“Every great brand has a strong product or service at its foundation, and it has great people that bring it to life every day”

— Mr.Bedbury, you’re known as one of the most influential brand maven living nowadays.  Therefore, I’d like to start our interview from the question what is this so special in your approach in building strong brand that comparing with others?
I try to help companies find ways to make an emotional connection with their customers. Many brands appear the same to us, but some brands feel more relevant, more exciting, more trusted, more respected.  Achieving this is no accident.  It takes great dedication and commitment to building a brand that means something more than a product or service.  Great brands go beyond that.  They connect to some timeless human need or emotion, such as feeling loved, to love someone else, to feel safe, to feel empowered, to feel respected, to be part of something bigger than ourselves.   A truly great brand connects itself to something timeless in a way that is very contemporary and honest, not contrived or forced.

— Marketing folks are often considered as major money-spenders.  I believe you’re the one who has the opposite point of view.  To justify the existence of marketing department would you please share your opinion on how marketing can impact on financial performance of the company? 
At Nike I was responsible for a very large advertising budget.  When I left Nike we were spending about $200 million US worldwide on media.  When I went to Starbucks my entire marketing budget was $2.5 million, most of which was spent on department overhead.  We built that brand one customer, one cup at a time by creating a great experience around them.  We used very little media.
At Nike we were able to spend comparatively less than all other major advertisers, sometimes only 15% of what they might spend, to reach the level same level of advertising recall and likeability.  We spent a great deal of time and money on getting the message right, with very high production values, but spent comparatively less on media.  We believed that a great message does not have to be made very many times, and as a result we saved hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. 
A great marketing campaign can generate interest and trial, but it should be remembered that if the product or service is not great you will not generate repeat business, no matter how much money you spend.  It is critically important to first hire great people, build a great product or service, and treat customers with respect.   A major marketing effort should only be considered after you have done that. 

— What should be an adequate expectation in terms of ROI on marketing spending – when and how much?
That is impossible to answer because it depends on the quality of the marketing program.  Some marketing is so bad that there is no ROI.  I have seen some campaigns that actually hurt corporate reputation.  Other campaigns, such as those I helped Nike create, had enormous ROI.  The “Just Do It” campaign celebrated its 20th anniversary this summer.  The ROI for that campaign is impossible to calculate.
Also remember that you cannot entirely quantify ROI for marketing.   In some categories it may take months, or even years to shift consumer attitudes away from one brand toward another.  To measure the ROI for a campaign over a 30 or 90 day period in such a situation is hopeless.  Some of the most important things you can do for your brand require long-term investments that do not immediately pay off.  If you only commit to things that can create a short-term effect, you may well shorten the life of your brand.  I hope to speak much more on this at my conference.

— What is the main challenge in marketing of virtual product (e.g. services provided by banks or mobile operators, internet site) and how to cope with it successfully?
Whether it is a physical product or a virtual one, such as a service, they both require that you set an expectation about your brand and you either fulfill it or fail to fulfill it.  Every brand packs a promise.   How well you consistently deliver on that promise determines your success.  Just because you can’t hold some products (like a financial investment or insurance coverage) in your hand, it doesn’t make it easier or harder. 
The absence of a “physical” touch point with service brands does create a special opportunity, though.  In those rare occasions where a customer does touch a service brand, either by phone or in person at a retail store such as mobile phone service center, those moments must be the best they can possibly be.  The person that represents your brand, that person on the phone or behind the counter, needs to represent your brand at its very best. 

— Kazakhstan market is not mature yet and local companies are rather innocent when it comes to sophisticated marketing techniques used for example in the US.  What will be your advice for these companies?  What will be a starting point for them given that they have in hands ready to use product or service which needs to be sold and to generate profit.
It is not a matter of creating sophisticated marketing, but to just start with simple programs that help the company grow a little each day, each week, with improved efficiencies as you go, learning something new, something from what works and what doesn’t, and applying it all as you go.  But remember the two most important things for any brand are its product and its people.  Every great brand has a strong product or service at its foundation, and it has great people that bring it to life every day.  Marketing just brings customers in to try you.  Give them a great product or service, and most of all, hire great people who will respect them.  Inspire your employees, help them understand what kind of your brand you are trying to build, give them what they need, and then get the hell out of their way.
 
— How will marketing mix look in future?  Do you think that non-conventional media will play bigger role over OOH, TV, radio, print.  In other words, what would be your recommendations in terms of smart marketing budget allocation?
Every product or service requires a different marketing mix.  Some brands can be supported almost entirely on the web.  Others need more broad-reaching mass media such as television, print or outdoor.  Whatever you do, you need to have impact somewhere along the way.  If you don’t have enough to cover all media, pick a few and do a great job with it.  Don’t be a kilometer wide and a centimeter deep.  Make a statement somewhere.  Be noticed and be understood.  Move people. 
One of the most important “media vehicles” today are satisfied customers who tell others about you.  Take care of your customer and they will help take care of you. 

— We all know who is a perfect client.  But we also know that this is mythological character, rather than a real one.  My last question is about your relationship with so called difficult clients.  How do you deal with them and more importantly how do you make them happy at the end?
Don’t give up hope.  When I was hired as the worldwide head of advertising for Nike I had come from the agency side where I had great clients and awful clients.  I learned invaluable things from the horrible clients that I took with me to Nike.  I promised myself I would be the world’s greatest client and enable my agencies to do amazing things.  They did.  But it required a lot of respect on both sides. We supported each other in a win/win situation.  I worked to make them a better agency and they worked to make us a better client.  We weren’t just focused on ourselves and operating at the expense of the other.
I think it may be wrong to set out to make a client happy.  The goal should be to give them marketing support that is the best they have ever had.  They may still not be happy – some never are – but at least you will keep the business and stay in business long enough to attract truly great clients who will make you famous.

— What is more rewarding in your opinion — building a new brand or re-animate a dead duck?  What is more time-consuming?
It is always harder to turn an old brand around.  Changing negative perceptions, within the company and outside the company, is a difficult undertaking.  Sometimes it just can’t be done no matter how much you spend.  In those cases it is sometimes better to rebrand it with a new name or sell the brand to another company to fold it within another brand.  But turning around a once strong brand that has become weak can be very rewarding when you achieve it. 

— Do you think that the era of enduring global brands will elapse soon and they will be replaced by rival local or boutique brands given the growing importance of national identity and pride among young people across the world? Or you think they will co-exist peacefully?
I think there will always be a group of great global brands.  But there will be a new class of local, regional or national brands that will take some market share from large multinational brands.  Given the high cost of energy, I think more localized brands will have a greater opportunity to compete with those that require significant shipping costs.  I also think that there is a resurgence of nationalism around the world and a drive to reconnect with cultural identity.  In the end I think there will be many more brands than there are today, but the mix will shift to include many smaller and more meaningful brands.

— Burning question for all developing countries is a creation of positive country image.  Which is in many senses corresponds to creation of successful brand.  From foreigner’s perspective, what should be the message that would make the country prominent on the map and creates an attractive image?
The world is very curious about former Soviet republics and we are all interested in learning about Kazakhstan becoming leader of Central Asia.  It is blessed with natural resources but is in a tenuous place with Russia and the export of it oil to the west.  It is a blank slate from which you can paint your own picture.  It is important to invite foreign capital, to build tourism, and to export products that define you. 
The Swiss have their watches, the Germans have their cars, the American’s their entertainment industry, the French have their wines, the Brazilians have their women (only half joking), etc.  You need to determine first what uniquely define you and build from there. 
Branding a nation is a difficult thing and can take decades.  But you should start by looking inside at who you are, what drives you, what makes you uniquely Kazakh. You need to tell your story well.  The movie Mongol, which had strong Kazakh content, was viewed broadly here in the US and nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film.  You should also be proud of your history and rising political position in the world stage.  The West is intrigued by you.  But it is important to define your own brand.  If you don’t, others will define it for you. 

— Mr.Bedbury, both Nike and Starbucks are truly American brands that became known internationally with your help.  But let’s face it you never lived/worked in CIS.  Nevertheless, given your profile and expertise do you think you will be able to help local (e.g. Kazakh) companies in building strong successful brands from scratch? 
While I have worked with some of the world’s largest brands, I have also helped some of the smallest. I have also worked in pretty much every category – automotive, apparel, financial services, health care, web technologies, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, soft drinks, spirits, and major restaurant chains.  I have worked with business leaders in more than 20 countries, including some that are quite different from the US, including Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, China, Russia, India and Romania. 
But across them all, I have observed common approaches and practices that can take any brand of any size, in any industry, in any country and make it stronger, more profitable and more enduring.  TO me it is common sense.

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