the art of not living through branding

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The Art of (not) Living through

Branding

Once the domain of multi-million dollar corporations, the

concept of branding is being embraced by individuals and

small businesses as a means to distinguish themselves

from the competition. It takes time and patience to

develop an effective brand, both in the creation and the

implementation phase. A brand cannot be created

overnight; it is planned, maintained, groomed. But, if

done effectively, the process is well worth the

energy..........And that's what, perhaps, we have always

believed!

My brand is the public image of my business. It is my

reputation. It is my promise to my clients. My Brands

shape consumers’ perceptions and expectations of me.

Branding does not come cheap. It involves sales

promotions and advertising and years of hard work and

disciplined efforts and focus. With my personal

experience in a couple of multinational companies for

over a decade, I have seen myself how much flesh and

blood we infused to the skeleton to bring life to a

Brand. Today as I move in the Industry, I find some

clients proudly sharing with me the Brand names of

products that he uses in his feed milling operations that

I had myself promoted sometime ago. The feeling is so

enticing and satisfying that all my efforts on the brand

building during my years of employment has actually

reaped results! It is a different story that the same

client is caught unaware when you actually step into his

warehouse and find a 'generic' form of the Brand which he

was factually using and not the original brand that he

had mentioned a while ago! Doesn't matter to him, Brand


or no-Brand, the cost difference between the two can be

compelling at times. And for you, who has put in life to

the Brand means a hell lot! It is so disgusting!

After all those years that you have invested in Branding

your product and by the time when you think you should

now start reaping the fruits of your efforts, you

suddenly find tsunamis of generic products that hit the

ports in all the territories. It was only last year, when

your client was so satisfied with the efficacy of your

Brand that he started exploring for 'other' cheaper

options. In the process of doing so, he has already

floated inquiries to several traders not readily

realizing that his marketing efforts in creating demand

(or killing your Brand?) had been effective many times

compared to what actually the company selling the Brand

could do in years. And before you could realize what

happened, hordes of traders are now ready with the copy-

cats of the Brand selling on price. You can expect them

to make similar claims that a Brand could promise in

terms of composition and efficacy. For the sake of price,

your client is also ready to compromise on the source and

quality of such products. They use the product and say

"we have no problems whatsoever" with the quality and you

have no right to question them any further as you better

be aware that there are 153 variables effecting the

performance of the bird...and your product is just one of

them!

Well....lack of quality checks of raw material and feed

additives, inadequate control on farms and performance

parameters will ensure that these generics will make hay

when the sun shines...or I can't be wrong if I say when

the sky is still overcast with dense clouds.

Particularly in the case of antibiotics, producers do not

hesitate to add a ‘mug’ of extra generic product into the


formulation with smile on the face that despite of doing

so, he still spends less compared to a Brand. What he

might not be considering is the fact that overdosing or

under dosing of some product categories like say AGPs and

anticoccidials, might can lead to development of

resistance over a period of time. So what we have as an

industry accomplished with all our sincere efforts on

bringing down our costs of feed formulation is, we have

ensured that a good potential feed additive candidate has

become ‘impotent’ and killing my dear innocent BRAND

forever.

Friends, we have very little choice of options in most of

the feed additive categories, many have lost their sheen

due to irresponsible usage. Let us play a responsible

role as a livestock citizen of this universe to ensure

that we let the Brands live.

Authored by:

Dr. Sekhar Basak,

Managing Director,

Innovista Consulting,

Better known for “Innokit” and “Konzerve Plus”

HP: +91-9871203111

Homepage: www.innovistaconsulting.com

the art of not living through branding

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