Devoted to branding and building and protecting brands

The old rule of thumb was that the more technologically sophisticated the product, the more brand attributes (i.e. features/benefits) you could build upon to develop brand loyalty. Today? Yesterday's rule is today's myth. Consider the latest dustup between Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT). Says Peter O'Kelly: I think this complaint also says a lot about Google's confidence in its customer/brand loyalty. I can think of very few entities more technologically complex than the algorithmic innards of Google's search engine(s). I can also of think nothing easier than clicking on Ask.com, or Yahoo (YHOO), or Microsoft when the spirit moves you. Can you feel loyal to a search engine? Now consider something as seemingly mundane as a cardboard cup of black coffee. Starbuck's (SBUX), and Netscape came to national prominence in the early-to-mid 1990s. I'd estimate that Netscape's R&D expenditures exceed(ed) the amount that Ex-Starbuck CEO Howard Schultz pumped into his beans and grinders during that decade. But look what happened. Netscape is little more than a punchline today, the answer to an I-Love-the-90s trivia question. Now think about Starbuck's. Better yet, try not to think about it, or imagine a day without it in your face. You try to build brand loyalty on attributes of the product. Actually, the notion of "brand attributes" is a bit of a misnomer because a brand doesn't create the experience, it promises one. Bottomline: if Google appears a little edgy about brand loyalty, or the lack thereof, its concern is well founded. But it probably wouldn't hurt them, or Microsoft, to lay off the caffeine.