Why would you even want to read this?
Because the question ‘What is Brand?’ may make you
uncomfortable and send you looking out for answer. You may be aware of the
importance of Brand in the ‘Corporate Jungle’, role it plays in the ‘Marketing
Strategy’ and its seeming impact on the ‘Consumer’s Life’. However, this most
basic question usually evokes a very text bookish response. When I graduated of
my MBA College (a very respectable one, I must say) with the ‘Best Marketing Student’
tag, I was very comfortable in what Philp Kotler had to say about brand: brand
is defined as a "name, term, sign symbol (or a combination of these) that
identifies the maker or seller of the product." And though it is perfectly okay to look at ‘Brand’
through the prism of the above definition, I have come to conclude that this is
not the only truth or the version out there. This belief has come from
interacting consumers of all hues and colours in my career of last one decade.
Why seeking alternative truths?
Because, however we may like to believe otherwise, Brand
remains a ‘Vague Concept’. It is vague because it cannot be seen – it remains
firmly inside a Consumer’s head (probably heart too). And people interpret, visualize
and interact with this ‘Concept’ in their own unique way – so, theoretically,
there are as many ways of visualizing and interpreting brands as there are people
living in this planet. Fortunately, as with all other concepts and emotions, categorization
works and there would be very limited sets of worthy ‘Brand Definitions’ that
would really matter in the real world. It is important to seek and understand
these alternative versions too else we run the risk of serving the world with a
very myopic view of a fascinating concept.
How different are these Truths?
I think these truths may vary significantly with the ‘standard
one’. I would speak from my experience in interacting consumers in India. One
of the hallmark of most of the prevalent Brand definitions is their focus on
individuality. The concept of Brand is always tied to the identification with a
specific maker or seller (as can also be seen in the definition given above). In
India, though, for a significant population Brand refers to a collective
identity. Phrases like ‘Hum bachhon ke liye Branded kapde kharidte hain –
Dabbe wale’ (For our children, we always buy branded clothes – which comes in
boxes) OR ‘Main kuchh bhi local nahi kharidta, sab kuchh branded hote hain,
dukaan se’ (I do not buy anything local. Everything is branded purchased from
shop) are very common. The idea of anything that is packed or is purchased from
shop being a branded commodity has acceptance – the usual decision factors
would play a role but in these cases, the concept of brand individuality goes
for a toss and it does not matter as long the given criteria is fulfilled.
You may point out that these are not brands then – a valid
argument that stems from the belief that brand should always create distinction
at the maker/ seller level in the mind of the consumer. However, that is the
end goal of marketing and advertising teams – the concept of ‘Brand’ in an
individual’s mind may or may not evolve to that level.
Why the concept of collective identity of Brands missed the
popular discourse? I don’t know the answer - Probably because the concepts were
first developed in western world which had more formal markets or maybe because
it was targeted mainly at the marketing professionals who would have loved the
singular idea of ‘Brand individuality and distinction’.
Like this, there are sure to be other narrations of Brand
which needs to be explored and brought into popular discourse.
What is my take on Brand?
Very tricky – On one hand I am advocating against the
presence of a universal truth and at the same time also chipping in with my
understanding of it. First and foremost, Brand is a differentiator – the
level of differentiation (collective/ individual) depends on individual,
category, exposure and purchase instance.
Second, Brand is a facilitator – it aids a person in evaluating options to
purchase. While many would argue it is the reason to decide, I would rather
prefer it to be a facilitator of decision making than of decision itself.
Third, Brand is a surrogate - in an extension to its role as a facilitator, it also
simplifies the evaluation process by becoming a proxy for many benefits
considered while making a purchase decision. Brand, thus, evokes benefits
and emotions associated with them. So, a ‘dabba’ (box) as in one of the
examples above becomes a surrogate for Quality and Aspiration for someone buying
clothes for his/ her children.
Fourth, Brand is fluid – Brand exists in one’s mind. A brand may mean different
thing to different people; it may mean differently to same person in different
time or different context. For e.g. a brand may be too dull for my own
consumption but a very reliable & worthy product for my parents.
Fifth, Brand is universal – Anything and everything under the sun which has potential
demand for consumption is a Brand. Two widely prevalent misconceptions are that
brand is only applicable in certain categories and maker/ seller having certain size/
volume of business is deserved to be called a brand.
And if I have to summarize my understanding in one sentence,
it would be like; Brand, at a Concept level, is a differentiator which
facilitates the evaluation process in purchase decision by evoking benefits and
emotions associated with them.
What Next?
We know that Brand is a vague concept; we also know that it
facilitates Decision Making. We also have a model (EAR) which attempts to decode
the Consumer Decision Making process. The logical next step would be to revisit
that model with the Concept of Brand and see how that model would prove useful
in the real world.
Post Script:
Very early in my career, while presenting a finding one of
the very senior executives of the firm countered me: ‘But, we are not Apple’. I
replied: ‘To someone who has bought your product, your product is Apple’. Brand
is not what you believe your organization/ your product is; Brands is what
exists in every potential consumer’s mind and what benefits/ emotions it
evokes. Be very careful on how you go about managing it.
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