A brand doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Too often, marketers focus on aesthetics over value. A brand is the consistent experience customers have with your product. Get it right, and sales follow. Get it wrong, and even the slickest campaigns will only accelerate your demise and increase your losses.

Professor Scott Galloway puts it perfectly: "Great brands are built on great products," not Instagram likes, ESG statements, or celebrity endorsements. He's absolutely right.

Take Amazon. It's not the warmest brand, but it delivers—low prices, fast shipping, and endless options. The product is the brand. Constant product and service innovation has driven Amazon's revenue from $514 billion in 2022 to nearly $576 billion in 2023—the perfect showcase of a product-first approach.

The 4 Ps still and will always matter.

Never forget the basics: the 4 Ps—product, price, place, and promotion. Notice what's first? Product comes first for a reason—it’s foundational. Your role isn't to distract customers from a bad product with a shiny logo and a poncy brand purpose statement. It is to develop and communicate a cohesive value proposition that's better than incumbents.

A tale of two brands

Take Peloton. A few years ago, they were the darling of the fitness industry. Why? The product was brilliant—a sleek bike combined with engaging features perfect for the moment. Growth soared because the product was so good. What happened when the product faltered—when recalls, price hikes, and declining innovation set in? The "brand" is worthless.

Now, look at Apple. Their marketing works because their products—iPhone, MacBook, AirPods—are functional, desirable, and addictive. Steve Jobs nailed it: "We don't do market research. We just make great products." The ads and packaging are brilliant, but they’re irrelevant without a product that delivers. While Apple’s practices often clash with their values, their superior product buys them time to address the scrutiny.

The marketer's role

Marketing leaders need to be all over the details. The best don’t just know the product—they live it, breathe it, and fight to improve it. Why? Because no amount of good marketing can save a bad product. If your marketing director isn’t part of product innovation, driving the customer experience, they’re just a glorified comms manager. And that’s not marketing—it’s admin.

Brand identity: first build the house, then choose the paint colour.

Does brand identity matter? Of course. Good design and branding grab attention and help tip the scales—on the shelf, online, wherever. It's what persuades customers to choose your product over another.

I've seen outstanding products fail because they couldn't communicate their value or cut through a saturated market. Likewise, I've witnessed poorly managed brand identities erode value. That's where a strong brand identity and sharp strategic marketing make all the difference in elevating a business and helping it scale.

Final Takeaway: a good brand on a bad product will kill you.

If the product isn't up to scratch, all the shiny designs and clever campaigns in the world won't save it. You'll only prolong death and increase your losses.

About the author

Jonathan Drainey is a senior brand strategist and marketing director based in Northern Ireland, UK. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, he partners with select clients in Ireland and the UK to transform their IP into market-leading products and global challenger brands. With a proven track record, he drives transformation and growth through innovation, design, operations, and strategic marketing. A strong advocate for product-centricity and the circular economy, he specialises in the agri-food, health, energy, tech, and industrial sectors.

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