Branding in today's age

Thousands and thousands of brands today are looking to create their mark and become another 'Apple'. The basics of building a brand remain the same.

Every brand needs to answer 3 specific questions:

1) Who am I?

2) What do I stand for?

3) How do I Behave?

A brand need not be a product, it can be a person, an event, a blog or anything else. Brands are all about identity. A brand is something that people identify with, in a particular way. 

So, there is Colgate and Pepsodent that we understand are germ-killing toothpastes, while Sensodyne addresses the sensitivity in our teeth. The way Sensodyne positions itself is way different than the other toothpastes. Close-up stands for a fresh breath while Meswak, Dabur Babool, Dabur Red, Vicco are positioned as Ayurvedic toothpastes.

Branding would mean positioning your product as one that caters to some need. Unless you are a Steve Jobs, who purely creates the need for his product, you would certainly like to announce the utility of your product. This utility is nothing but information as to how the product offered is important for the customer; how he/she can benefit from its use and what is the purpose that the product serves.

There are millions of brands out there. They fight each day to position themselves well. To be appealing to the customer and to win over their competitors. We have seen many of these brands over the years. Some of them have positioned themselves so strongly that we now know their tag lines and jingles by heart. 

So, first and foremost, a brand needs to pronounce its name. Out and Loud. Unless this is done, it will be lost in the crowd. 

Next, a brand must say what it stands for. The same product could cater to multiple needs and what is the one thing or need that I cater to, the best. Then, this could become the brand's character. 

Behavior is critical and important in today's world as customers are well aware and willing to judge a brand by the way it behaves. So, if a brand is promoting itself as an eco-friendly one, consumers would doubt it if they offered plastic bags to take home the products. 

The brand endorsers and their behavior is also critical when it comes to how the consumers perceive the brand. It is very important that the brand ambassador has a public image in-line with the brand's behavior. 

from marketing to sales...The bandwidth of generating revenue

 The absolute basic requirement for sustenance of any business is revenue generation.

 Revenue is simply the inflow of money against the outflow of products and/ or services. For the cash inflow to take place, there needs to be a buyer for the services or products offered. The various categories of buyers are ‘consumers’, ‘customers’, ‘retailers’, ‘clients’, ‘policy holders’ etc.

These are the people who will pay a business for the utilization of its services or to consume its products. The big question here is:

What makes the buyer make a purchase/ buy a particular product or service?

This is THE question that marketers across the globe have to answer.

Once this question is answered for the marketer’s target set of buyers, the business can lay down its strategy and plan for carrying out marketing initiatives.

This article will deal with the key factors that determine the success of a marketing campaign. We will also look into the various kinds of campaigns and their impact based on geographies and target cluster in the remaining articles of this series.

The key parameters that have to be met and which collate to signify the level of success of a campaign are discussed below.

Awareness

If you are launching a new brand, product or service, the market and your audience needs to know about it before they even consider buying it. Unless you create awareness about your existence, there is no way a customer will think of you when they have the need.

Thus, the first, foremost and the most essential part of any campaign is to create awareness.

Interest

I may be aware of the release of a particular movie, but nothing about it has enticed me to find out more about the movie, let alone watch it. The campaign needs to be enticing for the customer to want to know more. It is at this stage that you have caught his attention and are not a mere brand name that he has come across.

Creating interest is the first step to winning a customer.

Conversion

Being in a sales job and being an avid follower of marketing campaigns, I have tracked the on-going evolution in marketing. There are many new strategies that have been incorporated because competition is cut-throat and the battle is fierce. Sitting far away from the consumer on a hoarding can get you their attention and interest, but this does not and cannot guarantee conversion.

The sales guys have to be credited for the conversions that take place. This is so because, once the interest is generated and the customer starts evaluating if he wants to buy or not, he gets on to a platform where yours is not the only product. All your marketing campaigns could have given competition an easy win, just because - Of the 2 companies displaying the same product, your competitor had a special offer and won the customer on price benefit.

Three aspects of the product that the sales person takes to the customer are:

Feature

The features of the product need to be showcased to the customer to tap their interest.

Advantage

The advantage of buying the product or service has to be explained. ‘Unless your product or service give me an advantage which is worth the spend you are asking me to make, there is no chance I will pull cash out of my pocket.’ This is the policy of each buyer.

Thus, advantage is your trump card to get the buyer to put his hand in the pocket (initializing spend).

Benefit

How does the customer benefit by utilizing the product or service offered. This is the most critical part of closing a sale. It is the benefit that addresses the ‘NEED’ and makes the customer feel like a king.

A sales person has a sure shot sale at hand if he can convince the prospective buyer basis on the benefit aspect of the product.

As your sales team works in perfect sync with your marketing initiatives, you have a SALE! The first revenue from this particular client stands generated.

Now comes the part where your operations team and the teams that make and manage your products or services play their role. Their performance will determine whether you have a loyal customer or was it a one-time stand.

Loyalty is portrayed through different mediums and at different levels:

If the customer continues to utilize your offerings, then you have earned a loyal customer.

If the customer not only consumes your offerings himself, but also recommends it to others, you have earned a recommender! This is the most difficult and the most time consuming return-on-investment.

But the wait and persistence yield sweet fruits.

Kaun Banega ......................

You said it right. This is about 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' aka KBC.

About the show

Adapted from 'Who wants to be a millionaire', Kaun banega Crorepati, has created its value in the Indian market. It has reached an audience that spans from the rich to the poor, the old to the young and from the self-employed to the unemployed. Launched in the year 2000, 13 years were enough for KBC to establish itself as one of India's favorite reality shows. It appeals to the audience more than any of the other shows because the blend of happiness with a hint of sorrow/ misfortunes in KBC is better than the rest. Of course there is the 'possibility of monetary gains' part to it. The show makes the viewer think that he or she could also be sitting on the 'hot seat' and earn money. Even if they are not on sets, they can still try their luck from home. Contests such as 'ghar baithe jeeto jackpot' increase the probability of a viewer winning some money for themselves. That is a sure-shot way of winning the audience's heart and attention. However, with success comes responsibility and with attention arises the need to live up to expectations. If the same drill was repeated for 6 seasons, only those who make it to the hot seat would be viewing the show. All others would have probably got bored of it. Hence, the makers have always modified the show (however, minutely) to keep things interesting. Be it the change in life-lines or the highest winning amount, they try to bring in something new every season. This trend continues while the current season with a plethora of changes airs on television.

Marketing for the current season

'Seekhna band, toh jeetna band', KBC promotions brought this slogan to us with hilarious experiences of the wedding planner, lawyer and the Policeman. I would say one of the most interesting advertisements of our times. When it comes to the launch of a show, the marketing trends are different from usual. Though the primary aims are still the same (awareness, buzz, generate willingness to buy/ in this case view); the marketing strategy and duration of a campaign are different from a product launch to a show launch. In the recent past, I don't remember any show which had a launch campaign that created so much impact. 

Given Bigg Boss season 7 promotions that are going on, we only see Salman Khan in double role repeating old story over and over again. It is 'swarg ka wow and nark ka aao; sab yahi hai'. This is not as funny as the film 'Judwaa' and the same joke repeated n times does go blatant. 
Therefore, one has to agree that though KBC and Amitabh Bachchan are two big brands coming together, there is enough content to make that combination click. 'Intehaa ho gayi, intezaar ki', Amitabh Bachchan sang this song as a teaser when many rounds of 'KBC 7...coming soon' had already taken place. This too, was an addition to the same. However, I would applaud the mind behind the idea for the teaser. Barely 10 seconds of space and what an impact! Literally out of the box utilization of brand 'Amitabh'. 

Brand Amitabh and KBC

It is difficult to determine whether brand Amitabh facilitated the making of brand KBC or KBC facilitated the re-establishment of brand Amitabh. However, the audience certainly loves this combo and can't get enough of either of the two!

Ads in-line with On-line trade

About the ad

This is about the Flipkart ad that is currently featuring on television. Once again there are kids dressed (and made to behave) as adults. This time, in stead of taking on a couple, family or hospital staff, they mimic our Indian daily news channel. This could be any regular news channel except the stock market types. After every tragic accident, a news story is backed by, or sometimes pulled through, debates on news channels. There are a few people on the panel, almost each of whom would be fighting to get time to talk. These panelists fight more aggressively than the applicants at a B-School group discussion! Keeping this in view, the portrayal of the in-line v/s on-line shopping debate in this format works bang-on!

The 'India wants to know' punch takes a cue from the 'Desh jaan-na chachta hai...' statement which has now become a stereo-type. The ad works wonders for the brand as the cliche news debate is presented in a fresh avtaar. From the housewife's view to the very convincing politician; all roles are depicted effectively and packaged to sell.

From this ad, Flipkart is not only marketing the on-line shopping idea, it is also stating that on-line shopping ==> Buying from Flipkart. This is evident when they say "Ab shopping nahi, Flipkart karo". Well, when the global market research giant, A C Nielsen ranks Flipkart.com as the no. 1 e-tailing site, it seems that the brand has the right to be this ambitious.

About the brand-ing 

Since inception (if I may say so), Flipkart has featured unique ads. They have always managed to stand out from the clutter and while I talk about the above mentioned ad; it seems like the third generation of the Flipkart ads. The first one was the 'no kidding, no worries' set which also brought in lines such as 'the online mega store' and 'shopping ka naya address', second being the 'fashion has a new address' array and the third being 'India wants to know'. 

A brand which started the unique concept of kids as adults portrayal only to position the 'no kidding-no worries' ad-line. Little did we know that they will keep up the trend and give us a better ad each time. It is a format where repetition is interesting. 
The brand managers have also catered to the popular norms related to online shopping.
Whether it is the fear of goods being delivered in time, concerns about originality and warranty on goods or the apprehension in paying money before goods are delivered, Flipkart has addressed them all; in its funny yet make-sense ads. The thing about ordering something after looking at its mere picture, was attacked in the 'Flipkart.com se dada ka naya mobile aaya hai' ad. There are a host of its ads...a rough total of 25. In case you want to get entertained by them, you can watch them here.

About the segment
There is a reason why online stores are advertising aggressively. The online shopping trends in India are still evolving and it is at this stage of evolution that a market witnesses immense growth. Each e-tailer wants to make the best of this growth.
Google reports the upward trend that online shopping in India has seen and that it will continue to witness. According to the Online Shopping Trends in India, 2013 - A Google India Report, the online shopping trends on Google increased by 128%. This is expected to grow further, in 3 digits again. For more detail on these trends, you can view the report here.