Medically speaking, the term "anosognosia" refers to the impairment that occurs wherein a person seems unaware of or denies a disability or a weakness.
For brands, a difficult but necessary component to growth is the admission of a weakness.
Brands are like people: none of us are immaculate, and some of us have a hard time admitting that.
Brands are like people: when we are honest with ourselves, we have a better chance of improving our lives and relationships.
Brands are like people: when we do find a weakness in ourselves, we are sometimes hesitant to publicize it.
No company is without a weakness or a disability, and we can all stand to identify and improve specific problems areas.
As such, I refer to brands in one of two ways: a company can have a "self-aware brand" or an "anosognosic brand."
Just as a person can become a better member of his community, the self-aware brand acknowledges that that it has room to become a better member of the market. The rewards for such self-awareness (for both people and brands) are higher levels of efficiency, improved internal and external communications and a higher-level of respect.
Brands are like people: when we are honest with ourselves, we have a better chance of improving our lives and relationships.
In contrast, the anosognosic brand often denies problems - it fears that an acknowledgement of weakness will have a negative impact on how it is perceived.
Here are two examples of notable brands that have profited from their self-awareness:
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza chose to improve the quality of a product that the public had come to dislike. The company publicized this criticism in their advertising and followed up with the development of a better pizza. This self-awareness and devotion to creating a better product is paying off: Domino's reported a 14.3 percent lift in sales during the first quarter of 2010.
Microsoft
Since 2009, Microsoft has advertised how they listened to specific needs of their consumers when designing the Windows 7 operating system. Their campaign celebrated how they have improved the user experience since their previous Windows Vista operating system - one which regularly endured criticism on its privacy, security and performance. The results of this admission remain positive: since the product's launch, Microsoft is beginning to regain some of the market share that it lost to Apple.
In Other Words,
Brands are like people: we should celebrate how we overcome our weaknesses.
Self-aware companies who address their brand's weaknesses will invariably enjoy more sustainable growth over those who take an anosognosic approach and attempt to distract the public from their brand's weaknesses.