Resurgence

Why would you even want to read this? Because this is the second and last installment of our discussion on how the concept of Brand fits in the EAR model of Consumer Decision Making. If you have read the first part then you would not want to miss the conclusion. If you have not, still it is worth delving into a matter which poses daily challenge to marketers across organizations and geographies. While I would try to briefly put all the key takeaways of previous articles in this article as well, it would be great if you visit the three previous articles written in this series viz. EAR Model, Brand, Brand & Decision Making – P1 to get a detailed understanding on the topic. My Approach: From last few articles, we know that while making any purchase decision, a consumer, evaluates the available options on a mix of three parameters: Emotional (E), Aspirational (A) and Rational (R) . The weightage given to each of these parameters are dependent on many factors including ...

Why would you even want to read this? Because organizations/ brands are built and destroyed in the consumer’s mind. It is for this very reason that most organizations try to create a favourable impression of their offerings in the Consumer mind space. However, very few brands have been able to create a consistent and time tested relationship with their potential Consumer base. And this mere fact highlights the enormity of the challenge faced by organizations across sizes, categories and geographies. In this and the next article, we would try to understand what goes into the Consumer Decision process and how does the concept of Brand fits in it. There is a reason for breaking this topic into a two part post. I have written it before cramping everything in a single article. It was a classic example of ‘neither here nor there’ – I was neither able to explain everything nor I was able to keep it simple for your understanding. My Approach: The last two articles were act...

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 see...

Why would you even want to read this? I have often been asked about the Consumer Decision Making process. Questions like ‘What would make a consumer buy this product/ brand?’ OR ‘Why are consumers not buying our product?’ are pretty common. Think through and you would realize that this should be the most important question for any marketer as the ultimate objective is to make customers/ consumers buy your product. If you search the Internet, you would find a wide variety of literature ranging from theories on Customer Involvement, Need and Motivation, Influencers and beyond; You would even find literature suggesting that human mind is too lazy and hence use shortcuts while taking purchase decisions. So, which one is correct? Well!! Consumer Decision Making Process is like a Holy Grail of Marketing – People may have misconceptions about their knowledge but I am yet to meet or read someone who has all the answers. Why the Confusion? Don’t get me wrong. I am not s...

Why would you even want to read this?: How many times have you seen crucial decisions being taken on gut and nothing else? How many times have you sat in a meeting where decisions were taken with assumptions that the target consumer would think and act like the decision makers? – ‘If I were to buy I would choose this over others. What do you think?’ Have you ever counted on the times such decisions have failed/ backfired? If you have not witnessed even one such act in your career, feel blessed – You are God’s own child. Not many are that blessed though. They would have at times, in their career, seen powerful and often intelligent people sidetracking hard consumer data (primary or secondary) to make an important decision on gut. The justifications in most of these cases are – ‘Experience counts’, ‘Consumers do not know what they want’, ‘Consumer Researches are Bullshit’ etc. At times and to some, these justifications would seem fair – especially when some of these decisions wor...

रविवार का दिन था। सूरज की किरणें कोहरे की मोटी दीवार को काट कर धरती पर कुछ देर पहले ही पहुँची थी। और लगभग उसी समय वह अपने पापा को खोजने निकली। ‘ माँ , माँ। पापा कहाँ हैँ ? ’ ‘ अभी अभी तो उठी है। अभी से पापा को तंग करना शुरु कर दे तू। ’ ‘ बताओ न पापा कहाँ हैं ? प्लीज। ’ ‘ अब जब तुझे घर में नही दिख रहे तो छत पर ही होंगे। ’ माँ ने प्यार से मुस्करा कर कहा। इतना सुनना था कि वह छत की ओर लपकी। अपने नन्हें पैरों से वह जितनी तेजी के साथ चढ़ सकती थी उतनी तेजी सीढ़ियाँ नाप ली। देखा कि छत पर पापा कुर्सी लगाए आराम से किताब पढ़ रहे थे। ‘ पापा यह गलत है। ’ वह नजदीक आती हुई बोली। पापा ने नजरे घुमाकर उसे देखा और मुस्कुराते हुए बोले – ‘ उठ गई मेरी बिटिया रानी। और क्या गलत है ?’ ‘ आज संडे है। आज आप पूरा दिन मेरे साथ रहोगे। ’ ‘ तो अभी कहाँ नही हूँ ? अभी भी तो तेरे साथ ही हूँ। ’ उन्होने उसे गोद में उठा लिया। ‘ अरे ऐसे नही। आज आप पूरा दिन मेरे साथ रहोगे – खेलोगे , घूमाने ले जाओगे और जो मैं कहूँगी करोगे। ’ ‘ अच्छा मेरी माँ। जैसी तेरी मर्जी। जरा नास्ता कर लें ? उसके बाद खेला...