Best of the Week: Qantas, Musk and Springsteen: Lessons in how to trash your brand
Welcome to Best of the Week, kicked off on Friday morning in frosty Hobart and wrapped up on Saturday morning back at beautiful Sisters Beach. It’s been a while since I’ve been down to the Hobart end of the island. This may not be the most insightful of observations, but bloody hell, Hobart’s great, isn’t it? (Also, and perhaps less relatably, that winter drive up through the Midlands is a chore after dark, isn’t it?)
Happy National Avocado Day for tomorrow. I, for one, intend to celebrate that to the full.
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Reputational challenges
So how hard is it to permanently tarnish a brand?
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Brand value: very hard and slow to grow but very easy to kill. Qantas won’t be coming out the other side for me. I flew to the UK with Qatar a month ago and came back the same way. Very good. No flight problems, no baggage lost. So, what is the ”value” of the Qantas brand to me? It’s just another airline in the consideration list, if they get sensible with their pricing and stop all the nonsense. Other than that, they’re just another airline, to me now. Horse bolted.
I’d pay $400 to see the E Street Band again, and $200 of that would be just to see Little Stephen play lead guitar again. $4000? Not a chance in hell. That’s testing brand loyalty, par excellence.
I mostly agree with you, Robbo. Although I’d argue that as accomplished a guitarist as Steve is, the real MVP guitarist of the band is Nils…
All the best,
Tim