The Hindu Business Line : All-pervasive branding

The brand is an all-pervasive influence in our homes, our businesses and indeed in the midst of many a corporate balance sheet! But do organisations that run successful brands really think and believe it to be so? Is there a common all-pervasive focus on the brand in businesses today?

The answer in many a case is a big NO! Even in these advanced years of the 2000 series, CEOs of organisations continue to deal with the subject of brands in a silo manner! The brand is but a constituent of the business as a whole for these CEOs. The brand is but an entity that represents the front-face of the organisation and its produce on most occasions. It sure is the glamour part of the business at hand. Nevertheless, it is but only a part of the business as a whole, and not the business itself!

Time to do a rethink if you run or belong to a business of this kind. Time to think deep and reorient yourself to the central focus of new business on the anvil ahead: The brand! Time to call a spade a spade. Business means brands. And brands mean business!

Think. Today's businesses, whether in the realm of the product, the service or the dream, are all businesses that depend deeply on the brand to seek percolation of individual concepts. Each offering, whether a nappy-whitener or the service of a local crèche, seeks distinction in the minds of consumers. This distinction is best achieved with a set of discriminators that are distinct and different. The nappy-whitener might claim distinction in the uniqueness of its eco-friendly formula and the crèche might speak of being run on the best norms of political correctness! Whatever it is, distinction is sought by every offering in public domain, whether it be a hospital, a temple or a face-bleach for that matter!

The "moment of truth" for a brand lies in its distinction. In the ability of the consumer to perceive this much-touted point of distinction. In consumer mind space, as different brands jostle with one another, the consumer is waiting to pick out the one key differentiator, which makes her adopt one brand over another. Brands vie with one another amidst the din of both commercial and psychological noise to stand apart in this consumer swayamvar of sorts!

The brand is, therefore, all about the consumer. Most brand organisations fail in this consumer-interface. Most organisations do not truly understand the scope of this consumer definition.

Managing the consumer and his needs, wants and desires is a complex exercise that involves everyone in the organisation. The office attendant is as involved in the process as is the receptionist answering consumer calls and queries. The call centre-person is as involved as the front-end salesperson selling the new mousetrap on the street.

Imagine a situation where the office attendant fouls up on his delivery of the purchase order at the third-party vendor location. A fault here could be as devastating to the brand in its interface with the consumer as one where the salesperson walks out of a consumer-interface angrily, shutting the door behind him!

Imagine then an office temp sitting at the phone, filing away her nails merrily as she makes an angry complainant wanting to speak to the CEO direct, dance a not-so-merry dance! The CEO does not want to talk to angry people. The temp is empowered to "manage"! And she manages! What does it do to the equity of your brand?

The CEO who is shy to handle angry calls that intrude on his time is sending a wrong message down the line. His Vice-President and, in turn, his army of corporate-bureaucrats cascade similar sentiment through the organisation. A worry in most brand organisations! When the dad lies and asks his little son to tell the calling uncle that he is not at home, the child learns fast!

Brand organisations of the corporate and non-corporate kind alike must learn to make branding and its purpose an all-pervasive purpose through organisation. Cascading `brand-think' right through the organisation is critical for the delivery of the brand interaction to customers sitting at various points in the brand continuum.

The office driver needs to be brand savvy as well! Remember, he ferries your customer in from the airport on many an occasion. This is undiluted, undisturbed time with the client on a long run from the airport to hotel and hotel to office. And the customer talks. An intelligent driver who can speak the language of the brand means a lot. For one, it means the company believes in empowerment of all with the knowledge of the brand. And more. It means the company believes in the dictum of keeping every link in the brand chain oiled! And guess what? The company believes the office driver is as much part of the chain as the brand manager!

Brand organisations of the future need to knowledge-empower every finance manager, every logistics handler, every internal employee, every external vendor and indeed every link in the brand chain. No link is too small. No link is unimportant. The brand breathes through every customer interface with the client organisation. And organisation means people. Every person! And there is no caste-system here! All are equal. All equally important!

(The author is a brand-domain specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.)

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