Are Big Brands Dying?

Fact or fiction?

Big brands pay the salaries and provide investment returns for many millions of people via pension funds.  So if anyone declares that big brands are dying they receive a great deal of attention.

There is quite a long history of such alarms, going back at least to 1993’s “Marlboro Friday”.  Recently, there have been claims that big/global brands are losing to small/local brands.  Theories have hastily been put forward why this might be, leading to marketing strategy recommendations.

But what is fact and what is fiction?  And what strategies make sense for big brands?  We report extensive new analyses along with the scientific research (published in peer-reviewed journals).

We specifically investigate the following assertions:

The notion that large brands are dying is simply not true.  Nor has the world fundamentally changed in a way that favours small brands over big.

We conclude that there have been some shifts in the marketing environment that have created new opportunities for some new comers, but some of the current claims are over-stated and others are blatantly wrong.  There have also been changes that are potentially advantageous for large brands.

We end with listing six strategic mistakes that big brands have made over the past 10-20 years, but conclude that these can be, and are being, corrected.  Big brands must play to their strengths, and avoid knee-jerk reactions to myths and specious claims.

Read more at Marketing Science.