Who is the ‘Custodian of the Brand’?

Wow, what a grand title that is. The Custodian of the Brand. And what a huge responsibility it is to be, The Custodian of a Brand. The person (or more likely persons) that are responsible for guarding and building a company’s brand identity. Think of the genuinely great and iconic brands. Brands such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Disney, Coca-Cola, the list goes on and on. Imagine being the Brand Custodian for them, responsibility indeed. But who is the brand custodian? The CEO? The employees? The advertising agency? Even the consumer? The answer I think is all of them, it’s their level of custodianship that matters.

Let’s look at the question of custodianship in the context of the automotive industry. Again, many great and iconic brands here of which I shall list none at the risk of offending! The main players here would be the OEM, the national subsidiary/importer and the Dealer network. Having collaborated with Dealer networks over many years I know their view would be that it is the OEM’s responsibility to guard and build the brand identity and I would say they were right in that view.

The fact is that all three are custodians of their brand but each in a separate way. The OEM builds and creates desirability for the brand and what the brand stands for. The national subsidiary/importer ensures that the brand is supported with the right products, offers, marketing and network in their home market.

So what of the Dealers? In a way their job is the most crucial of all as it is the Dealer network that is at the coal face. Afterall, they are the people that are selling the cars directly to the customers and delivering that all important aftercare as the relationship continues. Therefore it is vitally important that the Dealer network is fully supported with marketing knowledge, best practice and of course marketing assets.

At We Are Acuity we made our bones in local automotive marketing. We understand the complexities of delivering consistent brand experiences across multiple, decentralised Dealers. We really are 'local heroes' with a great depth of knowledge in bringing global and national campaigns to life locally. We have worked with great automotive brands including Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS, Peugeot, Suzuki and Mazda Motor Europe. Plus our people are car people having worked with big names such as Volkswagon, BMW Group, Nissan Motor Corporation, Peugeot, Saab, Kia UK Limited, Ford Motor Company, Vauxhall Motors Ltd, Volvo Cars, Iveco Group and Hyundai Motor UK. So if you’re in the world of automotive or indeed any other industry that operates through multiple locations give us a call. Let us be your newest brand custodian.

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