Commentary: Unlocking the Brand Asset Vault
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610429310027428 |
| Date | 01 January 1993 |
| Published date | 01 January 1993 |
| Pages | 20-28 |
| Author | Elinor Selame |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
JOURNAL
OF
PRODUCT
&
BRAND
MANAGEMENT
Commentary:
Unlocking the Brand
Asset Vault
Elinor
Selame
Anyone who
is
familiar with
the
Marlboro cigarette brand knows that
it
has succeeded because
of
the enormous
equity
it has in an
identity that
has
become
a
virtual cultural icon
of
ruggedness
and
masculinity.
So it is
somewhat surprising
to
learn that when
Philip Morris first introduced Marlboro
cigarettes,
in
1924,
it
launched them
as a
product
for
women.
In
hindsight,
it is
probably
to be
expected that Philip
Morris would want
to
target women
at a
time when suffragettes
and
early pioneers
in women's rights were helping
to
bring
women into their own. Marlboro
marketed
the
cigarette
in a
distinctly
feminine way — with
a red
filter
and the
slogan
"a
cherry
tip for
your ruby lips".
Although
the
mood
of the
country may
have been right
for a
women's cigarette,
the
product fell short
in its
appeal.
It
failed
almost from the moment
it
was introduced.
Yet,
the
brand's reincarnation 30 years
later
is
absolute proof
of
the power
of
brand identity
in
growing
and
sustaining
market share.
It
also
is an
important
lesson
in the
concept
of
brand value.
In 1955,
an
identity
of
ruggedness
and
masculinity was developed which would
eventually make Marlboro
the
best-selling
cigarette
in the
world. Even today, with
a
decline
of
smokers
in the
USA, Marlboro
is growing faster
in
worldwide sales than
is Coca-Cola.
What Philip Morris
has
done
so
successfully
is to
manage
and
protect
the
equity
it has in the
Marlboro brand.
In
the 38 years since
it
relaunched
the
brand,
it
has
never deviated from
the
identity
and imagery that
it
established
at the
outset.
Its
distinctive
red and
white trade
dress
is
immediately recognizable.
Marlboro even created
its
own distinctive
packaging
as
part
of
its trade dress.
The
flip-top
box
was invented
for
Marlboro
by
the late Frank Gianninoto, renowned
package designer,
and
was protected
through copyright. Today
the
flip-top
packaging
is
still
a
product feature which
contributes
to
consumer loyalty.
The care with which Philip Morris
has
tended
to the
Marlboro brand
has
implications which
go
beyond sales
and
This article was originally
an
address delivered
on, 28 October 1992
at
the Conference
Board's Marketing Conference.
I
believe that
this address
is
important enough
to
receive
further dissemination,
as I
expect
few
subscribers were
in
attendance.
I
would like
to
publish more work
of
this type
(Editor).
Journal
of
Product
&
Brand Management, Vol.
2
No. 1, 1993, pp. 20-28,
© MCB University Press,
1061-0421.
20
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