As this is a blog about marketing strategy, we try to limit our “teaching moments” from people who have passed on to truly iconic figures. People like Ted Kennedy, Steve Jobs, Harmon Killebrew, even our dear old Dad.
And people like Ed Koch. So iconic to us, at least, that we used his trademark phrase “How’m I Doin” as the headline for our ongoing 2011 series that recapped our 12 predictions for that year.
For those headlines, we added a question mark. You’ll note, however, it’s missing in the paragraph above. Because it really wasn’t a question.
Hizzoner couldn’t care less what your answer was. He didn’t give a flying f&ck how you thought he was “doin.” (Unless, of course, you thought he was doin’ great!)
From where we sit, Ed Koch’s “marketing teaching moment” is all about branding. He was the perfect blend of intellect and confidence. Which made the question “How’m I doin?” a redundant tautology.
His was a brand essence that most marketers seem to have stepped back from nowadays, schooled by “gurus” of all stripes that too much confidence is a no-no.
Their battle cry: “The consumer is in control of your brand.”
Koch would have been run out of office if he felt that way, if he worked that way, if he presented himself that way. He was wrong, many times, about the little things, but he got all the big things right. “How’m I doin” was Koch’s way of saying “I’ve got it covered, so you should keep following my lead.” And lead he did, confidently.
The brands who are perennial market winners lead with confidence. Apple, Disney, GE…they don’t need to ask “How Are We Doing?” Each is in control of its brand.
Ironically, many of the “winners” in the “top brands” faux analyses like Coca-Cola and Pepsi – gargantuan businesses – spend so much time, every day, looking over their shoulders, wondering, unconfidently, “Are We Doing OK? You Still Like Us, Don’t You?” Each one believes that the “consumer is in control.”
If Apple or Disney went away, you’d miss them. If Coke went away, you’d drink Pepsi instead.
Mayor Ed Koch was even in control of history. He, and his intelligent confidence, will be missed…forever.
