12. future of branding

7/31/2019 12. Future of Branding

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FUTURE OF BRANDING

Ever since when the competition crept in, the marketers resorted to creating product differentiation.Now, differentiation was achieved in terms of packaging, product constituents and other externalproduct attributes. But the product use or application remained the same. Therefore, the marketersdiscovered that the loyalty which their product is generating is dependent on certain strong perceptionstheir products hold in the minds of the consumers. These were intangible in nature. The promise of product performance was no more the advertisers task, it was to go beyond that. The organizationenhanced the user experience and generated the trust or an emotional connect with their consumers

that this is the product that will meet their needs and it also matches your aspirations. The concept andreal importance of brand was well established and understood at that moment.

According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is defined to be a

name, term, symbol, design and any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct

from those of other sellers. Over the years, some brands have become so much synonymous with the

consumers that they start calling the service by that very name or one can identify the brand from its

brand ambassador who is well-known or one will remember because the user experience was strong.

A brand is defined as essentially a marketers promise to deliver a specific set of features,

benefits and services consistently to meet buyers expectations. B ut it is a complex symbol with

a lot of hidden meaning:

1 Attributes: Mercedes suggests well-built, expensive, durable, well-engineered cars.


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2 Benefits: Attributes translated into functional and emotional (tangible and intangible)

benefits. Durable may translate into the functional benefit . I wont have to buy

another car for several y ears; expensive may be perceived as the emotional Mercedes

makes me feel important.

3 Values: The producers values are enshrined in the brand. Mercedes indicates high

performance, safety, prestige.

4 Culture: Mercedes suggests German culture organized, efficient, high quality.

5 Personality: Mercedes may suggest a no nonsense boss.

6 User: Mercedes is for those who have arrived not a junior officer or college student.

.

BRAND MEANING FOR THE BUSINESS

In the previous years, the organizations found a brand to park its costinefficiencies. If the brand equity is high, then the products will be priced at a premium. It also happenedthat brand premiums were charged fo r no added brand values. It became all the more evident whenthe countries conflicted with inflation and the costs were passed on to the consumers. Well, times havechanged a lot since then, it could be owed to the low entry barrier and the customers pr opensity tochoose and buy from many. This strategy could work when there is a monopoly but then, also, Indiangovernment has regulations and policies in place to combat unnecessary advantage of the consumers.The high prices could not be prevented in the case of any shortage of a product such as during the

World War or the time, now when the coal shortage seems to capture the countries or the fuel supply.

Today, the price competition has become prevalent in most of the sectors be ittravel, fast moving consumer goods or telecommunications. Customer base is increasing owing to risingdisposable income and affordability for superior or enhanced lifestyle. Therefore, with presence of manybrands in the market, it has become all the more essential for organizations to reduce their costinefficiencies and absorb some of the costs when it comes to inflation and develop brand in a manner sothat it survives in the future.

BRAND MEANING FOR THE CONSUMER

The consumers mind is a pandoras box where no marketer can never really understand what exists. Abrand can mean differently for various people. Here, some aspects which commonly persist arediscussed:


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Why brand building in the future is important?

The 20 th century has witnessed a lot of reforms with respect to productdevelopment, its promotion and its brand building. Here are some of the reasons why brand building in

the future is critical to a brands success: Short product life cycle - Research and development has become so strong in certain sectors

which are technology oriented that the organizations is able to offer better and improvedproducts than the earlier models in a very short time. The short product life cycle is challengingto the brand managers who have consider before introducing or extending a brand.

Technology - The power of technology has brought people closer to each other. Today, a personcan order a product in other country just sitting in ones room. The word global stands out intrue sense as the companies can offer their products all over the world but the world again isdiverse. Immediate feedback is another technique to assess the consumer insights and opinions.Internet is useful for gaining product information (product performance reviews, product rating,brand comparisons, etc.), thus minimizing the information search cost. So, special note has to betaken when a company is entering a new market and accordingly, branding has to be designed.

Communications mix - In the olden times, the only communication channel that existed wasword of mouth. But as of now, there are many including internet and events sponsorship. Theright kind of communications mix has to be thought in order to attack the right target segment.

Quality - Every product comeswith a set of performance

parameters and if this matcheswith the consumers

expectations, then the brandstays on the consumers mind.

Ownership - Some brands aresuch that when one owns it, the

feel of pride creates theconsumers trust in that brand. A

good example is consumerdurables like washing machine,refrigerator, etc. or an

automobile like Mercedez,Maruti, etc.

Trust - A brand also representsthe trust it issues to the customer

or a prospect. Be it any good orservice, the business transaction

will not complete until and unlessthe prospect views or perceivesthat the organization can deliver

on its promise.

Preference - It happens when youonce use the product; a decision

is made whether to purchase thatproduct. A preference is set forvarious products for different

categories depending upon theconsumers level of satisfaction.

Time saving - A brand, last but notthe least, definitely help

customer save some time onshopping. If a brand is renowned,then the information search for

customer reduces to a large

extent. But today, with theavailability of different brandsunder one roof, the customer can

easily decide on the purchase.


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People also use different kinds of media in their lives and a detailed analysis needs to beundertaken to understand the strategy to build brand in the future.

Multiple options - The consumer has a lot of options in the same product category, even atsimilar price points. Even, the payment options available to the consumers simplify the purchaseprocess. So, if the brand he has first bought does not perform well or appeal to him, then hewould surely shift to another brand. There is a limitation to it; it would not hold in the case of very expensive purchases like car, laptop, etc. With consumers more than ready to spend tohave the best product experience, it actually would depend on the consumer s willingness tochange also.

Changing consumer preferences - A major shift in the consumer preference is another reasonwhy brand building in future must be given importance. For instance, in India, people hadparatha, roti sabzi, etc in the breakfast but now, people can select from cornflakes, noodles, etc.(instant food). This nature of consumer should always be taken note of. Another instance is thatof shift of consumers from land phones to mobile phone. This arises largely due to conveniencefactor. Any consumer if he or she attains the same benefit in a shorter period of time, then theshift will take place.

Innovation - This particular is the reason for the demise of many brands. The organizationsshould always be aware of the technological advancements taking around and what kind of products might be possible to develop in future. This is an issue which if not handledappropriately may impart danger. For instance, music listeners previously listened to music ongramophone. Steadily, the innovation resulted in tape-recorder, CD player, MP3 player, etc. andas we are all aware the music is accessible on various modes, be it, laptop or even mobile phone(which one carries at almost all times).Costs reduction and catering to a wider set of customers influence innovation too.

FACTORS AFFECTING BRAND BUILDING

This concept is being looked at from three perspectives. Brand building is dependent on

Market - Any organization in any country cannot be oblivious of the happenings in thesurroundings. Regulations, policies and laws affect a marketers plans for his/her brand. Thesefactors will play a role to the extent to which an organization can penetrate its brand. Theenvironmental norms (reduce global warming) are going to become stricter as we move ahead,pressurizing the organizations to improve their operational processes. The recent Indiangovernments policy of allowing 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in single brand retail and51% FDI in multiple brand retail will encourage the foreign retailers to enter India and the


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brands will receive another big opportunity (wider reach, more accessible) to place themselveson those shelves to attract the consumers.

Consumer - The consumer is more knowledgeable about brands than he or she was earlier. Thisis primarily due to information access through various communication mediums. Their

expectations are growing from the brand. A consumer seeks stability in his/ her life by makingsuitable choices (establishing brand preferences). The consumer s rising income and theconsumer becoming more and more self conscious about his health and physical appearancewill address some sectors like health related programs or institutions, cosmetics (natural,chemical), etc. A complete consumer behavior study must be done by an organization beforestrategizing on brand building to understand the trigger points or characteristics of a consumer spurchase.

Competition - There exists plenty of players in the market in most of the sectors. It is importantto analyze what ones competitors are doing, how their brand differs from theirs, any brandextensions if done, sales promotions introduced, etc. It helps an organization to understand themarket dynamics existing in the sector. In this way, they could grasp as to how differently theycan position heir brand in the market so that the customers perceive greater value.

FUTURE OF BRANDING- 2 MODELS

MODEL I: ROCK ASSOCIATES BRAND DEVELOPMENT MODEL

This brand development model was developed by Rockbridge Associates. It discusses the stages in branddevelopment, ways to measure performance and techniques to increase the brand equity of theproduct.


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FIGURE: BRAND DEVELOPMENT MODEL

6 stages have been identified where a brand should be

Recognizable Memorable Favoured Distinctive Preferred Consumed & Satisfactory

The prospects can be at any of the stages. The model suggests to follows the steps when it is known atwhich level the target segment is currently standing. Accordingly, strategies can be formed with the helpfrom the Strategic Emphasis column to raise the brand awareness and ultimately, sales.

MODEL II:The Star onlines article

This online article talks about 6 stages in branding. These are as follows:

1. Unbranded goods

The consumer perceives that the goods are only for utilitarian purpose. Manufacturers put up little

attempts to distinguish brand from their goods. Thin margins are to be expected as pricing strategy istaken up by most of them as the method of competitive advantage.

2. Brand as reference

Competitive pressures incite producers to differentiate their goods from other manufacturers in orderto achieve higher sales. This is done largely by altering physical product attributes.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/14/business/13634355&sec=businesshttp://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/14/business/13634355&sec=business


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3. Brand as a personality

Functional characteristics of a product no more hold in distinguishing different brands in the market,thus, the producers resort to developing the brand personality.

4. Brand as icon

In this stage, th e brand is owned by consumers . The customers have high awareness about the brandand they own their own start assigning and forming the brand identity in their minds.

5. Brand as a company

This stage corresponds to shift to post-modern marketing. The brand has a complex identity, thus,leading to multiple points of connect between the consumer and the brand. In short, the brand holdsdifferent meanings for numerous consumers.

6. Brand as policy

Very few companies have reached this stage. They are set apart by an integration of ethical, social andsometimes, political causes with the companys mission and their products or services.

NEW MODEL

Let me propose a model for future of branding in the form of 9 steps, considering every aspect in thebrand evolution and its failure too. The steps have been explained below.

Step I : Detailed Brand Analysis

Competition Consumer- Assess consumer needs and preferences Current brand status External environment- Technology, government regulations, policies, economic factors

Step II : Select the strategy- Which products are feasible and can go with the present brand corevalues and essence

Brand extension Line extension Change business model if needed

NOTE: Avoid over developing the brand in terms of consumers getting deeply attachedto the brand and cannot accept extensions

Step III : Defining and designing the brand core values- enhance these values by adding certainkey benefits or promise), keeping in mind

Respective target segment Product attributes


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Step IV : Develop the brand strategy Selection of marketing communication channels which need to be used Budget estimation Finalize which communication channels would best attract the target segment

Step V : Daily management of the brand Handle the brand sales performance in the market (Push retailers, wholesalers through

offers if required) If after sales is present for the brand, then supervise the service Monitor the promotions introduced in the market by the competitors

Step VI : Evaluation (in terms of volumes and value) Step VII : If sales are low,

Introduce offers to the customers Incentivize retailers and wholesalers Introduce contests and an exciting prize Conduct events/promotions

Step VIII : If sales are still low, Revisit and examine brand characteristics and personality Perform complete brand performance analysis (carry out consumers surveys, consumer

feedback, whether any breakthrough technology is eroding the sales) Step IX : Decision regarding the brand future

Follow the whole process from Step I and reinvent the brand

Diminish the brand slowly

Consumer Trends

More demanding consumer

In todays times, customers have become much more powerful than they were before.

Increased number of options in any product category has led to enormous increase in the

bargaining power of the customers. Earlier this was not the case. Manufacturers used to

produce and customers had limited choice which resulted in more bargaining power of the

manufacturer. This pattern has changed drastically as now as the markets evolved to gain an

edge over others marketers started focusing on what the consumer want rather than what they

can provide and started producing what the consumer want hence gradually shifting the power

to the consumers. Nowadays almost all the companies work with the motto of Co nsumer


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comes first and focus their entire business surrounding the customer needs and wants. Hence

satisfying the needs of the consumers needs and wants in an innovative way has become one of

the biggest challenges for companies.

Customers will continue to be more demanding than ever before because of the sheer choice of

products and services they have today. Companies will have to constantly innovate and come

up with ideas to keep their customer happy by understanding their view point and continuously

serving them with their offerings.

Dual Personality of consumer

It is not a difficult sight to a picture of a lady carrying a Prada leather bag and coming out of a

Departmental store after buying groceries and household articles. This is what can be referred

to as dual personality of todays consumers. On one hand, he/she can spend thousands of

Rupees to buy a fashion statement represented by brands like Gucci or Prada. On the other

hand, he/she drives extra miles to shop in Food Bazaar so that he/she can save some money.

This creates a lot of problems for the marketers as it makes segmentation and targeting very

difficult for them.

Earlier firms before launching a product used to segment the market by their purchasing power.

The two major segments formed were generally the upper class which goes for expensive

branded options and used them as a status symbol. The other class was the middle class which

believed in value for money and did not buy many expensive products aimed at the upper class.

So, there was a clear-cut distinction and hence companies used to launch their products

keeping in mind one of the two groups of buyers.

With the advent of new economy and rising purchasing power of the middle class, the dual

personality of consumers has come to the for e. So it makes life difficult for todays marketers

and this trend is here to grow in the future as well.

More knowledgeable and highly networked consumer


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In todays internet era, the customer is much more informed as any information about anything

is just a click away. Earlier, it was easier to sway customers with aggressive advertising

campaigns and through emotional blackmails but todays consumer is much smarter than

earlier. Today he can compare any two similar offerings through internet. Information

revolution has benefitted consumers the most. Also, because of huge advances in technology, it

is very easy to remain connected all the time with your friends and families. So it is very easy to

take advice from your family and friends before going ahead with any purchase. Nowadays,

entire forums on some websites are dedicated to advice and opinions of users of such products

and anyone who is willing to buy the product consults people on such forums before making

the purchase. For example, if one decides to buy a digital camera. He wont straight away go to

the market. Rather hell check for all the different models of different companies and compare

them on parameters which are valuable to him like features, price, warranty etc.

So, the main challenge for companies in the future is to deal with such informed and well

networked customers and sell their products to them through innovation in design as well as

their marketing tactics.

TV is dead

Yes, the statistics suggest that the average TV viewing time in a family has gone down by more

than 25-30% and is further on a downward trend. Earlier advertising on the national channel in

India was supposed to be the best way to reach the masses. There was a time when there was

no Cable TV and people used to wait for programmes like Chitrahar and Rangoli on

Doordarshan for an entire week. Back then, the quality of TV programming was so bad that

viewers preferred watching commercials. Gradually with introduction of new channels through

Cable TV network and tremendous improvement in the programming space on Cable TV,

viewers have started hating advertisements. They instantly change channel whenever an ad

starts playing. People are irritated by ads so much that they would be willing to pay extra to

have a channel without any ads. There are already equipments in place like TiVo which are

made to deliver TV programs sans the commercials.


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Another reason for TV advertising becoming less effective is the advent of the internet era in

which we are living. People are always connected to internet and prefer to watch news, follow

sports and do their other work, all through the help of internet on their personal laptops. So,

there s hardly any scope left for TV advertising. The only segments that can still be targeted

through TV advertising are the people living in rural India. Hence finding a mass media channel

for advertising would be a major challenge facing the marketers in distant future.

Virtual World

With the growing use of internet and development of social networking websites like orkut and

facebook, consumers have started developing their own virtual world. They spend most of their

time in this newly created world and keep themselves connected to their friends all the time.

They stop believing in the real world and hence all the marketing efforts aimed at a normal

consumer do not have much effect on them.

They keep living in their own virtual world and treat the real world as an illusion and hence all

the marketing logic fails to work for them. This is a very big challenge for the marketers in

future. They will need to come out with strategies and communication channels specifically

designed for such people. This way they will also move towards a new channel for masses.

Talking in the language of consumers

It is very important for the marketers to communicate the brand message in a language that

will be easily understood by the prospective customers. In this competitive environment where

the number of offerings in the market is increasing every day, it is very important how simple

yet powerful is the brand message. Only such brands which will follow this strategy will have a

good recall in the minds of the customers. It is v ery difficult to occupy place in the consumers

perceptual space these days, which is already cluttered with so many brand promises every

day.

Hence it is imperative for firms to speak in the language their customers understand the best.

Building two way relationships


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Today, the customer is far more knowledgeable and cannot be flattered or convinced into

buying any product through aggressive advertising or any promotion activities. The brands need

to build two way relationships with the customers. The brands should not only convey what the

product has to offer. The communication efforts have to be integrated in terms of its

advertising, promotion activities, public relations etc. They all should convey the same message

to the customer. They should help the customer know how the brand satisfies their needs and

wants. Hence integrated marketing communications becomes all the more important.

The way in which such relationships can be formed is by the firms sending a clear cut message

to the consumer about their product offerings. They need to highlight here how their product is

different from the competing offerings and how it helps to meet customer expectations. Also,

this message should be coherent and consistent with the brand image and needless to say that

it needs to be simple but appealing. Then the customer decodes the message. Because of the

external environment, sometimes some noise creeps in which distorts the original message to a

certain extent. Companies should have a feedback mechanism to ensure that the customers

dont get a distorted version of the original message because of the environmental factors.

Dealing with changes in our society

The society has also seen quite a few changes as the years have passed. People are always in

search of identity symbols outside their immediate family. They then take shape in the form of

interest groups or clubs e.g. liking for Music or Sports etc. People want to have their own set of

friends or like-minded people and associate a lot with their group identity. This also affects

their buying behaviour and they rely a lot on the advice of their group member or friends. So,

here Word of Mouth publicity plays a big role. This holds great potential for strong brands to

leverage on. As these people form a closely held group of people who are passionate about

similar things, theres a huge chance of the entire group liking or disliking particular brands. So,

here lies the opportunity for marketers to target such groups, offer them products & services

that they, as a group, identify with. Hence it is both a challenge as well as an opportunity for

future marketers.


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There is also a tendency of defying old traditions and breaking barriers in todays generation.

Customers want to break free from age old traditions and do something different. They are

constantly looking for new and improved products. They are much more informed than ever

before and want to ride on the wave of tremendous advances in technology. These days

customers are much more tech savvy and keep replacing their electronic gadgets very

frequently. This has led to shrinking of the product life cycles of most electronic goods. Hence

their manufacturers have realized that they need to charge enough brand premiums when a

new product is launched so that they can leverage on their brand image. At the same time, this

forces firms to continuously innovate in product design and keep coming out with better

products to survive in this competitive world. Hence innovation will be the key driver for

successful brands in future.

How does the business community view branding?

In the last 2 decades, some businesses started thinking of brands as a parking ground for hiding

their cost inefficiencies. This led to shakeout in all industries and brand premiums were hit to a

great extent. Inefficient brands paid the maximum price. Brand premiums were re-evaluated

and this sparked the entire debate on the future of brands. Some companies reconsidered their

brand portfolio and cut down on the number of brands they offered earlier. Big FMCG giants

like P&G and HUL have cut down on their brand portfolio and have adopted the concept of

Power Brands. All this gave rise to even more competition in the market to build good and

established brands.

1. Technology : It has completely changed the marketplace from a limited storehouse of

things to a universe of choice. It has thrown open avenues for innovation and

marketers have thrived on the use of technology. It has helped the world to contractin terms of changes in communication styles. People are connected with each other at

all times. It has shortened the time interval between desire and satisfaction. People

dont like to wait for their needs/desires to get fulfilled. Consumers are always on a

lookout to save time and get the things of their choice at winds speed. People want


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to engage less in time- intensive activities which dont have immediate payoff. As a

result, the brands/products have to incorporate this change in attitude/behaviour of

the consumer. Faster is in and old is antiquated. People have a lot of choices these

days, which makes the job of marketers difficult in a way because, the perceptual

space in the customers minds is already cluttered with a lot of things. It is very

difficult for brands to position themselves in the consumers min ds as a distinct

identity. The brand which is able to achieve this feat is the winner in the current

scenario. Gone are the days when people will remember your advertisements and will

be able to recall all the products in the market in a specific category before taking the

buying decision. Hence the future holds great challenge for existing as well as

upcoming brands to establish their distinct identity in consumers perceptual space.

The brands which will be able to differentiate themselves from the competitors will

stand out.

With the advent of the internet era, people have access to basic knowledge of things.

They can easily compare features or get expert views with the help of internet. So

basically, the customer is much more informed today and it is difficult to persuade

him with fancy advertising or aggressive marketing. Moreover, because of the

internet, people are always connected to each other so a lot of word of mouth

publicity happens, which gives the customers a chance to double-check. Also this

hunger to connect throws a challenge to devise new, innovative marketing strategies

to woo such customers. People have started living in a virtual world; it is apt to

mention here the new MySpace generation which keeps itself hooked to social

networking sites like Orkut and Facebook. It opens up engagement with society. It is

really hard for the current marketers to reach out to them in the same way they do it

traditionally. This is another big challenge for them in future. Another aspect of

internet is a whole new distribution channel that it offers. E-commerce has gained a

lot of significance in todays world of internet connectivity all around. People like to

shop on the internet and save time in commuting to the market. So, the distribution


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has also seen the impact of technology and requires due thinking from the marketers

to incorporate it as one of their preferred way of selling.

Another aspect of technology on business is the shortening of the commodity life-

cycle. People discard most of the products they buy within very short span of time andlook for new things. Innovation in product design and marketing has led to such a

scenario. The average life-cycle for a brand new model of a Nokia phone is 18-20

months. People want to change their products very frequently and this has triggered

the need for continuous innovation on all fronts. Also, the cost of innovation cannot

be borne by a single company alone. Therefore, the concept of alliances and mergers

came. Through this strategic partnership, 2 or more entities minimize their risks and

share the profits. It also helps them to scale up their operations without taking a hit of the en tire costs of the ramping up operations. In todays globalized world, it is very

important to sell through global platforms. This can also be achieved through better

coordination and alliances between different global companies. A lot of synergy can

be derived out of such arrangements and both the partners benefit from it to a great

extent.

Because of such abundance of new technology, price of goods fall sharply after

introduction in the market. Due to this, a lot of rethink and recalculation has to

happen as far as brand premiums are concerned. The life cycle of products is also

shortening hence charging brand premium becomes an absolute necessity. The

impact of falling prices on business can be understood in terms of the additional

thinking that has to be done to recalculate brand premiums every month. Also

innovation on time as well as on supply chain needs to be managed efficiently. People

find it easier to replace old goods than getting it repaired or serviced. Also, the

emotional value attached with brands helps them attract the premium from the

customer.

The explosive growth in the field of Manufacturing in China has also led to some

interesting changes in the market dynamics across the world. In 2005, China led the production

of 8 out of 12 key electronic product categories. Key product categories were DVD Players,


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Monitors, Digital Cordless, Mobile Phones, Desktop PCs and Colour TVs etc. Such boom in

manufacturing pushed the prices further down and commoditized many brands to some extent.

This led the marketers to rethink brand premiums every month and the complacency which

was setting in because of the exclusivity of brands, got a major jerk. Companies now had to

manage innovation both on time as well as quality. They had to efficiently manage their supply

chain as well as to minimize the inventory and other fixed costs. Product life cycles started

shrinking further. People have started facing the decision of either servicing or replacing their

products. This puts even greater pressure on the brands and the premiums associated with

them. One factor which still favours the brands is the emotional value it entails for its

customers and it is because of this abstract benefit that people are willing to pay a premium for

brands they like.

2. Individual consumer: Over the last few decades, there has been a sea change in the

individual consumer in the marketplace. People are much more informed than ever

before. They can question and compare various offerings. Nobody accepts things as

they are these days. The customer has also become very demanding and has much

more bargaining power than the marketer or the manufacturer. He has no dearth of

options in any product category and hence freely exercises his choice after thoroughly

analyzing the marketplace. Also, because of so many choices, he is confused and

unsure of what to choose. So, he seeks comfort in being loyal to a brand that has

worked for him in the past and hence gives rise to the notion of brand loyalty.

The customers are seeking balance in this mad rush of things today. They want peace

of mind in this comparatively more hectic lifestyle of today. They also want to save on

their quality time by thinking less while buying commodity items. They are more risk-

averse than yesterdays consumer. They want to play it safe and hence would go for

established brands in order to minimize their tension.

Because of the advances in technology, people are always connected to each other.

They live in a virtual world of their own. This also helps them to be even more mobile

than they had ever been. This increased mobility in turn gives rise to brand


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preferences as brands ensure consistency in quality across geographies and time.

People also want most information in forms of small and condensed capsules and

hate to get into the nitty-gritty of things. This in turn holds good promise for brands in

future as people are going to get even busier and lead even more hectic lives that

they are doing currently. Also, the idea of beauty and health has been deliberated

very often these days and is going to become even more significant in coming days.

This will also give rise to more brands exploiting or selling the idea of wellness and

beauty which will be welcomed by the society. This would result in the growth of a

number of brands in the personal care and pharmaceutical sector.

Another aspect of consumer that has come to the fore in recent times is his or her

dual personality. On one hand she carries a branded Prada Leather Hand Bag, and on

the other hand, she drives that extra mile to go to a Wal-Mart shop to save some

cents and dollars. So, its becoming even more difficult for the marketers to segment

the market and then pick their target groups and position their brands. They are

confused if the customer is brand conscious and is willing to pay a premium or will

look to save as much as he can. So, there is no clear demarcation that earlier existed

between brand conscious consumer and one whos focus is to go for the cheapest

products available. To counter such a trend, in future marketers would have to

integrate both kinds of offerings in their single product such that it appeals to both

the classes.

Also, in this age of competition in the marketplace it is imperative for the companies

to communicate their brands to the customers in a language they understand. It is

very important to create a positive impression of your brand in consumers perceptual

space, which is already exposed to a lot of clutter. You need to stand out in the way

you communicate to leave an everlasting impression. The ultimate objective of all the

advertising and promotion efforts of a brand is to make people aware of the brand

and make it easy for the customers to recall their brand. Todays customers prefer

information in the form of condensed capsules and not the whole description. People


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dont have that much time to deliberate on things like shopping etc. They do it as a

routine job and need only the working knowledge of products and services. Moreover

with the advent of the telecom and internet era, people make very informed choices

while buying brands. Word of mouth is another way in which a brands values and

offerings get communicated. So, most brands are becoming conscious of the fact that

its the ultimately the product thats going to win the customers f or them and not the

campaigns. TV is already half dead and will further weaken because of the internet

age we live in. So, its wiser to stick to basics and focus more on innovation in product

design, its packaging and distribution rather than emphasizing a lot on

Communications campaigns. This will strengthen the brand and make it more robust

in the minds of the consumers and will perform well even when the market is not in

the best of times.

3. Society: The society has also seen quite a few changes as the years have passed.

People are always in search of identity symbols outside their immediate family. They

then take shape in the form of interest groups or clubs e.g. liking for Music or Sports

etc. People want to have their own set of friends or like-minded people and associate

a lot with their group identity. This also affects their buying behaviour and they rely a

lot on the advice of their group member or friends. So, here Word of Mouth (WOM)

publicity plays a big role. This holds great potential for strong brands to leverage on.

As these people form a closely held group of people who are passionate about similar

things, theres a huge chance of the entire group liking or disliking particular brands.

So, here lies the opportunity for marketers to target such groups, offer them products

& services that they, as a group, identify with.

There is also a tendency of defying old traditions and breaking barriers in todays

generation. Customers want to break free from age old traditions and do something

different. They are constantly looking for new and improved products. They are much

more informed than ever before and want to ride on the wave of tremendous


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advances in technology. These days customers are much more tech savvy and keep

replacing their electronic gadgets very frequently. This has led to shrinking of the

product life cycles of most electronic goods. Hence their manufacturers have realized

that they need to charge enough brand premiums when a new product is launched so

that they can leverage on their brand image. At the same time, this forces firms to

continuously innovate in product design and keep coming out with better products to

survive in this competitive world.

Companies need to build two way relationships when they try to sell a product to the

customer. It is brand promise that they give to the customer about their product

quality and the experience. They also need to put them into the consumers shoes and

think on his behalf. Firms which will do the thinking exercise for their customers will

be able to meet their expectations in a much better way.

Todays youth has always demonstrated the fact they dont like to do the same things

their parents did. They always want something more, be it education, career or just

owning a few things. They don t want to use the same products their moms and dads

used. They are always looking for innovation in the product categories and they value

it. They are willing to shell out those extra bucks for satisfying their needs and desires.

So there is a big market to be tapped by firms by targeting the youth and making them

loyal to their brands.

This Generation X is also very well connected with each other, thanks to the internet era were

living in. So, good opinion of public is very important. A lot of purchases happen through word

of mouth publicity rather than any other communication strategy like advertising or sales

promotions. So, it is an opportunity as well as a challenge for firms to establish their brands in

the minds of such a network of well connected people in the modern day society. The importance

of good and trustworthy brands cannot be over emphasized because of the fact that todays

generation wants to be connected at all times with their own social networks.


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What makes a successful brand?

1. The brand has to be a coherent totality the physical product, the packaging, price,

communications elements (name / style / advertising / colours / promotions /

endorsers / events) all need to blend and work together.

2. The brand has to be unique and stay unique on both functional and non-functional

parameters and needs to appeal to the senses, to reason and to emotions.

3. The blend of appeals must be relevant to the needs, wants, desires of the specific

target segments and must stand apart from all others.

4. Advertising can contribute to all these areas, by synthesising brand image and brand

personality.

Brand Management in the Future:

Slowly but surely the marketplace will move towards customized brands. Exclusivity will give

rise to this kind of innovation. People would be willing to pay more for being different. They

would pay high premiums to stand out by making a statement of their own. The future

marketplace will also see a crossover between utility and fashion entities. Examples of the same

could be cars, mobiles, switches, taps etc.

Cost inefficient brands will fade over time and will be replaced by brands thriving on creative

thinking. Innovative ideas will drive the brands in future. Brand premiums would be earned

through building long lasting relationship with the customer. The basis of this relationship

would be trust and brands which will be able to achieve this will survive in the competitive

environment.

Capitalism is here to stay and will continue to be the major economic system across the world.

Making money would be a good pursuit and stock markets would see even higher attention

being given to them by everyone. Continuous changes in technology will further shorten

product life cycles and push prices down. The individual will be wiser, more informed but more

worried about his purchases. He would be looking to save time by entrusting in the brand of his


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choice. The individual in the society would be much more connected with likeminded people

and friends than ever before. The young generation of customers would be much more

demanding and would pay high premiums for change. They would break age old barriers and

write their own rules.

Major alliances would be struck between big firms to make the best use of synergies amongst

them. The advantages of scalability will drive this change. Brands would be evaluated by

measuring their reach on TV, other modes of advertising, PR, NGOs and by financial analysts.

An organization should be completely open to leverage the equity of its strong and successful brand. It

saves on a lot of cost besides consumers trust and association with the branded products. The future of

branding is hugely dependent on technology which has made an individuals life comfortable and

because of which people are turning towards products which are small, operates quickly and easy to

use. An organization should also not forget that the marketplace has become very competitive and

innovations are required at the manufacturing and supply side to be available to its customers quickly.

Lastly; brand future must be planned in order to cut through the large pile of clutter in the market and

create its differentiation in customers mind to lead him or her to purchase and generate the brand

loyalty. Successful brands will be creative centred and idea centred. Brands of the future would

be those which will do the thinking for the consumer.

12. future of branding

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