Is Brand Marketing a bad Investment?

James, G. (2010). Brand marketing = bad investment: More evidence. Retrieved April 1, 2010 from: http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/?p=9250

This article, published on the Bnet.com Web site, was written by business author, Geoffrey James and his view is that brand marketing is no longer a good investment. He states that the point of brand marketing is to create buyer preference that will support a higher retail price but if your product is virtually identical to the generic product, you are wasting your money on brand marketing. With the available information that consumers have with the Internet, brand identification has become less relevant and James states that the only way to create a strong brand preference is to offer a better customer experience. A big name producer came bring some clout to a product in the beginning, but if it does not provide a better customer experience it will not be successful. He also state that in B2B marketing, features and functions by themselves are not enough to create a good customer experience. The B2B experience includes the sales process, the salesperson’s ability to provide good insight and their personality, and the ability to create customized solutions. This is an important subject for managers to understand because in many businesses a lot of resources are spent for advertising and other types of marketing efforts. It is important for managers and marketing personnel to know the best ways to market their products and services and to get the most out of their marketing investments.