Sweet and useful memories of Rio

Like millions of other Indians, I sat glued to my television screen last week, watching PV Sindhu’s badminton finals at the Rio Olympics.

What a magnificent match that was. It stood for everything the Olympics are meant to symbolise – excellence in sport, hard-fought duels, some extraordinary moments, two great champions, and, eventually, after the match, boundless happiness and a few tears. The winners’ podium represented the unique worldwide appeal of the Olympics – three diverse countries with three very distinctive cultures – Spain, India and Japan – winning the gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.

It was equally fascinating following the exploits of Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Dipa Karmakar and Sakshi Malik. The childlike glee on Sakshi Malik’s face as she did a victory lap sitting on the shoulders of her coach was worth its weight in pure gold.

I felt a similar tug in my heart as I saw so many other athletes climb up the victory podium at Rio, and receive their medals with tears of joy in their eyes. The Olympics are about achievement, but they are also about intense human emotion. It is the combination of both that makes these Games so magical.

Each time, as the flags of the winning nations were raised to the ceiling, and the national anthem of the gold medallist’s country was played, I could feel the raw pulse of these emotions.

How proud the entire nation must have felt hearing its beloved song played to the world! How proud all of us in India felt when we saw Sindhu and Sakshi Malik win their medals! The Olympics are proof enough that nationalism, or pride in one’s country, remains one of the strongest human emotions in today’s modern world.

Marketers can constructively leverage this emotion of nationalism, far more effectively that they are doing today. There have been legendary marketing campaigns such as Mile Sur Mera Tumhara and Tata Salt’s Desh ka Namak , which have lit up this space in the past. But I cannot think of a single recent brand advertisement or campaign which has made me feel very proud of India, or has brought tears of national pride to my eyes.

This is particularly fertile space for Indian brands such as Amul, Tata, State Bank of India, LIC, Reliance, Godrej and Titan.

One nation which must have felt particularly proud of itself after Rio is Great Britain. Its haul of 27 gold medals, which put it second only to the US in the medals table, even ahead of mighty China, was a magnificent achievement. Britain won more gold medals than France, Italy and Spain put together.

What is truly extraordinary is that just twenty years ago, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Great Britain was ranked at a lowly 36th place, winning just one gold medal. From there, it has climbed higher and higher, fuelled by focus and investment.

Great Britain has focused on a few Olympic disciplines where the nation has strengths; for instance, rowing, cycling, equestrian, and some track and field events. Which is a wise thing for a relatively small island nation to do, rather than dilute its resources across every single sport. This has produced great results. For marketers, this is a lesson in how our own brands, whether product brands or nation brands, need to build sharp focus rather than spread ourselves too thin. In Britain, there has also been significant conscious investment in creating champion sportspeople and Olympians for several years, primarily from the proceeds of the National Lottery, since 1997 (immediately after the Atlanta Olympics debacle). Should India consider something similar? Brand Great Britain is one of the biggest gainers from Rio.

The other big gainers are relatively new digital and social media brands, which appear to be well on their way to overtaking more mature and larger rivals such as Facebook and Twitter. The best example here is Snapchat. It is estimated that an amazing 50 million people have watched the Rio Olympics on Snapchat.

This digital start-up partnered with broadcasters in seven countries, and other news sites such as Buzzfeed to create channels where superbly crafted snippets of the Games were broadcast and happily consumed.

Snapchat is clearly focusing its energies on dominating one specific space in social media – live events. Becoming a digital platform for social interactions around live events will be its pathway to sustainable fame.

This shows us how quickly the world of digital media changes, and how agile marketers have to be in dealing with this medium. Orkut one day, Facebook the next. Instagram for one type of use, and Snapchat for another.

Marketers of my generation (50-years-plus) are not prolific users of Snapchat, so unless younger members of our teams are totally on the ball with respect to such emerging apps and digital tools, we may end up losing the plot. Rio and Snapchat tell me that the digital space keeps morphing all the time, and therefore needs constant updating of expertise.

One brand that has won by constantly updating its expertise was also the most visible brand at India’s shining Rio moment, the women’s badminton finals. Both finalists, Carolina Marin and Sindhu, sported the logo of this brand – Yonex. Both of them also used Yonex racquets. How has Yonex managed to dominate the world of badminton for several decades now, and why do so many champion players use their products ? The answer appears to lie in the deep category knowledge and expertise that the brand has built. Founded in Japan in 1946, this brand has used its understanding of badminton to pioneer a number of firsts in this sport. These innovations include the very popular wide-body badminton racquet, and thereafter the “Isometric 500”, a racquet which had a more “square” head and hence a much larger “sweet spot” to hit the shuttle. Coaches and players across the world swear by Yonex’s expertise in making the best racquets.

Category expertise is an imperative for sustained marketing excellence. Other famous examples here include Nike, which has established category expertise in running shoes, Tropicana, which has acquired deep knowledge of oranges and orange juice, and Gillette, which knows more about shaving and razors, than perhaps any other brand. Such expertise is also the solid foundation on which constant product innovations emerge. There is a lesson here, from Rio and Yonex.

Finally, I cannot say goodbye to Rio without reflecting on the enduring appeal of sport. Through many generations of mankind, from ancient Athens to modern Rio, sports has appealed and continues to appeal to the human mind and heart very powerfully.

We love seeing the human body in fluid motion, competing against its own limits and delivering achievements which defy all existing norms. We enjoy the vicarious excitement of competition, of victory and defeat. That is why sports will always be a big draw for consumers, and why brands in all categories can benefit by finding ways in which they can embrace or connect with the sporting spirit. For some brands (for example, Nike shoes or Yonex racquets), this can happen directly through their sports products.

For other brands (such as Titan watches or Ford cars) it can happen through sporty versions of their core products. And for yet other brands (say, Saffola or Pepsi), it can also happen through sportspeople as powerful brand ambassadors. Sayonara, Rio! See you in Tokyo, 2020.

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