with uruque.
children under 1 6-years old) , income level Usually the product will contain some­
tends to be average and above, high rate of thing current and fashionable (design,
employe e s , secular, modern lifestyle (ie colour, an associative name . . . ) .
frozen food) , tendency towards entertain­ The price will not b e high compared to
ment and attention to appearance. Level of the category, and often special penetra­
interest in the news , in actuality, docu ­ tion price and payment terms will be of­
mentary a n d even sports o n television , is fered to ease the purchase.

P a g e 338
 He r m a n

Combination of advertising, public rela­ frontal short-term brand is, under the
tions , and rumours will create an expec­ headlights, and the source of value
tation prior to penetration. added benefits to the consumer.
There will be early marketing to opin­
ion leaders . When managing short-term brands , it
Special terms will be offered to large should be remembered that the last judge of
and organised groups of consumers. the brand 's fate is the consumer. The same
Most of the marketing effort will b e way a b rand that was planned for the long
made during penetration . Advertising term may prove to be a short term one, the
will b e concentrated in a short period opposite is also possible. One typical danger
of time (reminders will b e used for in managing short-term b rands is the ten­
multi-seasonal produ cts) , advertising dency to ' kill them' before they exhaust
channels will enable high frequency of their inherent potential . A careful tracing
exposure, the theme will emphasise and monitoring of consumer's brand benefit
novelty, will be especially dramatic and expectations and behaviour is essential to
utilise popular elements (c elebrity, hit correct navigation in the strong and unpre­
song . . . ) . dictable currents of the marketing reality in
To create swift and wide-scoped trial, which we operate.
sales promotion will b e conducted
(launching events, co-operation with
complementary products , samples/tast­ REFERENCES AND NOTES
ing/test drives, sale together with a fa­ (1) Aaker, D. A . ( 1 99 1 ) 'Managing Brand
miliar product) . Equity', The Free Press, New York.
A variety of distribution channels, some (2) Aaker, D. A. ( 1 996) 'Building Strong
unusual, will be used in order to ensure Brands' , The Free Press, New York.
maximum accessibility. (3) D 'Aveny, R. ( 1 994)
I n many cases, a short-term brand will ' Hypercompetition' , The Free Press,
be introduc e d under the ' auspi c e s ' of New York.
another brand (ie manufacturer name) (4) Mintzberg, H. ( 1 994) 'The Rise and
which is not at the centre of advertising Fall of Strategic Planning' , The Free
and does not have a rich meaning to Press, New York.
the consumer. Its role is merely to alle­ (5) Ries, A. and Trout, J. ( 1 994)
viate apprehensions regarding quality of 'Marketing Warfare ' , McGraw-Hill,
the product. in the author's experience, New York.
this point creates confusion . Appar­ (6) Peters , T. ( 1 994) 'The Pursuit of
ently, it infers that the short-term WOW! ' , Vintage Books/Random
brand is a sub-brand of a main (and of House, New York.
course a long-term) brand. This con­ (7) McKenna, R. ( 1 997) 'Real Time ' ,
clusion is mistaken and stems from the Harvard Business School, Boston.
hierarchical approach, of branding lev­ (8) Macrae, C. ( 1 996) ' The Brand
els , in the acc epted brand theory. A Chartering Handbook', Addison­
more precise distinction will b e be­ Wesley, Harlow, p. 3 .
tween a 'background' and a ' frontal' (9) Gabriel, Y. and T. Lang ( 1 995) 'The
bran d . The b ackground brand is a Unmanageable Consumer' , Sage,
long-term brand that is not empha­ London, p. 3 6 .
sised, and its role is to reduce percep­ ( 1 0) McQueen, J. , Sylvester, A. K. and
tion of risk by the consumer. The Moore, S. C. ( 1 998) , 'Brand Growth' ,

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I n t r o d u c i n g s h o rt - t e r m b ra n d s

in Jones, J. P. (ed.) , 'How Advertising Management, Volume 4, Number 2, p. 84.

Works ' , Sage, Thousand Oaks , Ca. , (2 1 ) Grodin, D. and T. R. Lindlof ( 1 996)
p. 5 1 -6 . ' Constructing the Self in a Mediated
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'The Butterfly Customer' , John Wiley (22) Kellner, D. , ( 1 992) 'Popular culture
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( 1 4) According to the Geocartography (24) Zeldin, T. , ( 1 994, the Hebrew Edn:
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408 interviewees, representative sample Humanity' , Modan, Tel-Aviv, p. 435 .
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quoted in Globes (a daily business Mofaz's revolution', Globes (an Israeli
newspaper) , 23rd August 1 999, p. 64. daily business newspaper) - Money,
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pharmaceutical products . p. 4 .
( 1 6) A telephone survey, the Dahaf (26) Rosen, A. ( 1 999) , 'The life, death and
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representative sample of the Israeli Globes - Money, the weekend
Jewish adult population. supplement, 26th August, p. 3 9 .
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Value ' , in Jones, J. P. (ed. ) , ' How to use of the consumer' , Otot (a monthly
Advertising to Build Strong Brands ' , publication of the Israeli Advertisers'
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representative sample of the Israeli Style' , Ha'Aretz (an Israeli daily
Jewish adult population. newspaper) - the weekend
( 1 9) Rogers, E . M. ( 1 995) 'Diffusion of supplement, 26th March, p. 37.
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New York. of Israel, among population of middle­
(20) Lannon, J. ( 1 996) 'What is high socio-economic strata, one
postmodernism and what does it have composing of women only, the other of
to do with brands?' The Journal if Brand men only, and the third a mixed one.

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