Why brand heritage alone won’t save you

As part of our recent jaunt around Europe in The Prodigal Fool’s trusty Audi S4, we were invited to a networking event in Geneva that was supposed to feature two speakers from well known luxury brands.

For reasons that are beyond us – and indeed the organizer’s ability to explain – one of the speakers didn’t show while the second gave a presentation that, well, gave us great pause for thought between the glasses of white wine. And it wasn’t for the right reasons.

Now, heritage is vital to many of the brands that live and breathe today. It adds gravitas, texture, colour and a link to a past marked by success and durability. In other words, it makes us buy why a brand is still around and desirable today.

So, how is it that this particular car make – whose sales volume is slightly above 1,000 units – with such a rich history managed to come across as aloof, arrogant  and, dare we say it, irrelevant?  Well, the lacklustre, well-worn and predictable presentation didn’t help. In fact, the quality of the Powerpoint alone was enough to merit a flogging, further hindered by a lack of preparation by the speaker.

But what really astounded us was the ability to pay lip service to the environment – of little relevance when you make such small volumes of cars anyway – while attempting to convey supremacy in the field of luxury automobiles. Curiously, we thought supremacy in any field had something to do with innovation and raising the bar, not producing multi-tonne behemoths with star-studded interior roof-linings. And pointing to the engines your parent company supplied you with as a badge of technological merit is utterly underwhelming, as is the grass-covered roof of your factory.

This led us to ask the speaker what the relevance of the brand’s vehicles were today. The answer was unsuprisingly dismissive and curiously irritated. Surely serenity envelopes those at the height of achievement? Not in this case, and when examples of how beloved the brand is by footballers and tasteless US customers pour forth, well, we look to fill our glasses once more and move on.

Different strokes for different folks, some will respond. Sure, but we respect those who break new ground and in so doing commit themselves to further excellence and achievement. A quick glance in any serious car magazine will reveal the phenomenal advances that are being made in the areas of lightweight materials, engines and smart technology, all seeking to make more out of less.

However, the stance and attitude of this manufacturer showed that you can plumb the depths of your heritage, stare your customer in the face and deliver nothing new…at all.