Building a Maha Brand

Launch a good brand campaign. And build the brand.

We often believe that a brand campaign will solve our marketing problems.

In reality a brand campaign will take its own time to deliver the goods. In fact if the brand has been built it will work faster and if it has to be built then you will have to have loads and loads of patience.

If palaces are not built overnight then what about a brand?

If a product promotion is at one end of the spectrum, the brand campaign is exactly at the opposite end. While the former will yield immediate results but unlike a brand campaign it will not leave behind any kind of an imprint.

A brand campaign thus has all the ability to create a place for itself in the hearts of the masses but over a period of time and after soaking in some kind investment.

Now is it worth spending and waiting for that "lasting impression" effect ?

First and foremost we need to understand that a brand is not an appendix, a logo or an id.

Hence hiring the best design agency, communicating a compelling proposition with high intensity etc is not sufficient to create a brand. They are however key building blocks crucial in forming the layers around the soul of the brand.

So where is the soul???

Yes! Evolving this soul is the crux of brand building.

Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation is one person whose soul was sharply defined.

Let us take the example of the Mahatma himself.

The associations of this mega brand comprises of the name "Mahatma", the name "Bapu" bald pate, round framed specs, the walking stick, the "charkha", the scantily clad human figure, ahimsa, Independence, Father of the nation, simplicity, determination, dandi march, quit India movement, fasting as a means of protest etc.

If you closely observe some of the associations are to do with physical form while others are related to objectives, philosophy and values.

It is quite evident that some of the associations can be created at a short notice. Especially the ones to do with the physical form.

Now this is similar to creating a beautifully designed logo and communicating a compelling proposition.

This is where one needs to understand that physical form is a necessary building block for the brand but not sufficient by itself. Physical form cannot conceive the "soul".

A brand is similar to a person. There are a lot of people in this world but only a few make a mark. And these are brands.

Another Mahatma cannot be created simply by reconstructing the physical form. To be another Mahatma, one has to walk the talk.

In fact the physical form of the Mahatma has very little significance as compared to his devotion, his work, his sacrifices. He delivered the goods and how.

So, how does the brand walk the talk?

Answers to some of the following questions by the brand would show the way for constructing a brand.

The questions need to be addressed to the brand.

1) Who are you? ( As in what is your pedigree / lineage ?)
2) What do you do ?
3) How do you do it differently?
4) What are your values ?
5) What is the profile and personality of the core user of the brand?

Applying these questions to the Mahatma we see how it all adds up.

1) The brand is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He belonged to a reputed well to do family. He was a lawyer by profession.

2) He was the chief crusader of the Indian Independence movement.

3) He followed the principles of non violence which was a completely different from what others following a similar objective did at that time.

4) He believed in the principles of non violence and in the equality of all religion.
He also was an ardent follower of the principles of simplicity and self sufficiency. Hence he spun cloth for his own needs.

5) The mass "junta' was the user of brand, " Mahatma".

The key learning from the example is that a brand cannot be built at short notice.

Secondly it is crucial to articulate its role, its personality, its philosophy and values, the target audience profile.

Finally the brand has to WALK THE TALK. This calls for discipline in consistency, discipline of focus, discipline of engagement,discipline of communication, discipline of creating quality and perceived quality.

Discipline of consistency:

It is extremely important to resist the temptation to change the identity ( color / style ) of the brand. This is perhaps the biggest and most unpardonable blunder that a marketeer can make arising out of a misplaced sense of fatigue. In a cluttered world your message is more often than not missed out. Remember you have a mass audience to engage and they are not dying to listen to you. Mahatma Gandhi appeared the same, spoke the same things tirelessly, did the same things. That created the brand identity which lasts to this date. The Lux brand has been consistently and tirelessly communicating its associations with contemporary film stars.

Discipline of focus:

Resist the temptation of standing for too many things. Focus on a single minded proposition and make that the mission of your life. Gandhi chose "NON VIOLENCE", stuck to it and made a mark. A brand too has to focus on a single proposition and perpetuate the same tirelessly with discipline. In this manner the brand will gradually get under the skin of its target audience. Body Shop has maintained focus around environment welfare and has been true to the value till date. All brand related activities need to pass this filter before anything else.

Discipline of engagement:

The brand has to identify as many opportunities to engage with its target audience in a focused and characteristic manner. Be it an advertisement, an event sponsorship, website design, the staff of the organization to which the brand belongs etc, the brand should exploit all such moments of truth for perpetuating a consistent identity. The Mahatma too spent tireless hours engaging with his audience and living their lives. This engagement fostered the kind of loyalty that any brand would give a leg and arm for.
The Kingfisher calendar which has become such a rage is an example of brand engagement beyond natural product boundaries. Since Pepsi is the choice of the new generation, the brand has to live up to nextgen by engaging with them in their style and in their environment. Hence it the brand has to identify a suitable sponsorship, it would perhaps choose a Shakira concert or associate with a bollywood Shahrukh Khan concoction.

Discipline of creating quality as well as perceived quality:

Nothing can sustain a poor quality product. Not even a great brand. Quality is basic discipline to even be counted. But the marketing challenge is augmenting this quality by establishing the perceived quality. The target audience needs to believe that the quality is indeed as true as it can get.

The Mahatma's decision to sacrifice life's comfort and live an austere life affected the perceptions of millions at one go. That he did it with a selfless purpose helped to further reinforce the people's faith and trust over the years.

A brand should exploit ways and means to influence the consumer by successfully participating in surveys, awards, forums and communicating the same actively to its audience. These victories reinforces their conviction about the brand and influence their perceptions accordingly. Entering the nomination list for awards, the coveted list of top 25 mutual funds in the rediff listing all add up.

However one must remember that unless the brand exhibits genuine quality, the efforts to influence perceptions can back fire leaving the brand brutally bruised

Discipline in communication:

The brand should use the communication platform to perpetuate the brand proposition and identity. It is only through patient and relentless efforts in communication the soul of the brand will gradually take shape and form.

The Mahatma too spend hours and days communicating with people and showing them the path of non violence. A unusual concept like this would have not otherwise sunk in with the masses at large.

Thus "Discipline" is the bedrock for embellishing brand image. Sporadic efforts otherwise would fail to create the sought after brand imprint.

Hence the organization has to develop a disciplined and distinct brand program and have the wherewithal to sustain large scale investments and patience to wait for payback time

A brand has is no eye candy. It has a soul which needs to be constructed and nurtured. .

However once the tipping point is reached in the brand building process, the returns will justify the brand building efforts and the brand will stand distinct as an asset whose value could be many times the cost of all other assets of the business put together.