The Hindu Business Line : A classic strategy

Theodore Levitt (who, incidentally, passed away recently) pioneered the concept of marketing myopia decades ago. It is a very interesting observation (and realisation as well) that the concept is relevant even in the digital age. This also reflects how old concepts can contribute to marketing practice in a classic way without becoming fads or fashion. The idea is not to suggest that new concepts are not relevant. In fact, the recent literature on customer loyalty and migration open up several conceptual avenues for practitioners of marketing.

Brands need to be customer-centric

Severe competition, time constraints of consumers due to changing lifestyles and the willingness of at least a cross-section of consumers to spend and be open to a new experience are forcing companies to explore various avenues to pursue their branding and marketing strategies. In such a situation, it becomes worthwhile to look up old concepts with a classic appeal.

Levitt explained that a business (and hence a brand) should have a broader definition of its business without being myopic about its markets. He cited the example that an organisation in the railroad business is more in the transportation business. Today's Southwest Airlines is quoted as an example of how the company identified a gap in the market untapped by other airline companies. After its success, a host of other airline companies followed this business model. The basic business proposition of an airline competing with road transport (Southwest Airline) for short-haul distances has its origin in marketing myopia. Marketing myopia can be applied with a "solution-centric" focus. The need for a complete solution and the changes in consumer behaviour the world over (including emerging markets like India) have rekindled interest in the concept of marketing myopia. A relatively smaller company has the nimbleness to create a business model around the concept as compared to a traditional marketing company that has been established in the market. For example, offering a brand of washing powder is different from offering a complete fabric care solution for a target segment of consumers with varied uses for different kinds of clothes. A family has different members — adults, children, young, old, boys and girls who may use different kinds of clothes for a variety of situations. Building a business model for this specialised segment with the concept of laundering is different from a brand that competes in the detergent market.

In the Indian context, there are already signs of companies addressing the emerging consumer segments. Godrej's comprehensive pest control services are an example of a company addressing a larger need for pest control while offering conventional branded products such as mosquito coils in that category.

Asian Paints realised the need to involve the consumer in a comprehensive solution required for beautifying the home rather than the requirement for paints. It introduced a system by which consumers can get their homes painted without going through the traditional process of entrusting the work to a contactor who would hire his personnel, select approximate colours the consumer chose, provided little guarantee of the work done and brought in haggling into the process. The consumer's effort and time, apart from money, create frustration that is often compounded by a bad job, ultimately. The whole process becomes a nightmare and provides less incentive for a household to paint the home at regular intervals. A brand, in contrast, can not only provide the solution but also an experience for the consumer. In the Indian context with the presence of the unorganised sector in several product categories, providing and communicating such a solution-based experience is the contextual branding that is required as compared to the creative visibility created in the conventional branding campaigns.

Experience-based branding efforts

Companies should start exploring how well consumers are receptive to such solution-based approaches. There are two broad approaches to the concept. One is to create a model that would address cross-category competition (like Southwest Airlines competing with surface transport in terms of price and flexibility). The other approach that can be more readily applied to categories is more within the category (like the Asian Paint's approach) that results in convenience and quality of experience. The scope of this approach is expanded with the distinctive possibility of customisation. The greater the customisation, the greater the chance of interaction with the consumers resulting in relationships that are based on positive experience and trust.

A simple example of making tea to suit individual tastes reflects the effectiveness of the approach. There are various factors affecting the taste of the tea (not just the packaged product/brand that we buy from the retail outlet). Similarly, music is one more domain where such an approach can work in a country that is probably the second largest market in the world and affected by piracy. Today, consumers have the option of having brands of music systems, iPods, Walkman and World Space that offers a variety of music to a serious consumer interested in music. iTunes (downloads of music) has been a major hit abroad. A single brand that offers variety in music, good quality in terms of reproduction and several delivery options is certain to be patronised by a target set of consumers over a long term of their lifespan and this is the foundation for concept of lifetime customer value.

The challenge for established brands is to build a business model around the `experience' that includes both the tangible and intangible aspects of the offering. (Incidentally, Levitt has also written on how tangibles and intangibles of an offering can be put together as a market offering.)

The bigger the market, the better the prospects of the feasibility of such an approach even if the body of consumers interested in such an experience-based approach is small. Mobile phones with several brands and a proliferation of propositions is one more category that offers scope for distinctive customisation for various segments rather than just pre-paid and post-paid or with services that several consumers may not require.

With almost a 100 million consumers in the market, understanding the needs of consumers and providing the relevant experience can create immense possibilities for customer loyalty and binding.

The trend has already gained pace in the beauty and personal grooming categories. If beauty parlours get diffused adequately among consumers, they can simply make consumers not think about individual brands associated with soaps, creams and lotions. Large companies are getting into the trend (Lakme).

Consumers of the service economy want variety for change, options to suit convenience, contemporary offerings to suit their lifestyle changes and finally, a provider who can be trusted not because of tall claims but through first-hand experience. A strategy based on marketing myopia offers all these aspects and more — to make the offering of the company an eternal brand in the psyche of consumers.

(Ramesh Kumar is Professor of Marketing, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and Swaminathan is Vice-President, iContract, Mumbai.)