“What’s in a name? A rose is a rose and would smell as sweet even if called by any other name”
These famous words uttered by Shakespeare’s Juliet sends us into raptures, but marketers and consumers would not respond to this reasoning favorably. Brands rule over the marketer and consumers’ minds. Enormous resources, time and energy are spent in building and nurturing brands. Why? A brand distinguishes the products and services offered by one seller from another.
What is a Brand?
Philip Kotler defines marketing as the analysis, organizing, planning and control of the firms’ resource, policies and activities with a view to satisfying the needs of chosen customer groups at a profit. A brand is therefore the fulcrum around which resources are directed. A brand may be a distinguishing name or a symbol which gives the products their meaning and direction. In fact a brand conveys the personality of the organization and can considerably alter the perception of the end user of the product. One feels comfortable with a Colgate, Cadbury, Pepsi or a Heinz product anywhere in the world: A result of years of efforts in building and managing the brands.
One cannot also forget classic slogans which have come to define brands with such as Avis cars’, “When you’re only No.2 you try harder. Or else”, or “Think Small” by GM’s Volkswagen Beetle. In the Indian context MRF tyres, Titan watches and Hero Honda motorcycles are some examples of success stories.
How to Create and Build a Brand
The starting point in the brand game is the product. How is it different from other products in the crowded market place?
Look for a USP {Unique Selling Proposition} by way of product advantage, cost benefit, after sales service and so on. For example, Maruti’s TV commercial has a tourist who is amazed to find a service station in a remote area which does not even have a tea shop. This is a memorable way of emphasizing that only Maruti is accessible to people in every nook and corner of India. There is an interesting story about a company which was obviously going wrong in promoting the brand. A dog biscuit manufacturer had a sales conference. After agreeing to the suggestions on discounts, advertising, etc, the managing director asked the field staff as to why sales were not picking up. One salesman summoned up courage and replied, “Somehow dogs don’t seem to like our biscuits, Sir”
Think of a simple but powerful brand name. The name can appeal to emotion, status or benefit. An excellent example is Good Knight mosquito mats.
Segment the market according to demographics. Age, sex, education, family income, geographic factors like location, size of the market, end user buyer behaviour and psychographics i.e. personality traits. A clear example of psychographics is the way Raymond has been positioned as ‘The Complete Man’ appealing to men who are achievers and want to be seen not only in their powerful avatar, but also as warm and caring individuals who have holistic personalities. On the other hand, Reid and Taylor, by using personalities like Pierce Brosnan in their communication, try to appeal to the man who looks for style and sophistication.
Move from a generic product to a brand through a skillful manipulation of the 4 P’s, which are product, price, placement and promotion in addition to packaging. Ashirwaad ‘atta’ has made a staple ingredient like wheat flour into something that enables a woman to find pride and joy in caring for her family.
Choose an appropriate media mix based on target group, reach, effectiveness and competitors’ strategies. Today, there is a bewildering array of choices in reaching out to the consumer. A company has to be media and market savvy in order to spend its resources on the right communication and the right media element. Market research, ABC circulation figures, TRP rating for TV programs, etc, are available to guide us. In addition specifically commissioned market probes will steer us toward the bull’s eye. For example, Honda did an intensive study of how the average car user uses the boot of the car, the number and kind of items that are normally used in the car and then designed the boot of the Honda car. Today, the Honda boot is regarded as much better and useful than in other cars.
Next consider the communication strategy. Akio Morita, the founder chairman of Sony, belives that communication is the most important form of marketing. The message has to be direct, simple and catchy. Slogans such as ‘Put a tiger in the tank’, ‘Colgate ring of confidence’, ‘Come to Marlboro country’, Maggi’s ‘Two minute noodles’ are shining examples of enduring communication. A thorough understanding of the communication objective is necessary in order to formulate the communication plan. Communication should be both persuasive and sustainable. We should remember that ‘familiarity breeds sales’ and therefore the brand needs to be promoted consistently. Marketing consistency is the hallmark of a good brand. It requires a great deal of planning and implementation skills to create, protect and sustain the brand. With very little product differentiation, building a brand image becomes an effective tool to fight competition. The resultant brand equity ensures brand loyalty, price/margin advantage, trade leverage and helps even out the peaks and valleys in sales.
A significant change is taking in the market. Marketing by trial and error to imaginary customers has been replaced by strategic planning to tap identifiable target groups based on a computerized data base of markets and consumers. Mass marketing has led to segmented marketing. This has branched out to niche marketing. Trade magazines for accountants, advertising professionals and architects are good examples of this trend. The buzz word today is one to one marketing as in the case of automobiles, security systems, etc
“At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.” David Ogilvy, who wrote this memorable advertisement, is considered the ‘Pope of modern advertising’. He has these tips to share on brand building;
Segment the market and customers
Position your brand
Decide what you want to promise
Create brand image
Come up with a big idea
Maintain quality
Don’t be a bore
Innovate
Most importantly, he warns ‘The customer is not a moron. She is your wife’.
Brands are not immortal. For every success story, there are scores of failures. If we analyze these cases we find that they have not kept pace with the sweeping technological changes and/or changing consumer preferences.
There is no room for complacency in today’s market scenario. The challenge lies not only in becoming successful but also in staying successful.
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