The Three Ways Brands Lose Relevance
You can love a brand and still never buy it again.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 85%
Aaker's relevance framework explains how a brand can be widely admired yet stop being bought. Relevance requires awareness plus credibility — being a live option in the consideration set. A brand loses relevance in three distinct ways: it stops making what customers are now buying (a category shift, like sticking with SUVs as buyers move to electric); it loses energy and becomes bland, taken-for-granted, with nothing to talk about; or it creates a reason not to buy through a product mistake or an unpopular stance. Crucially, customers may still like and recommend the brand while no longer buying it.
Origin
Since writing his brand-awareness work 25 years earlier, Aaker redefined awareness around the concept of brand relevance, tied to his subcategory research: you win not by being better but because rivals become irrelevant. In 2022 he noted the third path — creating a reason not to buy — is what popular culture now calls being 'cancelled.'
Core principles
- 01Relevance requires both awareness and credibility, not mere liking.
- 02A brand can be loved and admired yet no longer relevant to what customers buy.
- 03Relevance is lost when you stop making what people want, lose energy, or create a reason not to buy.
- 04Losing relevance is distinct from losing preference — customers may still recommend you.
- 05Relevance must be actively defended as markets shift.
How to run it
- 1
Check for category obsolescence
Determine whether customers are still buying what you make. If the category shifts — buyers moving from SUVs to electric cars — you can lose relevance even while people love your product.
Pro tip Watch adjacent categories, not just direct rivals, for the shift that strands you.
Watch out Customers may recommend your brand while refusing to buy your category.
- 2
Audit for lost energy
Assess whether the brand has gone bland and taken-for-granted — 'your grandfather's product' — with no reason for anyone to think or talk about it.
Pro tip Energy is a relevance driver; a fine but boring brand slowly fades from consideration.
- 3
Eliminate reasons not to buy
Scan for self-inflicted damage — a product mistake like contaminated product, or a divisive political stance — that gives some customers an active reason to avoid you.
Watch out In 2022 terms this is being 'cancelled'; a single misstep can create a durable reason not to buy.
In the wild
Aaker describes a customer who loves a particular SUV and would recommend it to anyone, but is now buying an electric car. No matter how much they like the SUV, the brand has lost relevance to them because the category they now buy in has changed.
→ The brand keeps its admirers and recommenders yet loses the sale, illustrating that relevance is distinct from preference.
Common mistakes
Mistaking being liked for being relevant
A brand can be admired and recommended while customers no longer buy it, so liking metrics mask a relevance collapse.
Letting the brand go bland
A taken-for-granted brand with no energy gives customers no reason to think or talk about it, quietly slipping out of the consideration set.
Is it for you?
Best for
Legacy and established brands guarding against slow irrelevance in shifting markets.
Not ideal for
Brand-new ventures still fighting to establish any awareness at all.
From the transcript
“it doesn't matter how much they like your SUV. So that's one way to lose relevance.”
“if you create a reason not to buy... in 2022, they call that being canceled”
From the episode
Dave Aaker: Brand Strategies For Market Leadership with The Father of Modern Branding
Dave Aaker