Advertising & Branding

 Another great ABC meeting this week! We had a great meeting about advertising and branding, focusing specifically on a few different case studies and topics. We had engaging discussions around the strength & usefulness of branding, relating to Apple, Starbucks, Supreme, Amazon, Facebook, and other social media companies. 

We started our discussion talking about phrases that make a company so popular. Phrases such as "Netflix and chill" or Nike's "just do it" are what we centered the conversation around. These phrases are exactly how a company gets free advertising and creates brand exposure. They allow people to learn and remember a company. We then moved on to how brands built continuity and trust through branding and advertising. Jake from State Farm is a great example of the advertising, and Starbucks shutting down worldwide for a day to train baristas is an example that shows a company committed to quality. 

Moving on, we discussed verbs for a short period of time. With company names like google turning into a verb "google it". That is how you know that a company has made it, when their name becomes a word used often in a language. The next part of the meeting was focused around the question "How much can a company really rely on branding, and how important is the product?". It was agreed that most companies already have a product that is well-known and liked before a phrase is created about the company. A company doesn't simply create a phrase and then start printing money. Their product must be worth the hype and creation of a phrase. Apple is a great example of this, as they spend hundreds of millions on advertising, and everyone knowns what they are. But, people buy Apple phones (and their commercials work because) customers know that they are buying quality. 

The last topic was social media. The discussion centered around the new Clubhouse social media app that recently gained a large following in China (and then was promptly banned). We discussed whether the market was too saturated and whether Instagram will end up becoming larger than Facebook itself. An overall great meeting this weeK! The board wishes everyone a great rest of the week and a restful long weekend. We look forward to our next meeting at 10:15 est next Wednesday to talk about investing apps and market volatility next week!