As Good As It Gets: Branding for Life!
Well this post is a departure from the previous ones. This one is a tribute. Read in the newspapers yesterday that no new case of Polio has been reported in India since January 2011. 3 years since a case has been reported! What it means is that Polio myelitis has been eradicated from India! Considering the fact that over half of the world’s polio cases came from India as recently 2009 this is nothing short of a miracle! Considering the challenges involved in a country like India that has rudimentary infrastructure, corrupt officials with little or no scruples a teeming population to contend with (1.2bn and counting) this is a great display of positive intent, collaborative effort and systematic execution. Alongside all this the National Polio Eradication Programme is a good example of marketing. Awareness creation, information dissemination, use of ambassadors, innovative distribution mechanisms, activations, media utilization the boxes get ticked on the entire list. Let’s talk some numbers to fathom this. India is a country where- A baby is born every two seconds
- 14% of the population is under the age of 6 (~175Mn children needed to be immunized on a regular basis)
- 70% of the population resides in rural areas
Primary Health Centers, Anganvadis, Baalvadis, Door-door, School-school, in trains you name it and distribution of the drops has been turned into a reality. “Polio Ravivar” (Polio Sunday) with the “Do Boon Zindagi Ke” (Two Drops of Life) campaign perhaps is the most widely recalled, recognized and effective campaigns anywhere in the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruj-HRWrlEg
There was no dearth of innovations either
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_BxUwFLkMM#t=19
So here’s saying a big thank you as a citizen and as a father.
Living on the edge
We would all agree that it’s a tough job getting our message across to our target consumers. Add to that a puritan (engineers) definition of communication which is considered complete only when it is interpreted by recipient in the same manner as intended by the transmitter (Prof B at my engineering college must be heaving a sign of relief) and we are talking a steep slope that needs to be climbed.
As mentioned in one of my previous posts, the purpose of this blog is not to propound new theories, it is to present a perspective. So pardon references to Marketing 101.
Moving on, consumers today exposed perhaps over-exposed to messages of all sort. Thus to laden the expectation of decoding/deciphering our communication is expecting a bit too much. Moreover, pumping in marketing dollars hoping that he would is bizarre!
Most communication, even advertising operates on simple parameters we learnt in high school physics. Amplitude, wave-length and frequency. In advertising terms how loud, how long and how often. Well yes we pay the agencies and other experts to do that bit.
The most important bit and hopefully as marketers we hold it close like dear life is the what.
Establishing any communication is, has been and perhaps always will remain an uphill journey. One must realize though that the other side of the cliff is a steep fall. The best time spent therefore, would be at the top living on the edge.
What we communicate goes through the organic phases milestones on the climb that I have chosen to call Ignorance, Recall, Attention and finally the top Recommendation.
The other side however, is the steep fall which starts with the flip side of recommendation i.e. Frustration and very soon thereafter Annoyance.
It is important to note here that what are being discussed are the stages of the communication not the brand per se.
Bringing back the concepts of how loud, how long and how often a marketer would need to be careful with the communication once it has been established. Push it to loud, long or often chances are you will find yourself free-falling straight to annoyance.
To make my point how a communication is living dangerously on the edge and to bring alive the discussion I am leaving you with recent communication from a popular brand.
- The start
http://www.cadburyindia.com/in/en/brands/pages/videoplayer.aspx?vid=1609
- The build
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65ilZ8esAUs
- The extension
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag68swbxQvc
- The (un-necessary) stretch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WR844HP-yU
A Lot Like Love: Branding Your Way to your Consumers Wallet
The best way to a Consumers Wallet..is through his heart!
As marketers creating products and communication our biggest challenge is to resist an overload of the rational. Facts and figures as tempting as they seem seldom cut through. Moreover,in todays information age facts are available at the click of a button. So do we really need to be giving more?
Ideally, a brand-consumer interaction should evoke a positive emotion that gets nurtured over time facilitating decisions made by the consumer in favour of the brand. Most agencies argue in favour of an emotional communication and the brand managers are invariably guilty of pushing more fact than necessary. After all, powerful emotions need a powerful loop back to reality. Wrong!
It is true that emotions are invariably in response to a stimulus and that the extent or depth of consumer reaction is a function of the relevance. Brands attempt closure by communicating why the product is relevant to the consumer. We all know brands are built over several campaigns. While the consumer is not out there connecting the dots, there is a residual impact that is lasting which is where emotions come in. A rational journey almost always requires a brushing up on the other hand we can restart an emotional journey after a pause,no matter how long!
Often, the obvious is so close to us that it escapes notice. Having set an emotional context,I guess the mistake that we make is that instead of building on the relevance of the emotion to consumer we bring in the product features.
One may argue that there’s only that much that can be achieved within 30seconds or 45 or 60 whatever the edit length is. Well, yes and no. Yes, there is a limited timeframe to pack in everything. No, it is not just a TV spot that serves as our communication, we live our life in a continuum, there are other avenues available to build the bridge from the emotional to the rational and from thereon to purchase. I have talked about this in a previous post http://abrandviewstory.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/somewhere-over-the-rainbow-principles-for-finding-the-pot-of-gold-in-a-digital-world/ even outside the digital world money spent on a “build” is better than a “repeat”.
As a consumer, if the emotion that you evoked was powerful enough, I will try to find out more, I will find that bridge between the emotional and the rational.
Time and effort are better spent sharpening the emotional side of the communication leading upto why that emotion is relevant to the consumer.The greatest dis-service a brand can do itself is to evoke that emotion and leave it un-nurtured. You might as well spend money on your competitors campaign!
So as a brand or as a product communicating in the emotional plane, I should have answers to the following questions which are indicative not exhaustive:
1) The Promise: What am I going to make you feel? Joyous, triumphant, wanted etc.
2) The Method: How am I going to do it? I am a tool, pride of ownership etc.
3) The Reason: Why should you believe me? Endorsement, Trust etc.
4) The Provocation: Why now is the best time? Opportunity, urgency of need, etc
5) The Exclusivity: Why nobody else will do the way I do? Understanding you, knowing you etcA lot like love isn’t it?
And as food for further thought here’s a recent communication that caught my eye, how many of the above boxes do you think it would tick?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_UKea_y_dc&list=TL4ekK7bBB2W62RhS_eUfMTFOyzBONMfs0
Brand New Resolutions
As we bid 2013 good-bye some of us revisiting resolutions made at the beginning of this year, some are looking for the little slip on which they wrote them down yet others are smirking wondering what this resolution fuss is all about.
Effective execution or not, resolution making is a seasonal conversation topic that rears its head every new year eve.
So here’s a brand take to resolution making. Stuff that yours truly as a marketer and consumer would like to see brands do or in some cases, not do.
Consumer Chairs
Every brand worth its salt keeps talking about how much time is spent with and understanding consumers. We conduct home visits, focus groups etc but for most organisations owing to whatever constraints this is sporadic. Brands in 2014 should commit to institutionalizing “Consumer Chairs”. Dedicate a day every month where your consumers are chairing your meetings.Whether its one or ten is up to you but its about time brands co-opted consumers into their core teams. Processes tend to benefit immensely if consumer perspective is blended in and who better to get it from.
Youthful vs Frivolous
Don’t know why but most brands that want to target their communication to the youth insist on coming across with “attitude”. Invariably, this gets translated into either or all of these; Irreverance, High on innuendo, Slap-stick/wise-crack plots. Brands need to be cautious of the long term.While such communication can be entertaining it is seldom enduring. One common thing amongst great brands has been longevity.
New Improved -Zapping’em with Science
The oldest trick in the book,done to death. Every time there is a price move to be made, a pack size change or sluggish sales this seems to be the most accepted move. Get a new pack-if possible or put a sticker, a new TV spot or a tag, push R&D for a new colour and a whacky acronym and say abracadabra! Brand managers for generations have resorted to this. Would like to see an end to it especially the “micro-shine crystal” variety.Brand Forums & Passion Groups
With evolved and connected consumers of today brands need what I call brand vectors. Forums & passion groups as brands like Harley Davidson have realised are an extremely potent brand tool. Members are in it for the passion and commit to your brand by extension and spread your message becoming brand vectors much like the anopheles mosquito!Hugely recommend brands that can identify strongly with consumer passions to come forward. Time for brand epidemics!
Facebook Contests
For God’s sake please stop asking us to post pictures of ourselves doing things and “tagging” you. I am sure all of us could do with less intrusion!So here’s wishing all a fabulous New Year!
Somewhere over the Rainbow: Principles for Finding the Pot of Gold in a Digital world
In a world full of choices the consumer remains elusive and is turning into somewhat of a recluse. Regardless of age, gender, geography, occupation, social strata the consumer is exercising his right to choose and consume content of his choice at a time of his determination.The promise of the present is “On Demand”. Now given this situation any other message or communication apart from the content that we as marketers want to deliver is a serious challenge.
The changing spend patterns of brands as far as the marketing investments are concerned indicate increasing outlays on
Digital media.Hitherto our investments have been based on Reach x Frequency objectives for our Target Group. Digital media supported by the
growth of e-commerce however, has brought in an immense amount of measurability and brought to fore the “response function”.The question we as should ask ourselves is whether using digital media is indeed a requirement or are we enamoured by the
measurability.Here are a few thoughts on what to look out for before making the decision.
Visible in the right context and environment
In their hurry to ride the digital wave marketers have been guilty of placing their brands in places and contexts.Given the deep engagement of the consumer with the medium, brands should avoid being intrusive and being seen outside of context.Involving and interactive
Interactivity is not a given. While there are no absolutes in terms of wrong or right a “Pick the Right Grain” mobile game on the lines of Candy Crush might not be an idea worth investing. Brand managers need to be wary of falling into this trap.Build on communication or messages from other media
The digital natives are a smarter race. They are more aware and tend to be put off by messages that do not give credit to their intelligence. Communication on the digital media should not be a “repeat” it should be a “build”. Take off from what I already know or have seen about you. Makes sense especially if digital is not the only media that your communication is riding. In recent memory Nokia is a good example of how different assets were created to complement each other.
Generate interest
Brands should endeavour to create curiosity around or with the communication. Interest groups are an increasing trend. People
are comfortable interacting with and engaging with “Familiar strangers”. Strangers who seem familiar because they share the
same passions. Meri Maggi campaign is a good example of well executed digital campaign
https://www.maggi.in/meandmeri-maggi.aspx
Youthful in approach
Youth is mainstream for many contemporary brands more so on the internet. Youth is a demographic but youthfulness is a state of mind and needs to be embedded in any communication. Here’s an example of IBMs recent 5in5 communication it put up through its facebook page “People for a Smarter Planet”http://ibm.com/5in5
Optimised across Assets
We are aware that most internet journeys begin with a search.Very often brands do not ensure that all their assets are visibly pointing in the same direction. Whether it is owned media, social or bought they must all be singing from the same page.Receptive
This is applicable in the real world also but even more so in the digital world. While we plan for Facebook likes, trending hash-tags and positively biased conversations, it is critical for brands to keep their ears close to the ground. In the digital world nothing spreads faster than bad news. Brands have to learn to take feedback positively, to respond quickly when someone writes in, create memorable moments from miserable ones. Consumers are likely to repeat a brand that made good over trying a new brand.Brands will need to objectively evaluate their personality, product, the message and tick the boxes on what are really notes to self compiled over time. Hope you find them useful.
Is Sonic Branding A Dying Art??
Remember the days of listening to All India Radio? The times when watching TV meant waiting for Chitrahaar during the weekdays and the mega-entertainment bonanza on Sundays topped of with a Movie in the evening? An era when Print (Newspapers & Magazines) ruled roost and amongst the lesser mortals there was radio, billboards, bus queue shelters and in-cinema; television was a fledgling. Radio jingles were the order of the day and as television took off some of the earlier TV spots took a similar approach.
As available media choices increased with the C&S boom and further with the advent of digital media the role of radio advertising diminished and the “sound of the brand” became a matter of detail.
Often, creative thinking as far as brands and advertising are concerned, is skewed towards the visual manifestation typography, colour pallete, tonality,images etc etc. Days and months are spent on getting it right over lengthy on-brand off-brand debates.
Simple question: If brands are like people and each one carves its unique identity. Isn’t our voice as much a part of our identity as are our physicality, handwriting etcetera?
There are no pre-defined mandatories as far as creating or building a brand are concerned. Organisations spend millions of dollars in creating, propagating and sustaining the “Brand Identity”. There are few brands however, that have invested time and effort in creating their audio signatures and fewer still who have maintained them zealously.
With the world becoming a smaller place and brands having to create mind-space across cultures and geographies one would reckon an Audio identity is a must. Forget music, how many brands get pronounced they way they want their brand names ought to be?
Music is widely agreed to be a universal language with commonly practiced protocols.
Sound has the power of conveying emotion in a manner the is most widely understood. Sound leaves a deeper and longer lasting impression on the human mind.
Unlike visuals sound need not necessarily be in the foreground or in the primary attention space for it to have an effect.
The author does not deny that music is widely and wisely being used in campaigns, the fear or concern however is that it is being limited to campaigns.
Brands that create a broader footprint with their identities shall prevail and sustain in the mind-space longer and stronger.
The beauty of an aural mnemonic is that once established it is embedded in the visual, we don’t need to hear the sound every time. Most of us sub-consciously hear “Ting ting ti din” every time we see the Britania logo or for that matter when we see the Intel logo we hear it too!
Listed below in no particular order are the best examples of Sonic branding from an India perspective according to me. Not necessarily all were created in India. The reason I mention them is that for all these brands their signature tunes/songs/sounds have remained integral to their communication over the years and have evolved with the brand. Check them out!
1) Britania: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxOpS7EIBi0
2) Nescafe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSr_fr26bBc
3) Airtel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCUO2SaJK3M
4) Tata DoCoMo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_HEKttPELI
5) ICICI Bank: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msfW-C_zm28
6) Kingfisher: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsM-G3A6XR0Other honourable mentions will be for Doordarshan and All India Radio, today the FM radio brands carry the flag with their stationality.
The above is just a top of mind, if you are reading this and can come up with more such examples of brands that have consistently used sonic branding do post a comment.
The Bollywood Dancers Theory
We all are born different, look different, react differently to things and want to be seen differently yet, at some level, each one of us has this strong urge to blend in.
My interactions with people across a cross-section of society during numerous Consumer Home Visits have reinforced this belief that people want to “Blend In yet Stand Out”. The Ryder to that one however, is that no one wants to Stick Out either.
Is there a difference? You bet.
A big part of growing up is the time one spends with friends or a peer group of some sort. It is here, in my opinion that the seeds of this Blend In yet Stand Out philosophy are sown.
You want to listen to music, you play it out loud! You make sure you stand out by being the one who either has the latest releases or the guy who knows all the lyrics or the one who has the coolest “system”. You do not want to be seen as the guy who is unaware, out of touch or as the one with a radically different taste in music (try playing Boyzone out loud in an all boys hostel).
Blending in does not mean not having respect for an individuals choices. You hang-out some guys drink, some do not, some smoke, some others do not. But you definitely do not want to be the guy who throws up after a few or if you do not drink the guy who’s gotta be dropped back early coz Mama’s gonna be wild 😉
It’s not just a guy thing. Not that I am an authority but I’d wager that girls have their own set of what constitutes being a part of the gang and what is seen as not being with it. American diamonds perhaps are one such controversial area (cannot fathom whether they belong to the with it or not category for the life of me, was told once that they are good only if they are not obvious)
We grow up and move on into doing different things but this feeling stays with us. It manifests itself in things we do or things we buy. Take for example cars we all buy cars of our choice (make and model) however when was the last you heard of a friend who bought a yellow or orange or some other bright coloured one. Might like it but won’t buy it coz you do not want to stick out.
This therefore is the essence of what I have chosen to call the “Bollywood Dancers Theory” and it perhaps lies somewhere in the Esteem Needs zone of what Mr. Abraham Maslow talked about.
People inherently want to stand out in the context of their immediate environment
Like a typical Bollywood dance sequence while the protagonists want to express their love to each other by singing and dancing around trees or montage sets they need to be seen as gyrating to the same beat and doing the same steps as a host of other dancers (who appear and disappear as miraculously as the invisible orchestra does) they always wear a different colour. Blending in yet, standing out!
D(h)oomsday Prediction: The ABC of Movie Franchises
I admit! I am a cinemaholic and just so that we are clear; no I am not about to turn this thing into a movie review blog.
The world of cinema is replete with lessons in marketing. God knows many a trainers have borrowed freely from cinema to add that zing to their otherwise tardy workshops.
Came across an interesting article recently that was talking about some of the most successful movie franchises and that set me thinking. What better to write about on the eve of one of the most awaited releases of the year Dhoom3.
The brand manager in me always has a tough time convincing the product manager in me about a lot many things in general but the hardest tussle invariably is with regard to making lead horses out of product “specifications” instead of a product features or more importantly a product benefit.
A very senior colleague who was the Sr.VP while I was just a wet behind the ears management trainee learning product management ropes always used to insist on receiving a “FAB (Feature-Advantage-Benefit) Chart” along with every New Product communication.
He drilled into me (and boy am I thankful for it!) that a good product communication should Attract Attention to the product features, Build Interest around the advantages over a competing product and most importantly Convey Benefits of the experience of using/consuming the product.
How is that relevant to this conversation? Well, thats a conversation that the marketers of the Dhoom “franchise” haven’t seem to have had.
The success of the first in the series Dhoom was credited to the slick production, a pacy cops and robbers caper with bikes, babes and attitude thrown in. The actors were incidental. The second time around it was a heist again, a new robber and more eye candy for both men and women. It’s here that the product specs (read Hrithik Roshan) drew A LOT of attention and have led us to the topic at hand.
To open my argument I shall contrast the movie franchise with the iPad evolution.
The Apple conversations have always been at the benefit level. The first iPad was a category creator and we have seen Steve Jobs explain passionately about how the Pad fit into this gap between the smartphone and the laptop! The iPad 2 got FaceTime into the equation and now the iPad Air. The specifications of the latest launch iPad Air…. A7 chip with 64-bit architecture and M7 motion coprocessor. 9.7inch display with 2048×1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch 7.5mm thin, 469gms etc etc.
Ask any geek and they would say these are kick-ass. While the folks at Apple have never ever compromised on the tech specs they almost always use them as incidental to their communication.This has helped them keep the aspiration levels of the brand intact as the comparison if any, with competition or a predecessor product is never at this level.All the buzz that has been created has been around Aamir Khan, the teasers concentrate on his look his part in the movie but fail to impress or generate any interest around the plot. Too much attention on the specifications. The followers of the series do not need to convinced about Aamir, what they need to be impressed about is how the plot has evolved and what they can expect when they walk into the cinema halls.
Sure there have been over 14.2Mn views on YouTube and theres a Dhoom 3 the game and that all the indicators are there for a rocking box office performance.The marketers at YRF have done their bit to get money in for Dhoom 3 but have they done a good job building Dhoom the brand and the franchise? I say no but then we’ll talk about that when and if there is a Dhoom 4.
AAP ka Brand: Tips for Sweeping Popularity
As I write this first post I am aware that reams of newsprint and hours of footage have already been dedicated to the meteoric rise of the Aam Aadmi Party. With all due respect to the haloed first mover advantage, I shall regar
dless, endeavour to present a marketers take on how the story has unfolded.So without much ado here are some tips (no postulation here,just pulling a bookmark out of some dusty marketing books) for gaining sweeping popularity from a brand perspective.
INSIGHT, INSIGHT, INSIGHT
Like Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture said “Filmein sirf teen cheezon ki wajah se chalti hain. Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment” and just like countless marketers before me have said, successful brands are built on insights. Big deal!
Yes! It is a big deal! Rare are the examples in Indian political history wherein we have had political brands being built and launched. Hitherto, political brands (parties and personalities alike) have been a resultant of situations not necessarily designed or controlled in any measure. Brands by chance.
AAP is a brand that has been carefully built. Brand AAP has effectively utilised all available platforms media or otherwise. The new age Congress and the BJP are no less savvy with PR doctors at disposal round the clock to feed the hungry new electorate. Why then did they fail to capture the imagination of people? The difference was Insight.
“People believe that they have the power, albeit dormant, within themselves to change the course of history”. From Gandhi to Mandela, successful movements have tapped into and worked with this insight.OK! but what is to say that it was a careful construction unlike others? A quick point on that before we move on. This marketer is of the view that the ways and methods that AAP deployed on the ground (read activation plan) run true with and indicate the insight
being put to work. Starting with the largely volunteer based cadre, to the need based cadre expansion during the 2 days leading upto the elections.AIM DEAD-CENTER: STAYING TRUE TO THE CORE
The continuous conversations with the middle class was again a clever tactic; while their opponents kept discounting it as a middle heavy strategy it proved to be one of the reasons for their electoral success.“The Great Indian Middle Class” much abused in many a marketing presentations as the drivers of the consumption economy, fit perfectly into the AAP scheme of things.
Here’s where the insight resonated best. With the understanding, access, proximity and numbers to spread the message up and down the social ladder they became the prime movers. The middle class were the perfect influencers. They spread the word amongst the peer-group through endless conversations in their social gatherings and the armchair critics suddenly turned into evangelists. The lower income group who through ages of degradation in electoral politics were always lured, were suddenly having a conversation with their “sahab” and “memsaabs” on mehangai and were seeing a glimmer of hope and a feeling somewhere that they too had a say. The big-wigs ofcourse were getting guilt tripped since “Who has the time to vote?” and “Nothings going to change..” were not cool anymore.Moral of the story stay true to the core, there’s nothing better than bulls-eye. So much for the Core TG, Consumption TG, Business TG theorists.
SUCCESS-BELIEF VIRTUOUS CYCLE
There are 2 characteristics that the best Generals in history have displayed.
1) They invariably have a clear vision of what success will look like and have articulated it and
2) Regardless of the situation, they always project success to be within reach and a matter of when and not if.Belief and success are companions. AAP throughout its campaign painted success as imminent. The others did so to, but did not bring the same strength of conviction. Some faltered in word, others in deed. What AAP did better was describe success better? True their manifesto was as populist in its construct, the benefit however that AAP portrayed for all to see was a virtuous one; the passing of the much debated and controversial Lokpal bill in a public session of the assembly. A benefit that re-emphasized the insight “I can make a change”.
Regardless of what transpires politically, brand AAP has had a good launch and should they continue building on their insights about the “Aam Aadmi”,they will move the brand into the much desired “loyalty” space with the common man saying Amen!
