Brands are not just the Logo or Colour or Product or even the Co reputation



We all know about the famous parable of 6 blind men narrating their interpretations about an elephant! People who failed to see the complete elephant gave their descriptions or should we say only partial interpretations of the huge animal. We all know how far each of them was, from the real truth.

Too often this is a common struggle in company boardrooms, where the various stakeholders put forward their valuable opinions about the ‘Brand’ in question. They get vocal about what the Brand should be or represent or shouldn’t at all. That may include the design, colour scheme, shape, size or anything for that matter. The bitter truth is that most times none would be correct. The real answer may actually lie elsewhere.

A brand does not live in a product or a packaging. Brand lives in people’s lives. They way they use it, live with it or become anxious in the absence of it. Brands define people, their behavior or even their relationships. Sweet memories or bitter experiences become the brand itself. Every day in many different ways brands shape lives, futures or even the way people express themselves. It’s well accepted that famous brands are more acceptable, great brands are to die for and those who understand that can spend any amount of money or fortune to possess and enjoy them. However much the manufacturers may want to change things or tinker with or try influence, the least successful they can possibly be at altering things about their brands.

Brand is an expression of Emotion or the Feelings users share when they interact or connect with it

A humble box of chocolates could become a great ‘gift of happiness’. A simple flight could be the ‘gateway to freedom’ after the long wait to go home. A ring on the finger becomes the ‘symbol of two hearts coming together’ in marriage. These are not products or services but a ‘box full of happiness’, ‘gateway to freedom’ or ‘a happy union forever’. A brand can become the deliverer of that emotion or feelings and much more, if it connects well. A great brand story begins just from there!


Ranjan Mazumdar
RnT Communications

www.rnt.co.in

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brands are Concepts which cannot be defined by the limited parameters of Markets

Image
If you ask an ordinary person ‘what a brand is?’ he or she would perhaps recall a few product names that are stuck in his or her mind. What makes me wonder is what makes a brand get on top of his or her mind! Is it the usage, functionality or simply the look of it? Experts talk about brands getting into ‘the consideration set’ must be the key determinant factor towards brand preference. However in today’s context how many brands are there in a consumer’s mind and of course how many of their benefits are understood is the moot question. Brands as I understand are relationships which you enjoy over time. Remember your first Titan. Recall the fun with your Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. How enjoyable has Amul Butter been, making your toasts that much better tasting with the masala omelettes during breakfasts every morning of your life. One can keep citing examples of many such brands with which your relationship has got cemented over time.   The point is what makes these relationship
Read more

Time to Rebrand during a Slowdown

Image
  Is your brand ready for a rebranding exercise? Most brand managers never want to understand the merits of this exercise. Too much is at stake and too little to gain are the common thinking. In a way maybe they are right. In a world where few people remember which brand they purchased yesterday, would a rebranding exercise really matter? The question arises here – whether any rebranding is meant for the prospective customers or is it for the good of the brand itself? A brand as we all know is a dynamic entity and it grows over time and even ages with time. As circumstances change and consumers outgrow a brand it becomes mandatory for brands to reconnect with new-gen users as new avatars. Whether this is a consumer-centric or a brand-centric exercise is another debate but users do change, and tech does change lives and the way people live their lives. For e.g. post the pandemic we all have changed our attitudes towards so many things in our lives both knowingly or even unknowingly.
Read more

Brands need unique Expression & Freedom to play a role in the consumers’ life

Image
Im In the 70’s American Express (or AMEX for the US citizens) the famous campaign said ‘Don’t leave home without it’. It underlined the notion that without the AMEX card, life would be like a ticket-less traveler searching for means. It thus underscored the role the card played in people’s lives. The ad campaign went on to become one of the greatest brand building campaigns of all time. Image: Source Google If brands connect with you in some manner then it is a great example of ‘brands having a role to play’ in your life. That’s how brands should be – ‘solving a problem in Consumer’s life’ or ‘throwing up a benefit which the consumers may not even have thought about’. This make brands to become ‘favourite’, even followed or repeatedly used and enjoyed. Over a period of time the user may become a virtual slave of the brand or alternatively even grow out of it. This leads to the th
Read more