FROM WHERE I SAT
Lessons For Marketers
From Bob Collymore’s
Life
By Robert Wamai
F
rom where I sat on the morning of
Thursday 4th July 2019, during the
memorial service for the late Bob
Collymore, listening to the tributes as well
as reading the acres of space dedicated
to him in the press and the internet one
thing was clear; Bob’s beliefs and actions
impacted many people.
As a marketer I realised that Bob’s life
provided us with numerous lessons about
brands and branding. Why? Because at
the end of the day marketing is tasked
with building brands that make a bigger
difference to the brand owner, the
customer, and society at large.
Thus it is important to unpack and share
my understanding of what a brand is,
the characteristics of a strong brand,
advantages they bring to the owner as
well as the buyer. Lastly what was unique
about Bob, as told by those who eulogised
him that we can pick learnings from as we
fulfil our task of building brands.
There are many definitions of a brand
and this one from Elizabeth Smithson
Branding Magazine (branding magazine.
com), caught my eye; ‘a brand is a name,
symbol or design that is easily identifiable
as belonging to a company’. She goes
on to say ‘the brand is the face of the
company that distinguishes it and clarifies
what it does and how it would like to be
perceived’.
My curiosity got me to do some desk
research to understand the history of
branding, its origins, and how it has
evolved to what it is today. Branding
started about 4,000 years ago in the
Scandinavian countries among the cattle
owners who were trying to find a way to
identify their herd as well as deter theft as
grazing was communal then.
They came up with a solution that entailed
burning a symbol at the backside of the
cow near the tail using a hot piece of iron.
Each farmer had a unique and distinctive
From the spoken and written tributes it
was obvious that Bob shared most of the
attributes of a strong brand. But from
where I sat there is one thing that was
different and went beyond and above
his call of duty as a CEO. He genuine-
ly cared. He had a soul. He was clear
about his beliefs and lived by them just
like strong brands.
32 MAL31/19 ISSUE
symbol easily visible making it possible to
distinguish his herd from those belonging
to other farmers. Thus branding was used
as a proof of ownership.
Overtime the practice moved on to other
sectors especially makers of furniture, who
branded their products to denote better
quality. Most of the furniture was made by
families whose techniques were different
from one family to the other. The final
product therefore, though serving the
same purpose, was made with different
skill and knowledge and thus was distinct
from one family to another. The sign thus
became a mark of quality and the customer
could differentiate each piece of furniture
and discern its quality.
This was the beginning of branding to
what it is today; a sign of differentiation
and a promise of what to expect. This gave
birth to the term ‘From the House of ’ and
permeated other sectors such as textile,
jewellery, watches, perfumes and colognes.
Today we talk of Italian Fashion & Design,
German Engineering, and Swiss Precision
which goes to show how far branding as a
tool of differentiation has come.
A brand is thus a promise that one is
offering something better hence giving
the consumer a reason to choose one
product over another. As competition
increased branding therefore served to
provide clarity to the buyer.
Today compared to the days of yore,
branding is even more critical given the
volatile business landscape characterised
by increasing competition and a
consumer who is better exposed, more
discerning, impatient and has a voice.