What Can a Brand "Own"?
I had to stifle a snort recently when I heard a marketer talk about wanting their brand to "own heritage."
Yes, their brand dates from 1925. And some of their big competitors date from 2008, 1993, and 1961.
But others date back to 1935, 1909, 1907.... and 1866. Oops.
Brands rarely "own" anything beyond their logo. Especially in mature categories, brands all converge on the same purchase drivers, same features, same flavors, same colors, same claims, and same advertising conventions. It’s not surprising when they all also do the same consumer research on the same high-volume consumers and buy the same syndicated category reports. (“Taste is a key purchase driver! Let’s own taste!”)
So every brand is associated with nearly all category attributes. And the strength of those associations are mostly just a function of how big — and thus how familiar — each brand is to the general public. (So don’t get excited when your brand scores higher on ‘heritage’ than a much smaller rival.)
You can see it when comparing Colgate & Crest from Noah Brier's old Brand Tags site, which was a little online word association quiz from 10 yrs ago. He’d show a logo; you’d type a word. Not super-scientific, but he gathered millions of responses.
Comparing Crest & Colgate’s word clouds, you'd be hard pressed to say which of the two titans of toothpaste "owns" whiteness, or fresh breath.
That might’ve mattered in the ‘60s or ‘70s when total complete ultra wasn’t the norm, and brands did differ based on whether they had fluoride to fight cavities or peroxides to whiten teeth. But lately, the main difference is the logo. (They’ve even gotten away from being “The Red One” vs “The Blue One” at shelf. Oops again.)
So when talking about your brand "owning" things, be brutally honest.
Then overcommit on the things you really can own.
And to be honest, begin with your brand name & logo. There's a ton you can do with those that no one else can (unless they’re fools….).