When a company is in it for the long term it's essential that an emotional reason to buy plays at the heart of activity. I call this Purpose Driven Marketing. Others have other names. But what's starting to play out is that over the last several years there have been lots of one-off ideas, cool tactics and tons of "you gotta check this out" moments. These are good. These work. But when the goal is long-term victory and dominance across a vast scale of consumers, then the emotional core is the most fortified of approaches.
Quick example... If you watch network TV on Sunday night you have a viewing choice at 8pm: Secret Millionaire (ABC) or America's Next Great Restaurant (NBC). Both are new and unique. But nearly 6 million more people choose Secret Millionaire. The difference between the two: Secret Millionaire stirs emotions while the Next Great Restaurant is pragmatic.
Back to companies... McDonald's vs. Burger King. Over the last several years BK has focused their marketing efforts on one-off ideas surrounding big food, such as Whopper Virgins and Whopper Sacrifice. On the other side, McDonald's has continued globally with I'm Lovin' It, a comprehensive message that taps our emotions greater than one-off efforts. BK experienced solid sales increases from 2005 through 2009 but today (long term) they are off 2.5%. McDonald's is up 4.4%. Mark Kalinowski, restaurant industry analyst with Janney Capital Markets summed it up concisely last month: "Burger King is a brand that needs to find its voice in the market, and right now it's having trouble doing that."
Another example... Coke vs. Pepsi. Ad Age recently reported how Pepsi fell to #3 behind Coke and Diet Coke respectively. I don't believe this points to what Pepsi did wrong ("Refresh" is genius) but rather what Coke did amazingly well across the world: a global refinement of the emotional positioning of "coke brings joy" across packaging, branding, advertising, sponsorship and engagement. Take this spot or these elements and you can put them immediately into the US, Spain or China and it translates the same. No explanation needed.
Many brands are doing great work today. This I truly believe. (And if you don't believe it you should probably expose yourself to more work.) But when it comes to communicating across a vast amount of consumers over the long term, one-off ideas can win the round but it's the emotional, purpose driven approach that wins the match.