The end of branding as we know it

Douglas R Hofstadter saw the unity in mathematics, drawing and music in his famous book Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. In similar vein, there is a unique unison in mathematics, psychology and branding.

The four fundamental elements of mathematics are: numbers (discrete elements -- basis of arithmetic), space (continuity -- the basis of geometry), logic (looking for patterns -- the basis of algebra), and infinity (existence of endlessness/the whole -- the basis of calculus).

Carl Jung proposed a psychology tetrad based on the four elements of mathematics and linked them to the basic triggers of human behaviour -- sensation, feeling, thinking, and intuition.

Branding similarly comprises four elements -- commodity (the basic attributes that are like discrete sensations), product (benefits that are like continuous feelings), service (the transactions that are like logic connects) and experience (the holistic view that is like intuition).

Historically, brands have depended upon the first two elements to deliver differentiation. Emotional benefits have been created through one-way communication to create bonds. And this, along with constant product innovations, has helped to keep a brand differentiated in the consumer's mind.

As we go into the future, brands need to do more. Processes create products and processes can be easily duplicated. Even emotional promises made by brands are easily duplicated -- make a Xerox of communication and give it larger media weights -- and suddenly he who shouts loudest owns the emotional values.

The challenge will be to deliver experiences. People make experiences. Duplicating them needs changes in mindset and behaviour that are not easy to mount and recreate. Brands that recognise this and take their offerings beyond just the physical product will stand to gain.

As competitive choices increase and product differentiations decrease, the commoditisation of brands is natural. Recent studies have shown that 70 per cent of brand decisions in many product categories -- from FMCG to consumer durables -- are made at the shop.

In many categories, consumer democracy has set in, i.e. the consumer is choosing more by price and popularity rather than by brand value. This is a distinct threat to brand custodians.

Clearly, we are no longer tackling just consumers but also shoppers. And the battle is not only in the consumer's mind but also his behaviour. And the war has to be fought not only in the media but also in the marketplace -- the bazaar and the consumer's larger world.

Clearly marketing and communication focus need to go beyond just abstraction (one way communication of brand values) to action (live demonstration of brand values) so that the consumer is made to feel the brand more holistically.

Experiences engage and involve the consumers more deeply and thus build stronger commitments. Marketing communication too needs to become more experiential. Communication needs to move from two-speaker sound to surround sound and work consciously in adding to the consumer's experience. And this is the challenge.

It has always been easy to create a 30-second commercial and put it on air and believe that to be adequate brand support. Interesting, while all other communication programmes like an event or media relationship exercise or one-to-one programmes are critically evaluated on return on investment, mass media spends have rarely been scrutinised as carefully.

Few brand managers can confidently say whether sales have happened because of or despite advertising. (One sometimes wonders whether most of mass media advertising is done only to motivate sales people to push products and inspire trade to stock it!)

Shopping environments provide the first point to create experiences and directly influence shoppers. Starbucks moved coffee from a cup to an experience by bringing back the coffee house culture and recognising that the joy of coffee came not just the cup but from the place where people had coffee and with whom. (Barista and Café Coffee Day have attempted the same in India. It's something that Nescafe could have naturally done!). Asian Paints redefined consumer paint shopping experience with its "Colourworlds" in the mid-90s.

However, experiences need not be restricted to the retail world -- the consumer's world provides interesting opportunities. Bournvita with its Bournvita Quiz Contest has over the years built a brand property that helps its core consumers – kids -- engage with the brand in a way that reinforces its core values. Close-up's recent "Search for the next Harsha" is a wonderful way of involving and engaging the youth, its core target group.

Lux in Sri Lanka took its "Soap for the film stars" into a ground "Star search contest". Talent was spotted and trained using eminent film and TV personalities. Winners were given opportunity in the show-biz industry, thus converting Lux from a soap to a brand experience in sync with its brand promise.

Fair & Lovely, also in Sri Lanka, took "Wings to your dreams" essence to woman empowerment workshops -- conducting a series of career counselling workshops and personal grooming sessions.

Select women were provided assistance to set up enterprises in dress designing, beauty culture, teaching, and haircutting, making the brand play an active role in women empowerment beyond a single TVC.

Closer home, Lifebouy brought alive its "germ kill" story at the ground level in over 14,000 villages. This involved a series of activities including school contact programmes, children marches through villages, stencilling on walls and a "glow germ test" to demonstrate live to children the presence of germs on their hands -- bringing to life a brand promise by direct involvement with the end-consumer.

Asian Paints today is attempting to redefine consumer's painting experience through its "Home solutions" offering, which provides the consumer with information and advice on how to do up his home -- clearly moving a low-involvement category from abstraction to action!

In the future, experiences can be created in four realms:

• Entertainment, where the experience goes into the consumer but the consumer does not actively participate in it. The best mass media advertising (like cinema) operates in this territory.
• Aesthetic, where the consumer gets into the experience but may not actively participate in it. Retail experiences like Barista fall in this category
• Educational, where the experience goes into the consumer and he also is actively affected by it. The Fair and Lovely grooming sessions and Asian Paints effort fall in this territory
• Escapist, where the consumer gets into the experience and is actively affected by it. Disneyland is the ultimate example of this. Cadbury could go beyond chocolates and actually create a Cadbury world (à la Disney land) to deliver an experience to consumers in keeping with its brand core -- chocolate that appeals to the child in each of us!

Brands need to move from the "to sense" realm (pure entertainment) to the other realms of "to be there" (aesthetic), "to learn" (educational), and "to do" (escapist).

In conclusion, brands need to recognise and accept the following:

• marketing is combating both consumers and shoppers;
• the battle is in the mind and in the marketplace;
• there is a need to use media and real world experience to build brand differentiation;
• and communication needs to go beyond two-speaker sound to surround sound for maximum impact.

The days of depending only on a 30-second commercial are coming to an end.

Something worth thinking about.

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