Do Brands Have Finite Lives?

Often, after a brand begins to slip in the marketplace or disappears altogether, commentators observe, “All
brands have their day,” implying brands have a finite life and cannot be expected to be leaders forever.
Other experts contend brands can live forever, and that their long-term success depends on marketers’ skill
and insight.

Take a position: Brands cannot be expected to last forever versus There is no reason for a brand to ever
become obsolete.

Since a brand is nothing more than the image of a firm, which can be altered
and improved upon, it is impossible for brands to last forever. It is clear,
when looking at historical examples from the age of the Enlightenment or the
Rococo, that social and cultural values as well as tastes changed
significantly over this time. It is difficult to conceive of a scenario in which a
well-known product from the Age of Enlightenment would still be sold today,
let alone retain its original name and characteristics. The issue is that
trademarks are not considered to be cultural emblems or representations of
the era in which they were created. The overarching goal of the branding
effort, from the perspective of the corporation, is to make the most of the
available and potential resources by transforming them into marketing
endeavors that generate a profit. The examples of Adidas and McDonald's
demonstrate that in order for businesses to achieve this goal, they must
shape, transform, and otherwise modify the behavior of customers in order to
align that behavior with the goals of the business and achieve a competitive
advantage. For this reason, marketing programs are designed to influence
customer behavior, despite the fact that consumers affect the activity of
businesses. When markets are growing at a rapid pace, volume, price, and
distribution channels are all crucial considerations, and mass branding helps
to promote these aspects. When markets reach their maturity, branding
becomes an important weapon in competitive situations. Now, the emphasis
is placed on making minor product improvements in order to encourage
customers who are already familiar with the product to choose it over the
products offered by competitors and to work toward increasing the rate of
use. Branding does in fact provide support for the actual distribution of items
and can be utilized to either push or pull a product throughout distribution
channels. L'Oréal's branding can impact retailer as well as wholesaler
decisions to offer a product by pulling it through the channels by first
establishing demand at the highest level of the distribution chain—the
ultimate customer.