What are the characteristics of a strong brand ? Your advice on how to build a strong brand?
Sumeet Narang : A strong brand is one that would leave you with a feeling of hollowness, if it were withdrawn tomorrow. The gap between a brand manager’s vision of what the brand stands for and the customer’s perception of the same is minimal here. A strong brand should also keep driving preference towards the product. As it gets stronger, the consumption of that product should also grow. Else its just a mirage of the brand and not meaningful to business. Preference towards a strong brand should always be backed by some irrational argument by consumers. He knows at a product level the difference is not that wide but in his heart he cannot hold it at par with its competitors. That in essence is what a strong brand is all about.
Building a strong brand is the biggest job for any marketer and its not easy. Many brand managers do a great job of managing the health, consumption and profitability of the brand but very few are able to actually strengthen it so much that it becomes immortal.
One has to be passionate to the extent of being blinded by one’s brand values. You’ve got to almost imagine that the world revolves around it. Its delivery needs to be seen as the single most important act of mankind. Its only once you are this obsessed with your brand that you will actually be able to start executing what you’ve learnt about brand building.
Has the age of the internet changed the way we build brands ?
Low entry barriers to advertising, use of social media, content marketing and the ability to target your messages very precisely are some changes in the way we market today. However, I don’t think there is any fundamental shift in the way brands get built. If at all, the focus has shifted to quick returns and away from building long term sustainable brands.
Has the internet changed consumers ? Made them more price sensitive, less loyal, more demanding ?
Internet has raised the level of customer awareness more than any other sociological change in the past. It has also democratised information, thereby increasing competition. The customer’s dependence on trade and advertising to know about a brand’s performance has reduced. This has led to the customer being a lot more armed with information on best price offers, product reviews and lesser known smaller brands. To that extent the internet has provided a more level playing field to all players, and at the same time has increased the pressure on market leaders and trade channels.
How challenging is it to build a brand in the very diverse Indian market place ?
Its challenging to build a brand anywhere in the world and India is no different. In fact recent case studies show more similarities across countries than diversities. When it comes to technology led products, one finds a similar pattern of new brand emergence across countries.
In the case of many other consumer categories, the penetration levels in India are still amongst the lowest in the world. A situation like this, if at all, makes brand building a bit easier in India than in other more developed countries. We are still able to find insights, needs and nuggets to build our brands on. In other markets most are already taken.
Brands you admire and why ?
Singapore Airlines is a great brand. Your experience is always differentiated and carries the mark of that brand.
Starbucks is always the most relaxing spot in any busy high street or mall. Each staff member displays similar values of care, intelligence, subject knowledge and efficiency.
I admire Levis for it unfailing commitment to product delivery and being able to connect with the youth even after 150yrs.
I admire Patanjali for being able to build a diversified range on one core value – authenticity. And with the help of that being able to penetrate categories which brand pundits thought had no further scope for differentiation.
And finally – Gillette, Coca Cola, Braun and Samsung which I have had the privilege of serving during my marketing career 🙂
Complete the sentence “The future belongs to ……………”
The future belongs to brands which have the courage and differentiation to earn a decent bottom-line.
