12


Winter 2018


BRANDING


The Marketing Evolution of Three Iconic Brands


By Stephanie Walden


These three legacy brands will celebrate milestone birthdays in 2018. Here’s how they’ve managed to stay relevant—and iconic—in the marketing world.


t


he holy grail of marketing is instant brand recognition at the mere glimpse of an abstract symbol. Case in point:


Majestic mountain peaks automatically bring to mind Patagonia. Harley-Davidson’s classic typography can be spotted on a baseball cap from a mile away. And a pearly-pink Cadillac zipping by on the highway immediately makes you think Mary Kay.


In 2018, each of these brands will


experience a milestone anniversary: Patagonia is 45, Harley-Davidson is celebrating 115, and Mary Kay is turning 55. Each of these companies is deeply ingrained in the American cultural identity, thanks in part to decades of masterful marketing. What’s more, each of these companies survived the developing years of the dot-com era, transforming once-static campaigns into two-way social conversations with energy and style.


There’s an important distinction


between branding and marketing, says Dr. Andrew Selepak, director of the University of Florida’s graduate program in social media. A distinct branding backbone that holds strong in the face of drastic cultural and technological shifts is foundational to iconic marketing. “A brand is a mental impression that becomes an expectation, and for the most part, successful brands don’t change,” Selepak says. The consistency we attribute to “classic” companies such as Harley-Davidson, Mary Kay, and Patagonia is rooted in intangibles— associations with freedom, femininity, the great outdoors. “To be a successful brand means that the mental expectation customers have is positive; it’s something they want to be associated with,” he says. “New marketing techniques like social media only make it easier to reinforce this image.”


As the digital era enters


adolescence, brand strategists must be more future focused than ever before. Marketers need to stay on top of cutting-edge trends to keep up with exponential rates of technological growth. While it’s impossible to anticipate the future of this ever-evolving industry, it’s worth taking a look back at the brands that have withstood the test of time—and the campaigns that have defined their success.


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