I don’t drop into #brandchat nearly as often as I’d like, but when I do, I always walk away with fresh perspectives on branding.  The discussions force me to examine what I believe about marketing, branding, and positioning.  Today, after talking about BP’s woes and brand damage control with the gulf oil spill, I walked away thinking about how in branding, perception is reality.  No matter what the circumstance is, no matter what the truth may be, what consumers believe often trumps what is actual.  A brand’s position is based on their placement in the consumer’s mind. It doesn’t mater what your brand does, what matters is what customers think your brand does.

I participated in a lively and interesting #brandchat session on Twitter today. Today’s discussion was especially engaging because we looked at case studies of brands that “do it right” and brands that are struggling. We also discussed keys to saving a brand that’s in a “downward spiral”.

Toyota (unsurprisingly) cropped up throughout the discussion and for many reasons. What was surprising is that instead of a bashing of Toyota’s falling brand, there was more talk of expectations of Toyota bouncing back.