Thursday, October 05, 2006

 

What's all this hype about a brand image?

This week the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Coach is suing Target for selling "faux" Coach bags in their stores. Target says that the bags are the real deal and that they have confirmed their authenticity.

Clearly the issue of whether the bags are faux or genuine is a big deal, however, the thing that Coach is even more annoyed about is that fact that their brand image is being compromised by being associated with the discount retailer such as the Target brand. Target's spokeswoman, Carolyn Brookter, said, "Target has procedures in place to ensure that we do not sell counterfeit products to our guests." According to the Strib, this is not the first time that Coach and Target have gotten in a tug of war about purses. Coach recently complained that some of Target's private label handbags are too closely similar to the Coach design. Now doubt this drama will continue, but it raises an issue that we talk about in our Personal Branding seminars--which is about being authentic to your brand.

Coach has a well defined brand essence and clearly they will take it to the mat to ensure that their brand image remains true and consistent. This is a clear example of the importance of branding. Coach has spent millions of dollars establishing their brand and are not about to let that brand image be diluted --at any cost. One point of negative brand impression quickly translates to millions of dollars in lost revenue. Coach understands that a successful brand must remain true to its personality and the relationship that its consumers have come to expect. And while Target is a distinctive brand in its own right--Coach is saying loud and clear that there will be no consorting of an kind.

We should all take a page from the Coach brand play book and remain resolved to express our own personal brand in its truest and most authentic form.

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