Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Sep 05, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Sep 05, 2002 |
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Catalyst
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Branding Columns - Brand Beat The brand god Harish Bijoor
THINK of an all-pervasive influence in our modern day lives. Think of an influence that is there all around us, all the time. Omnipresent! Think of an influence that is very strong in its appeal and seduction. Omnipotent! Think of an influence that goes well beyond the physical and right into our contemporary commercial psyche. Omniscient! Wonder "What it is? What it is?" as the now omnipresent buzzword of a Maska Chaska goes? Very simply and pointedly, all roads lead to the brand. The brand in contemporary modern life is all of it. Omnipresent, omnipotent and indeed, omniscient! The last time I came across these three big Os was when I last spoke of God. How then is the brand different from God? The cheeky answer: God doesn't think he is a brand! The brand therefore appropriates for itself in our modern day lives a very significant role. A role that invades our lives both on the physical and the non-physical planes. A role that appropriates for itself the significant influence of a friend, philosopher and guide as well! The brand and its influence on pop culture of the day is well known and well documented in the advanced nations of the world such as the US, Germany and many parts of continental Europe. These are nations where the brand has been around for several generations. Successive generations of Americans have grown up from first toddle to final tipple on a staple diet of Quaker Oats on their breakfast tables and Quaker Oats in every part of their culture. These are folks who have been exposed to the intrusive influence of brands in every step of their lives. These are folks who miss brands dearly when they are not around. The influence of brands on sets of consumers varies across nations. Varies quite differently, largely as a function of time and the presence of the brand in the popular culture of the day. The longer the brand presence, and very surely deeper, is the influence of the brand on society at large. The brand, therefore, starts as a thought that struggles to establish its prime notion. Kleenex is not a tissue. Kleenex helps you not to carry "a cold in your pocket". It is a hygiene replacement for a handkerchief. Disposable! Clean! Healthy! Once the prime notion has been established, the brand strives to become part of popular culture. You can't step out without a Kleenex... or your cosmetic swipe, for your cold, for the dust around you in your daily life... and indeed for just about anything! The brand that establishes its need and utility then strives to establish itself as the security blanket of a society that finds lots amiss in life without a brand to lean on. Kleenex becomes an emotional pillar to lean on. Kleenex becomes part of your tears. Kleenex becomes a tear-wiper. Somebody (and not `something') that is around you during your most emotional moments. Kleenex is a friend! Brand influence, therefore, traverses a trajectory that leads right into the heart and hearth of the consumer. Large tracts of the developed world are already in the grip of this influence. Remember, when this woman on a lonesome rocket to the moon was asked what she missed most, she didn't mention her dog, her home or her husband in that order. All she asked for was a bar of Mars! And Mars is a brand of chocolate! The brand is a friend. A companion. Someone, and not something, who doesn't let you down! How far can this go? Where does it stop? And is this a straight line that goes on and on endlessly? Or is it a cyclical issue that will take society and its brand-besotted sets of consumers back to the age of the commodity? My view: I'd pitch my hard-earned bucks on the cyclical format. Watch out for brand exhaustion. A society that has grown up on brands, generation after generation, is going to tire very soon. Tire of the hype, the hoopla and the all-pervasive influence of the inanimate. A society that has had heavy doses of the brand movement will rise and want to say `No' to it somewhere down the line. With vehemence! American society is already showing these signs. There is this nascent `No-brand' movement out there. And this is not just Greenpeace with its anti- genetically-modified campaign. There are lots more. The branded product is seen to pack less value than the un-branded. Branding and packaging are seen as two movements that cause unnecessary waste of resources. Resource leakage that could get channelled into creative and purposeful activity instead! Germany has its own sets of the `No-brand' stores! Large parts of the consumer world have bought into the pop movement of Adbusters! The one community of like-minded folks who deface ads, celebrate an international `No buy' day and indulge in brand bashing of every kind. The brand movement of the world has an anti-brand movement as a foil. A movement that seeks to propagate restraint. A movement that seeks to ring the bell of caution on how far to go in the branding game, and when to stop! Branding is therefore a tool and a movement to use with restraint and caution. Wanton enthusiasm of young brand managers out to capitalise on a consumer society and its consuming trends must therefore be governed by a careful injection of social need and indeed social responsibility. The realm of corporate social responsibility therefore must include the plans you build for your brand of disposable diaper and dog collar alike! (The writer is a brand domain specialist. Feedback can be sent to bleditor@thehindu.co.in)
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