Brands are spending on forgettable brand assets

Brands are potentially wasting enormous sums of money on brand assets that aren’t really registering with consumers.

A new global study* by Ipsos and the Jones Knowles Ritchie agency finds that just 15% of brand assets meet the gold standard of “truly distinctive”. The majority (65%) are “bronze standard” – unlikely to signify the brand when used in isolation.

Given that more than $900bn globally will be invested in advertising media in 2023, it suggests that a significant amount of spending may fail to achieve its objectives.

Why it matters

Distinctive brand assets play an important role in building a strong and memorable brand. Used consistently over time and across media they become a powerful way to immediately associate ads with brands. As well as making marketing efforts more effective, they also drive business results: research from System1 indicates that what the agency calls ‘Fluent Devices’ are 23% more likely to achieve market share gain and also profit gain.

Five assets graded 

The study grades five assets – logo, slogan, mascot, colour, product – into gold, silver and bronze status:

• Overall: Gold 15%, Silver 20%, Bronze 65%
• Logos: Gold 19%, Silver 22%, Bronze 59%
• Slogans: Gold 6%, Silver 13%, Bronze 81%
• Mascots: Gold 16%, Silver 24%, Bronze 60%
• Colour: Gold 4%, Silver 16%, Bronze 60% 
• Products: Gold 31%, Silver 23%, Bronze 46%.

Five things to consider

• A distinctive logo doesn’t guarantee a distinctive brand – that requires sustained use.
• Slogans aren’t just about words and tone of voice – typography and sound can be important too.
• Mascots can bypass conventional marketing logic: surreal can be successful.
• A brand can be much more adventurous in the digital world in how it uses its colours than in the physical world, where these are linked to shapes and patterns. 
• Truly unique products are rare but a signature style of presentation or packaging can set a brand apart.

The big idea 

“It’s not about rubber-stamping the same assets in the same formulation across every single touchpoint. It’s about picking the right tool for the right job,” the report says.

*Be Distinctive. Everywhere. is based on analysis of 26,000 consumers’ perceptions of more than 5,000 brand assets from more than 500 brands across 33 categories and 25 countries. 

Sourced from Jones Knowles Ritchie