Branding and advertising

Is there a need to advertise after branding? A number of big brands boast there is no longer a need to advertise. But let us look closer at details. In reality, there is still advertising, but the platforms differ. Brands may no longer spend money on TV and print (and radio), but they still use other platforms to advertise. Point-of-sale on supermarket shelves is advertising. Internet social sites are another form of advertising. So, in reality, when brands no longer advertise in the conventional sense, that does not mean that true brands no longer advertise. Failing to do so could spell their demise.

The Huffington Post ran the article “10 Cult Brands So Popular They Don’t Need To Advertise,” explaining that Sriracha-Huy Fong Foods, the company that produces the cult favorite hot sauce, doesn’t advertise. It doesn’t have a Facebook page or Twitter account, and it hasn’t updated its website since 2004. That didn’t stop the company from selling 20 million bottles of the hot sauce last year, according to Business Week. Costco, the big box retailer known for its bulk toilet paper and fair treatment of workers, doesn’t pay for advertising, a spokesperson for the company confirmed to HuffPost in an email. And while only relying on social media and direct mail circulars to spread the word, Costco’s profits soared earlier this year.