Richard Hall

Defining successful brands

Richard Hall is chairman of Zenith International.

In the past year or so, I have included a slide in some of my presentations that puts forward seven prerequisites for future brand success in soft drinks: taste, value, natural, health, benefit, integrity and personal.

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The greatest of these in the long-term is individual emotion. It must seem silly to many people that branding might be all about love and happiness, but more of the latest research and strategies bear this out.

Is it love or statistics that are in the eye of the beholder?

Take, for instance, Coca-Cola’s ‘Open Happiness’ campaign and its recent ‘Happiness Barometer’ study of 12,500 consumers across 16 countries and 4 continents, as reported by Bill Bruce last month. Regulars of my blog will know that I like numbers that come to life, and these really do.

• The six happiest countries were Mexico, Philippines, Argentina, South Africa, Romania and the US.
• A high average 67% are generally satisfied with their lives – 71% of teenagers compared with 66% of those over 40.
• 77% derive more happiness from direct contact with family and partners than from the virtual world of watching TV, connecting online and receiving texts.
• To cheer us up, 38% turn to a night out with friends and 22% go for a simple hug.
• Retail therapy works for 25% of women but only 10% of men.
• 56% cited the taste of Coca-Cola as something that makes them smile. 12% mentioned meeting the love of their life.

‘The real thing’ can have many meanings. Is it love or statistics that are in the eye of the beholder?

Richard Hall is chairman of Zenith International. You can also read his blog at BevBlog.