Following is an excerpt of an interview between brand marketing guru Kevin Lane Keller and SERI Quarterly.

Q: Korean global brands like Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor have become globalized and more interested in brand marketing. There are many definitions of brand marketing. What is yours?

A: Brand marketing is not very different from marketing. The reality is brands are often the focus of what marketing is for, whether it is a corporate brand or product brand. Marketing is about satisfying the customer’s needs and wants better than your competitors, and brand marketing is exactly that, with the focus being on the brand. You’re trying to satisfy your customers’ needs and wants through your brands better than your competitors.

Q: From a brand marketing perspective, what are the factors that have made Samsung and Hyundai into global brands?

A: It is important to have a good value proposition. In many of my talks, I contrast Samsung and Sony or Apple, and Hyundai and Toyota. I found a very interesting comparison because Samsung and Hyundai are very similar as both of them have created strong, high-quality products and they work really hard to develop these high-quality products.

Both have also brought the element of design in, Samsung probably more than Hyundai, although it is certainly trying to get more designed and they are trying to find a good price position.

Samsung is now a more premium brand so it can charge more premium prices, but five or 10 years ago its products would have been priced more competitively than maybe Sony.

So I think it is a very interesting comparison of how these two companies have come to create these really strong value propositions as well as great products that look good and that people feel are worth the money compared to the two other companies, Sony and Toyota, that were the gold standard five, 10, 15 years ago.

Although, Samsung is further along than Hyundai, both have a formula that I find very appealing as challenger brands. Now, in Samsung’s case it has become the leader by combining really strong value propositions like quality and design, and figuring out the right price points.

Q: What are the most common mistakes in brand marketing?

A: There are unfortunately many mistakes that companies can make. Often, companies are not truly customer-focused so they do not understand their customers well enough or examine them closely enough ― which becomes a bigger problem as you grow your brand in new countries and new markets.

Another big mistake is to be impatient, which is something that impresses me about Samsung in that even though it is a very driven company, it is also one that has a certain amount of patience in what it does, which is a nice combination. It is easy to become impatient and expect too much too soon and try to rush things.

Another classic mistake is that sometimes companies do not respect their brands enough, not realizing that they are an asset and need to be handled properly. Some companies even harm their brands which causes long-term problems.

Lastly, I would have to stress innovation and relevance, which is where I see some very strong brands making mistakes. They fail to innovate or stay relevant, and to always move forward and move forward in the right direction, which is vital in today’s world. You do not want to move too fast or too slow but you have to move forward.

For example, Levi’s is a sad story because Levi’s is a classic American brand and there is not a more American brand than Levi’s jeans. It has great values and great cultural values but not the right product.

Q: Are there any trends worth noting in the recent brand marketing world?

A: There are many trends. It is a very interesting time where major changes are taking place in the marketing environment; the three main areas being technology, globalization and social responsibility among others. So there is a lot that companies have to deal with.

By Kevin Lane Keller

Kevin Lane Keller is the E.B. Osborn Professor of Marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Professor Keller is also the author of “Strategic Brand Management” (Prentice Hall, 1998, 2002, 2008) which has become a widely used text on the subject. ― Ed.