From ice cream to bottled water, nearly everything that goes past our lips has a “sell-by” date on the package. Wise to check on meat and milk, but water? If it’s a week past the date, does water lose something? Flavor?
It got me thinking about applying a “sell-by/use-by” concept to branding. A lucky few companies have been a part of our lives so long they needn’t worry much about the date. Other brands need to be famous this very moment, because with fame comes status and profits. For them, fame is often boosted by celebrity endorsements. And therein lies the trap door. Scores of companies want LeBron James to recommend their products today. But what about tomorrow? Invest in fame that’s fleeting and your solid market share slips away like a Malibu hillside in the rain. Anyone care for a Lindsay Lohan endorsement? Didn’t think so.
An expiration date would be wise for many corporate brands – as well as a talented design team developing a plan to replace the current brand with one that taps the latest hot trend. How do you know what that will be? Not by prediction. By creating it yourself.
LeBron certainly did.
