7 Keys to Marketing Genius: Brown?
The following is an excerpt from The 7 Keys to Marketing Genius by Michael Daehn
UPS started a campaign where they asked, “What can Brown do for you?” Since I am interested in marketing, I asked, “Who is Brown?” and started investigating. I wrongly assumed that Brown must be the name of their new package-tracking software. I spoke with a UPS representative that told me Brown was the nickname for UPS given to it by the employees. So the answer to the mystery of what Brown stands for, and why they are spending millions of dollars on advertising, is that it means UPS. Do you see anything wrong with this picture? If not, start rereading this section from the top.
Why spend so much money to advertise a second name for the same company? They already have spent millions to distinguish their three-letter acronym of a name in our minds; now they want to throw more cash at an extra name? Why spend so much money to confuse people? This is a sign that UPS has become inward focused. They are more concerned with having fun with an inside joke of a nickname than in reaching their customers.