Making your brand future-proof

A Bharat Bambawale & Associates Perspective

Organic growth may ill-prepare a brand for the future in a rapidly disruptive world

Not just brands but entire categoriescan become irrelevant in a matter of months

Present day relevance is not enough.Brands need to meaningfully innovate and evolve

for tomorrow’s consumers to be future-proof

Brands who do this successfullyremain consistently profitable and unique

and inspire loyalty and advocacy

Bharat Bambawale & AssociatesIs an independent brand and marketing consultancy based in New Delhi, India that works with clients to create immediate, mid-term and long-term brand value.

Among our many services we help companies future-proof their brands.

www.bb-a.co.in I www.twitter.com/bbaspeak I www.youtube.com/bbaspeak www.linkedin.com/company/bharatbambawaleandassociates

We’ll like to start by telling you a story

A story in which a powerful brand, part of the proud heritage of the country it belongs to, was made future-ready and relevant to a new generation of consumers.

This also a story of great belief and audacious execution

It was 1984 and French President Francis Mitterrand had a problem

It concerned a national icon and a symbol of France

His problem was The Louvre

Photo by Christian Pierret CC BY

The Louvre faced the classic problem many a brand faces: a loss of relevance due to generational changes combined with a

need to update access and appeal

1. Declining visitor traffic

2. Different sections functioned independently, inconveniencing visitors

3. Head of each sections acted autonomously

4. Flow of visitor traffic not evenly distributed

5. The Louvre needed an idea to engage and

connect with a new generation of visitors

Photo by Matt Biddulph CC BY

The decision Francois Mitterrand and his team took to make this French icon relevant and appealing to new consumers was audacious.

This is especially inspiring and instructive in the context of future-proofing brands

Photo by Renaud Camus CC BY

The French team hired Chinese American architectI M Pei to deliver the solution.

We at BB&A imagine these are some of the questions he would have asked

Q1. Purpose: What is the structuremeant for?

Q2. Audience: Who must it appeal to and why would they visit not just oncebut often?

Q3. Functionality: What experience must the structure reliably deliver to visitors individually and collectively?

Q4. Aesthetic: How can the past be respected while ushering in the new?

Q5. Enduring Appeal: How will the structure stand the test of time and repeatedly reward the visitor?

Photo by Adrien Selfre CC BY

IM Pei’s bold and striking solution ‘ The Glass Pyramid’

It has not only brought a famous French icon into the present,but has added a fascinating new dimension to an old ‘brand’

that faced the risk of declining appeal and relevance Photo by Max Sat CC BY

Pyramid excites young & old, makes Louvre modern Visitors descend into a central foyer for easy access

There is more efficient distribution of trafficMore time and room to enjoy the exhibitsPictures courtesy Google Images

Photo by Joe Tent CC BY Photo by Victor R Rulz CC BY

Photo by Jean PierreDalbera CC BY

Photo by Juan Pablo Gonzalez CC BY

At BB&A we find this story fascinating and helpful.

It also gives a framework tothink of future-proofing brands

There are some questions that would feature in a conversationwe would have on brand future-proofing

Future Proof #1 Brand Purpose

What business are you in? What is your brand ideal?

“ What business are you in ”

Theodore Levitt

This fundamental question Professor Levitt posed has great value to us when thinking about

brand future-proofing.It invites us to think deeply about

business strategy and the kind of consumers the brand must be relevant to

Levitt’s famous example: The Railroads thought they were in the railroad business

They didn’t realize they were in the transportation business

They failed to focus on customers and customer service

The much discussed ‘Kodak’ story raises many instructive points about‘what business are you in’

Photo by Joe Christian Oterhals CC BY

Kodak believed they were in the image capture and printing

business. This ultimately limited their innovation and led to their decline. Had they defined their

business as “storing and sharing memories” who knows where they

might have been today?

Jim Stengel, former CMO of Procter & Gamble, in his book

“Grow” elaborates how brand ideals must stand for something

compelling to the people they touch

The right ideal, often becoming the mission of the business, has a

profound impact on the future of a brand.

We love how Nike articulates its brand ideal in the company mission statement

Nike Mission

“ To provide inspiration and innovation for every

athlete* in the world ”

* If you have a body, you are an athlete

Mark Zuckerberg articulates Facebook’s ideal beautifully when he says….

“Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”

Photo by Jason McELWeenie CC BY

Future Proof #2 Brand Audience

Whom do you want to appeal to today, tomorrow and in the future?

What attitude do you display towards them?

On the following slides we give examples*of two brands Bharat has personally worked on

in roles prior to founding BB&A

The examples illustrate how a deep and fundamental understanding

of the human relationshipbetween a category and its target audience

profoundly influences a brand’s future success.

* The words in the slides are our own, andmay differ from any official documentation.

Omo/Surf Excel Consumer Understanding

Many a parent looks back at their childhood with nostalgia for the freedom they enjoyed to explore the outdoors. They lament how controlled today’s children are and wonder if this is getting in the way of them growing up well. Getting dirty is part of growing up. It’s a good thing. Kids explore, invent, socialize. Kids who have an active and healthy relationship with dirt grow into better adults Its actually not the dirt that’s the problem, it’s the dirty clothes. Omo/Surf has molecules that remove dirt and stains That’s why Omo says, “Dirt is Good’. It liberates parents and children to discover and unleash their human potential.

Bharti Airtel Consumer Understanding

In the telecom industry, mobile internet is the future. Young people are the largest consumers of mobile internet. And their primary use of the internet is to share their lives with friends.

Youth say, “Friends are not a part of my life,they are my life!”

Airtel connects you to your friends anytime you want anywhere you are and however you like

Airtel’s iconic campaigns ‘Har Friend Zaroori hota hai / Jo mera hai who tera hai’ bring this consumer understanding to life

Future Proof #3 Brand Functionality

What benefits/experiences do you deliver? What uses do you invent?How do you innovate

Strategy Guru Professor Vijay “VG” Govindrajan, Tuck School, Dartmouth is a huge source of inspiration to us

We use three of his concepts to discuss brand functionality

1. Three box business model 2. Annual Priorities 3. Innovation

Manage the present

Selectively forget the past

Create the future

Professor Govindrajan’s three-box model

Competition for the present

Based on clear & linear environment changes

Projects improve efficiency

Competition for the future

Based on non-linear environment changes

Non-traditional competitors & fundamentally different

consumers

If Dick Fosbury hadn’t chosen to forget the past – i.e. going over the bar belly first – he wouldn’t have invented his famous Flop. The high jump as we know and love today wouldn’t have been able to clear the heights we today think of as common

In Horizon 1, companies should focus on their core business

In Horizon 2, companies should develop competencies in spaces adjacent to their core business

In Horizon 3, companies should shift focus on entirely new spaces

Professor Govindrajan’s Annual Priorities

Netflix is an excellent example of a company that is future-proofing its brand by continuously adapted their business model. They went from being a DVD-by-mail company to a streaming service to being a producer of high quality original content

Professor Govindrajan on Reverse Innovation

Historically, companies innovated in rich

countries and sold in poor countries.

Reverse innovation develops products in

poor countries that are for poor countries and

later selectively sold in rich countries.

The artificial leg developed in the USA is made of titanium and costs $ 20,000. Asia simply can’t afford them. A doctor in Thailand invented the $ 30 artificial leg out of recycled plastic yoghurt tubs. It is strong, flexible, affordable and a huge success. Later an artificial leg of the same material was strong enough for Mosha, a baby elephant who lost a leg to a Burmese land-mine. What a delightful example of reverse innovation!

Photo by Kristen Ortwerth-Jewell CC BY

Future Proof #4 Brand Aesthetics

What are your design principles? What ‘brand legend’ are you

creating? What stories will you tell?

Dove’s communication aesthetic is a great example of how the brand’s essence

“Real Beauty”drives the look & feel, casting, language & tone which is clean, unadorned & genuine

Harley Davidson is the stuff of marketing folklore

The story of the brand is timeless – about personal identity,

being your truest self and Freedom

Future Proof #4 Enduring Appeal of the Brand

Is your brand responsible for more than profit?

What is your personal/organizational culture

Nike Reuse-A-Shoe collects and recycles old worn out shoes from consumers to create

‘Nike Grind’ a special material to re-lay tracks, courts and fields.

They have recycled 25 million pairs and counting. This adds a ‘responsible dimension’ to a brands

appeal

The Starbucks College Achievement Plan will pay for employees (partners in Starbucks speak) to earn their bachelor’s degree. The partners have no obligation to stay in the company after graduation. Imagine the waves of brand goodwill and employee advocacy this & other initiatives create

Future-proof brands combine business purpose with brand ideals,

create authentic consumer connections, innovate with design and functionality

and help create a more sustainable world

Future-proof brands are rewarded with extraordinary financial profits,

consumer and stakeholder loyalty and becomea much-loved part of lives and popular culture

We would love to have a conversation on how we can help you future proof your brand.

Do get in touch with us at contact@bb-a.co.in or through our digital channels listed below

www.bb-a.co.in I www.twitter.com/bbaspeak I www.youtube.com/bbaspeak www.linkedin.com/company/bharatbambawaleandassociates

© bba 2014